1. The Iroquois People of the Longhouse
Mr. Davison
Flag of the Iroquois Confederacy

2. People of the Longhouse

3. People of Turtle Island

4. Early Inhabitants of Western New York
Several cultures lived in Western NY
Clovis people (10,000 B.C.)
Lamokas (3,500 – 2,500 B.C.)
Hopewell Indians (300 A.D.) – mound builders,
Wenros and Neutrals
Iroquoian people (next 1,000 years)

5. What’s in a Name
Iroquois means “real adder” – a kind of snake. Name given as a backhanded compliment by their rivals the Algonquians
Iroquois – name given by the French
Six Nations – name given by the British
Hau de no sau nee – meaning people building a long house – sometimes translated as people of the long house

6. League of the Five Nations
Seneca
Cayuga
Onondaga
Oneida
Mohawk

7. Remember the Tribes: SCOOM
S – Seneca – people of the Great Hill (Onodowaga)
C – Cayuga – people of the Great Swamp or the Great Pipe
O – Onondaga – people of the Hills
O – Oneida – People of the Standing Stone
M – Mohawk – People of the Flint
T – Tuscarora – shirt wearing people – added to the confederacy later

9. Iroquoian Life Great Abundance Survived on fish, game, cultivated food
Large population, perhaps greater than present day population of WNY
Most natives lived south of present day Routs 5 & 20 (Broadway) – offered families protection away from warpaths along the Great Lakes

10. The Five Nations & Their Position in the Iroquois Confederacy
Seneca – the Elder Brother and Keepers of the Western Door
Cayuga – Younger Brother
Onondaga – Fire Keepers – the council fire
Oneida – Younger Brother
Mohawk – Elder Brother and Keepers of the Eastern Door

12. Location In Western New York
Known Indian Villages existed at:
Oakfield
Elma
Buffalo
Big Tree
Two Villages in Akron – one at Falkirk (upper East Ave.) and a second at today’s Brooklyn St

13. Where Would You Live?
Village surrounded by oval shaped stockade (20 ft. tall fence)
Farm fields surrounds village
Inside stockade, rows of buildings-LONGHOUSES

14. The Iroquois Village
Longhouse Village Image From: Bridgeman Art Library, London/New York,

16. Iroquois Shelter Iroquois Homes were called longhouses
Longhouses were built in groups or villages for protection.
Made of logs- covered with elm bark
Curved roof made of saplings
No windows
Fire holes in roof to let out smoke from cooking fires
feet tall, 20 feet wide and – 150 feet long

17. Picture of the Longhouse

18. Inside the Longhouse Center aisle from one end to the other
Near doors- food storage barrels and stacks of firewood
On the sides of the aisle, compartments feet by 16 feet (half of your classroom)
Wooden platforms for sleeping and storage
Fire shared with family across the aisle
Each family has their own clothing, blankets, tools and cooking utensils

19. Inside the longhouse contd.

20. Family Structure
Fireside Family: your parents, brothers and sisters – Matriarchal structure
Longhouse Family:
oldest woman in the longhouse is the head of family and everyone in the longhouse is related to her
You always belong to your mother’s longhouse family
Clan Family:
two or more longhouse families make up a clan
You belong to your mother’s clan
Clans named after animals (wolf, bear, turtle)
Head of clan was the oldest most respected woman

21. Clans of the Iroquois

22. Clans
Bear: taught us gentleness and strength. It takes more strength not to raise your hand to strike someone than it does to strike them.
Turtle: taught us patience, never to give up. Seen as strength and solidarity, old and wise, and well respected.
Wolf: taught us to use our ears and be watchful. Strong sense of family.
Deer:
Hawk:
Snipe”

23. Iroquoian Food
Lots of vegetables, fruit, nuts and different kinds of meat and fish
Women grew corn, beans and squash (The Three Sisters) in fields surrounding village
Hunters brought home deer, bear, beaver, rabbit, and wild turkey
Iroquois men and boys were skilled fishermen
You’d eat breakfast together with your family, but other meals on your own-mother would have a pot cooking all day

24. The three Sisters

25. Iroquoian Economy
The Iroquois – money is called wampum when trading with white men.
They have very little money – barter economy.
They go great distances to trade with other tribes.
The wampum was made of beads and clamshells.

