The Iroquois
Between 1450 & 1660 five tribes came & branded together, then one more came during 1722 & the Iroquois were made.
This map shows where the Iroquois lived (& a few others)
The Iroquois
At somewhere between 1142 & 1451 the the Iroquois were made.
A total of six nations make the Iroquois these nations are more than thousand years old. The name “Iroquois” came from early French settlers who met them, the Iroquois call themselves “haudenosaunee” meaning “people building a longhouse. “What is a longhouse?”you may ask is a house built out of wooden frames covered by tree bark, these longhouses are usually 50-100, maybe 200 ft. & 28 ft.wide. They lived in villages surrounded by tall wooden fences for defensive or protection.
Religion/spirituality
To start of the Iroquois believed there was a creator who made everything.
The peacemaker
A thousand years ago the Iroquois were not getting along. Nation, villages, families, all fought each other, there was lots of killing and suffering & blood. Then the peacemaker, a Huron man began spreading the message from the creator to stop fighting & to unite in peace. A Onondaga man called Tadohado was against the the peacemaker, he had a twisted body & wore snakes in his hair he used all his power to keep people from accepting the peacemaker’s message, but the peacemaker would not let Tadohado stand in his way for he had a plan.
The peacemaker’s plan was to sing a song of peace at Tadohado’s house with all the Iroquois chief hoping Tadohado would join them. As they started singing at Tadohado’s house Tadohado himself came out shouting angrily but began to listen. The peacemaker offered to make Tadohado a chief in the new confederacy, at last Tadohado accepted the message. That day the Grand council stood in a circle & planted a tree of peace.
A portrait of the peacemaker
Tadohado having a twisted & wearing snakes in he hair himself also smoked on a pipe.
Life as a Iroquois child
All children were taught by their relatives. For girls they taught by their mothers to learn how to cook make clothing & take care of younger cousins/siblings, they are responsible for their families.
Boys were taught by their fathers and uncles to be brave and to refuse fear & pain. They are also responsible for their responsible for theirs families, had to protect them from raiding Indian tribes & animal attacks. When a child misbehaves they are ether told a story with a moral they need to hear or punished by being put outside then scared to obedience by a clan member wearing a mask.
Iroquois Boy(left) & girl(right)
Two examples of the masks one made of corn husk(right) & one made of wood(left)
European travelers
In the early 1500s explorers & traders from Europe arrived to New York. What the French & English brought to trade was guns, iron cooking pots, & axes. The Iroquois traded animal fur for those metallic items, the fur the Iroquois gave to the travelers were turned into hats & coats.
The Iroquois & European travelers having a deal in fur trade
wars & diseases
The travelers also brought bad things to the Iroquois such as smallpox, measles, & influenza(flu). Since the native tribes weren’t exposed to these illnesses hundreds of thousands of Iroquois & other native tribes grew sick & died. In the 1600s people from England, Holland, & France began taking up most of the Iroquois homes, some even tried taking away the land to start farms & build towns. Some fought against the settlers, few migrated north & fought the nation over there to take control of that land.
A Iroquois men in the case of smallpox
The American revolution
As more colonies grew & more settlers came the colonists headed west into the French & Native American territories, the French didn’t like the colonists trespassing their land. During 1754-1763 the British, colonists & French & the Iroquois fought each other in a battle better known as the French & Indian war. The battle took place in border between what is now Canada & U.S.,this was the heart of the Iroquois territory. At the end Britain won & took control of more land. In 1775 the colonists grew tired of British rule & started to rebel into the American revolution. During that time both Britain & Patriots( colonists who disliked Britain rule) wanted the Iroquois to fight. The Mohawk & Seneca joined Britain while Oneida & Tuscarora fought for the patriots. This split caused many bad feelings to the six nations that had took many years to come over.
After the patriots won the war they formed a new government. Benjamin Franklin, an important leader used the six nations as a model for the United States. The U.S. made a treaty or agreement, with the six nations because some of the group fought on the American’s side.
Some promises the U.S. broke
As the United States were making New York, the state took up pieces of Iroquois territory & gave it to land dealers, who then sell it to settlers making lots of money. In the end the the United States forced the Iroquois out from their homeland, most migrated to Canada to settle while some of the Oneida group refused to leave & stayed in New York, then the Oneida nation was broken to four parts. Then the Oneida was then forced out of their land, meaning they went to Canada.
The last look of the Iroquois homeland: Oneida