Iroquois Confederacy

An Iroquois Confederacy is an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of Native Americans and First Nations peoples in northeast North America.

• Context:
  • It can (typically) represent a political and cultural alliance of distinct but allied nations united under a common governance structure.
  • It can (often) engage in military alliances and diplomatic negotiations with European Colonial Powers such as the British Empire and France.
  • It can range from being a military power in the 17th century to a symbolic entity focused on cultural preservation in the modern era.
  • It can operate through a Council of Chiefs, with representatives from each nation adhering to the Great Law of Peace for conflict resolution and governance.
  • It can influence the Albany Plan of Union and the formation of the United States Constitution, serving as a model for federalism and unity.
  • It can resist external pressures through periods such as the Beaver Wars (1600s), aligning with European nations to control the fur trade.
  • It can exhibit resilience, surviving attempts at cultural assimilation and territorial dislocation throughout the 19th and 20th centuries.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • **1450-1660 CE**: Formation and early consolidation of the Iroquois Confederacy through the efforts of the Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha, and Jigonhsasee.
  • **1600s**: Beaver Wars—The Iroquois Confederacy expands its territory and influence through conflicts with other tribes and European powers to dominate the fur trade.
  • **1722**: Addition of the Tuscarora Nation, formally becoming the "Six Nations."
  • **1754-1763**: French and Indian War—The Iroquois play a pivotal role in the conflict between the French and British, shifting alliances to maintain their autonomy.
  • **1777-1783**: American Revolution—The Six Nations split allegiances between the British and the Americans, leading to internal conflict and migration.
  • **1784**: Treaty of Fort Stanwix—The Iroquois cede large portions of land to the United States, altering their political and territorial power.
  • **1900s**: Iroquois leaders advocate for sovereignty and nationhood status within the United States and Canada.
  • **1950s-present**: The Haudenosaunee continue to maintain cultural practices, such as the Guswenta (Two Row Wampum Belt) treaty, and assert their identity through sports, political representation, and cultural revival.
  • **2010**: Over 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people live in Canada, and over 81,000 in the United States.
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Huron Confederacy, which was a competitor and enemy of the Iroquois, speaking a related language but following distinct political structures.
  • Powhatan Confederacy, a coalition of tribes in the Virginia region with different linguistic and cultural roots.
  • Cherokee Nation, which was an independent Iroquoian-speaking people that never joined the Iroquois Confederacy.
  • Creek Confederacy, an unrelated confederation of southeastern tribes that formed a loose political alliance.
• See: United States, Confederation, List of Historical Unrecognized States And Dependencies, Flag of The Iroquois Confederacy, Onondaga (Village), [[Northwestern Confederacy].

---

---

References

2024

• (Wikipedia, 2024) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois Retrieved:2024-10-4.
  • The Iroquois, also known as the Five Nations, and later as the Six Nations from 1722 onwards; alternatively referred to by the endonym Haudenosaunee are an Iroquoian-speaking confederacy of Native Americans and First Nations peoples in northeast North America. They were known by the French during the colonial years as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, while the English simply called them the "Five Nations". The peoples of the Iroquois included (from east to west) the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora people from the southeast were accepted into the confederacy, from which point it was known as the "Six Nations". The Confederacy likely came about between the years 1450 CE and 1660 CE as a result of the Great Law of Peace, said to have been composed by the Deganawidah the Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha, and Jigonsaseh the Mother of Nations. For nearly 200 years, the Six Nations/Haudenosaunee Confederacy were a powerful factor in North American colonial policy, with some scholars arguing for the concept of the Middle Ground, in that European powers were used by the Iroquois just as much as Europeans used them. At its peak around 1700, Iroquois power extended from what is today New York State, north into present-day Ontario and Quebec along the lower Great Lakes–upper St. Lawrence, and south on both sides of the Allegheny mountains into present-day Virginia and Kentucky and into the Ohio Valley. The St. Lawrence Iroquoians, Wendat (Huron), Erie, and Susquehannock, all independent peoples known to the European colonists, also spoke Iroquoian languages. They are considered Iroquoian in a larger cultural sense, all being descended from the Proto-Iroquoian people and language. Historically, however, they were competitors and enemies of the Iroquois Confederacy nations.In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people lived in Canada, and over 81,000 in the United States.

---