26. Iroquois Economy
Wampum belts were used as a form of communication between Indian tribes. Wampum belts would be made into pictures showing the reason it was made. All Indian messengers carry wampum when going to other tribes.

27. Hiawatha Wampum Belt
"Hiawatha's Belt" was composed of five figures. In the center was what some have described as a heart, to others it was a great or sacred tree under which the Iroquois met in council. On either side of the central device were two differently sized squares. The squares were connected to each other, and to the central device by a narrow band.
The symbolism is quite clear. The five devices represent the five original tribes. From left to right they represent the Seneca, the keepers of the Western Door; the Cayugas, the "people of the marsh" and "keepers of the Great Pipe"; The Onondaga, who were the "name bearers" who kept the wampum belt that contained the history of the Iroquois; the Oneida, the "stone people" symbolized by the Great Tree; and lastly the Mohawk, the "keepers of the eastern door". The original of this sacred belt was kept for a long time by New York State. For many years it was on display in the New York State Museum in Albany New York. It has finally been returned to the Iroquois People and a replica now is displayed in Albany.

28. Iroquoian Clothing
Deerskins that the women tanned, cut and sewed by hand
Women: long skirts decorated with beads, porcupine quills dyed red, blue or yellow (sometimes leggings under their skirts), vest or blouse on top
Men: kilt-like skirts over leggings and vests or blouses made of decorated deerskins
Everyone wore moccasins-made of one piece of deerskin sewn together with a deer-bone needle and using sinew from the deer for thread

29. Iroquois Clothing
Women prepared the hides by removing the hair and flesh with stone scrapers. Men in the winter wore robes or cloaks made from bear, deer, buffalos, or beaver skins.
Women soaked the hides in dilution of boiled deer brain to soften them.
Men's summer clothing were made from buckskin and men's winter outfits were leggings, breechclouts, kilts, and moccasins.
Image of Traditional Dress from:

30. Clothing

31. What about work? Work was a part of everyday life
Every job was respected
Work depended on the season:
Spring: peel bark for longhouses and canoes, tap trees for syrup, pick strawberries, and fish
When the ground was ready, you would plant seeds for all the vegetables
Late summer and fall: harvest crops and prepare them for storage
Fall: begin hunting
Winter: make and repair clothing, tools, bowls, baskets and instruments

32. Who did which jobs?
Men:
made tools for hunting, sports equipment and musical instruments
Made wampum and carved bowls, cups, pipes
Cleared farmland
Hunted for animals
Women
Made clay pots, baskets, cradleboards, clothing and moccasins
Farmed the fields
Cooked the food

33. Woven Baskets

34. Education You would not go any formal school
You learned by watching adults do their jobs
You learned history when the elders told stories at the festivals and during the long winter months
You also learned from your own experiences

35. Iroquoian Games Everyone loved sports and games
Games were played at festivals and celebrations
Sometimes one village or clan challenged another
Lacrosse (called “the ball game”) was the most popular
Running was also an important sport
Snow-snake was popular in the winter

36. Iroquois Games
The Bowl Game is played by putting peach pits in a bowl and two teams take turns thumping the bowl to make the object fly upward.
The Snow Snake game is played by throwing a spear into the snow. The of the game is to see how far the spears could be thrown across the snow.
The Double Ball Game is played with buckskin bags filled with sand, then connecting the buckskin bags with a cord you try to throw it three feet in the air.
Shinny is played with a flattened buckskin ball, then each player had a long stick and tried to hit the flattened buckskin ball.

37. Iroquoian Games contd.
Running games and mock battles were enjoyed as well.
Survival lessons were often taught through the games.
Men played against men and women played against women. Children were left to amuse themselves with their running and jumping contests.The children often copied adult games.

38. Lacrosse

39. What if you got sick?
Iroquois believed that you could get sick from bad food or water or air or by catching someone else’s disease
They also believed that you could become sick because of witchcraft of bad people or by the work of evil spirits
There were different kinds of healers to treat you depending on your illness

40. False Face Society
A medicine society like the False Face Society would try to heal you by performing special rituals.
You never paid the healers. You just gave them sacred tobacco or kinds of food they liked
If you were cured, you became a member of the society and helped to treat others
If you broke an arm or leg, then you were treated by a surgeon.
The Iroquois were excellent surgeons who not only set broken bones, but also understood the importance of cleanliness
If you had a cold or snakebite, you were probably treated by an herbalist who would use plants to heal you

41. False Face Masks

42. Some Religious Beliefs
The Iroquois believed the Creator, or Great Spirit made the world
Almost all natural things were under the care of spirits (there were spirits of the wind, rain, trees)
Keepers of the Faith were in charge of religious festivals (these were ordinary people with special responsibilities- they would organize the festivals and perform some of the rituals)
Religious ceremonies could last for hours and some festivals lasted for days.

43. Festivals
At all ceremonies, sacred tobacco was burned. There were day-long ceremonies of speeches, prayer, music, dances, games and always a feast.
Six main festivals held throughout the year
Maple Festival-(early spring) gave thanks for the return of spring and to the maple tree for its “sweet waters” There would be maple syrup and candies
Planting Festival- (later in spring) gave thanks for the return of the planting season and ask for blessings on the seeds
Strawberry Festival- (late may or early June) celebrated the return of the first fruits of the earth. After the long winter, it was a sweet beginning to a new year.
At all ceremonies, sacred tobacco was burned. There were day-long ceremonies of speeches, prayer, music, dances, games and always a feast.
Six main festivals held throughout the year
Maple Festival-(early spring) gave thanks for the return of spring and to the maple tree for its “sweet waters” There would be maple syrup and candies
Planting Festival- (later in spring) gave thanks for the return of the planting season and ask for blessings on the seeds
Strawberry Festival- (late may or early June) celebrated the return of the first fruits of the earth. After the long winter, it was a sweet beginning to a new year.

44. Festivals contd.
Green Corn Festival- usually held in August(lasted four days) gave thanks to the spirits of the Three Sisters when the corn, beans and squash were ready to eat. Children born since the Midwinter festival would be given names
Harvest Festival-(early October) crops are all picked, cooked and stored for winter eating (lasted four days)
Midwinter or New Year’s Festival (early February) The longest festival (seven days) Two elders visited every house to announce the new year. Children born since the Green Corn festival would be given names. The Thanksgiving address lasted for hours.
Festivals continued
Green Corn Festival- usually held in August(lasted four days) gave thanks to the spirits of the Three Sisters when the corn, beans and squash were ready to eat. Children born since the Midwinter festival would be given names
Harvest Festival-(early October) crops are all picked, cooked and stored for winter eating (lasted four days)
Midwinter or New Year’s Festival (early February) The longest festival (seven days) Two elders visited every house to announce the new year. Children born since the Green Corn festival would be given names. The Thanksgiving address lasted for hours.

45. European Wars Cause Problems
Trade wars of France & England (so called French & Indian War in North America)
Revolutionary War – American War for Independence (1776 – 1783)
Both wars caused the various tribes to choose sides.
1797 Big Tree Treaty -11 reservations created and Canandaigua Lake and Genesee River regions vacated

46. Before the League existed the Five nations were always at war with one another. Village fought village Nation fought nation
It was called the time of “great sorrow and terror”
Deganawidah (the Peacemaker) brought the message that by ending war among themselves, the nations would be strong and the people would be safe.
The story tells that the people uprooted the tallest pine tree and threw all their weapons of war into the hole and then replanted this Great Tree of Peace. Now the Five Nations live in a Great Longhouse, keeping its own fire, but living in peace under one roof
Iroquois Government: The Oldest Living Participatory Government on Earth
Before the League existed the Five nations were always at war with one another.
Village fought village
Nation fought nation
It was called the time of “great sorrow and terror”
Deganawidah (the Peacemaker) brought the message that by ending war among themselves, the nations would be strong and the people would be safe.
The story tells that the people uprooted the tallest pine tree and threw all their weapons of war into the hole and then replanted this Great Tree of Peace
Now the Five Nations live in a Great Longhouse, keeping its own fire, but living in peace under one roof

47. League of Five Nations
The longhouse and the Great Pine Tree are the symbols of the Iroquois League
The Peacemaker took one arrow from each tribe and tied them together. You can break one arrow, but the bundle of five is too strong to destroy, he said.
The Iroquois League is one of the world’s longest lasting unions

48. The Great Law of Peace The unwritten Iroquois Constitution
Some ideas of the Great Law:
All Iroquois land was open to members of Five nations. It was safe to travel and hunt that land
Women as well as men participated in government. Women appointed the chiefs and removed them if necessary
Freedom of religion was guaranteed to all
No such thing as slavery- if you were taken prisoner by the Iroquois your were either killed or adopted an if adopted, you had all the freedoms as everyone else
The unwritten Iroquois Constitution
Some ideas of the Great Law:
All Iroquois land was open to members of Five nations. It was safe to travel and hunt that land
Women as well as men participated in government. Women appointed the chiefs and removed them if necessary
Freedom of religion was guaranteed to all
No such thing as slavery- if you were taken prisoner by the Iroquois your were either killed or adopted an if adopted, you had all the freedoms as everyone else

49. The Iroquois Government
Each nation had its own government
Each nation sent chiefs to League council meetings (chiefs could not be warriors)
Council met once a year to discuss anything that concerned all the nations
Everyone had to agree to all decisions (votes must be unanimous)
If they did all agree then the chief conducting the meeting cloud say the League could now “speak with one voice” If someone disagreed, they would discuss it again until they came to an agreement

50. Great Tree of Peace The Great Law of Peace
The Confederacy arose centuries ago among separate, warring communities as a way to create harmony, unity and respect among human beings. Implicit in Iroquois political philosophy is commitment to the highest principles of human liberty. Iroquois Law"s recognition of individual liberty and justice surpasses any European parallel. Faithkeeper Oren Lyons, an Onondaga, states The Great Law of Peace includes "freedom of speech, freedom of religion, [and] the right of women to participate in government. Separation of power in government and checks and balances within government are traceable to our Iroquois constitution -- ideas learned by colonists."
The central idea underlying Iroquois political philosophy is that peace is the will of the Creator, and the ultimate spiritual goal and natural order among humans. The principles of Iroquois government embodied in The Great Law of Peace were transmitted by a historical figure called the Peacemaker. His teachings emphasize the power of Reason to assure Righteousness, Justice and Health among humans. Peace came to the Iroquois, not through war and conquest, but through the exercise of Reason guided by the spiritual mind. The Iroquois League is based not on force of arms or rule of law, but spiritual concepts of natural law applied to human society.
At the planting of a Tree of Peace in Philadelphia in 1986, Mohawk Chief Jake Swamp explained, "In the beginning, when our Creator made humans, everything needed to survive was provided. Our Creator asked only one thing: Never forget to appreciate the gifts of Mother Earth. Our people were instructed how to be grateful and how to survive.
"But during a dark age in our history 1000 years ago, humans no longer listened to the original instructions. Our Creator became sad, because there was so much crime, dishonesty, injustice and war.
"So Creator sent a Peacemaker with a message to be righteous and just, and make a good future for our children seven generations to come. He called all warring people together and told them as long as there was killing there would be no peace of mind. There must be a concerted effort by humans for peace to prevail. Through logic, reasoning and spiritual means, he inspired the warriors to bury their weapons and planted atop a sacred Tree of Peace.“ From: The Great Law of Peace by David Yarrow

51. Iroquois Impact on American Government – The Albany Plan of Union
New World Democracy
As a government, America was a bold new experiment, based on -- what were at their inception -- radical ideas in European political philosophy. These ideas were given practical expression in the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution. For Europeans, these historic documents represented a great leap forward towards realizing the ideal of "liberty and justice for all."
To the poor, often starving and indentured refugees from European feudal society, the vast, unexplored North American continent was the far dark shore of hope, an escape from the continued numbness of poverty, suffering and misery. These newcomers saw the New World as a shining symbol of freedom, fortune and the possibility of a happy future. But the New World was not only a symbol. In truth it was the birthplace and homeland of liberty and democracy -- for the arts of peace had taken root on Turtle Island many hundreds of years before.
This September at Cornell University, a special conference entitled The Iroquois Great Law of Peace and the U.S. Constitution, 200 scholars examined a lost and forgotten origin of the U.S. Constitution. Convened by the North American Indian Studies Program, this gathering reviewed historical and scholarly evidence that the oldest democracy on Earth isn't the U.S.A., but rather the Six Nation Confederacy of the Iroquois.
The Iroquois Confederacy existed centuries before the U.S. Constitution was written. Historians, anthropologists and traditional chiefs addressed the proposal the U.S. Constitution was based on the Iroquois Great Law of Peace rather than on Greek democracy, as is commonly believed and taught.
Conference speaker Bruce Barton, Chair of English at Castleton College, has written a novel on the founding of the Iroquois Confederacy. Barton summed up the evidence to support that proposal: "Modern democracy was first established here, and is not the evolutionary result of European political theories. The modern age of democracy had its origin in the vast recesses of this continent, and from here it spread throughout the world. American democracy owes its distinctive character of debate and compromise to the principles and structure of American Indian civil government."
On September 17th, Senator Daniel Inouye (D-HI), fresh from chairing summer hearings on constitutional breaches he termed "worse than Watergate," introduced a Senate Resolution to formally recognize the contribution of the Iroquois Great Law of Peace to the U.S. Constitution. Congressional hearings on the subject will begin in November. From – Great Law of Peace by David Yarrow

52. We Learn from the Iroquois
On June 11, 1776 while the question of independence was being debated, the visiting Iroquois chiefs were formally invited into the meeting hall of the Continental Congress. There a speech was delivered, in which they were addressed as "Brothers" and told of the delegates' wish that the "friendship" between them would "continue as long as the sun shall shine" and the "waters run." The speech also expressed the hope that the new Americans and the Iroquois act "as one people, and have but one heart."[18] After this speech, an Onondaga chief requested permission to give Hancock an Indian name. The Congress graciously consented, and so the president was renamed "Karanduawn, or the Great Tree." With the Iroquois chiefs inside the halls of Congress on the eve of American Independence, the impact of Iroquois ideas on the founders is unmistakable. History is indebted to Charles Thomson, an adopted Delaware, whose knowledge of and respect for American Indians is reflected in the attention that he gave to this ceremony in the records of the Continental Congress.[19] Artwork by John Kahionhes Fadden.

53. Iroquois Art
“False-face” mask, made from wood carved from a tree. Photo from: Charles Gatewood/Art Resource, NY
Dream catchers made of willow and sinew are for children and there not meant to last. Eventually the willow dries out and the tension of the sinew collapses the dream catcher.

54. Iroquois Transportation
Most movement by the Iroquois was done on foot. Messages were sent by runners.
Iroquois used canoes, dogs carts, and cradle boards to carry infants.
They built their transportation with wood, birch bark, elm bark, shag bark, hickory,white ash, and cedar.

55. Tyandaneega – Joseph Brandt
Joseph Brant was one of the most remarkable of American Indian leaders. Educated in a missionary school in Connecticut, he remained a devout Christian all his life; yet as a leader of the Iroquois fighting alongside the British, Brant came to emblemize ferocious raids on pioneer settlements like the Wyoming Valley massacre in NE Pennsylvania, in Brant disclaimed that bloody debacle, blaming it on the loyalist commander John Butler. It was such raids that eventually led to American reprisal in the form of the Sullivan expedition; and at Newtown New York, both Brant's Iroquois and Butlers rangers were thoroughly routed by Sullivan's army.

56. Cornplanter - seneca
major Iroquois leader and personal friend of George Washington
Most numerous and powerful of all the league members were the westernmost, the Senecas. The Senecas had divided really into two peoples, those in the Seneca Lake region and those on the Genesee and upper Allegheny Rivers. Cornplanter's family belonged to the latter group, called the Chenussio people. They became increasingly associated with the British and Americans at Pittsburgh. Kiasutha, Cornplanter's maternal uncle, was the local chief for the League on the Allegheny and upper Ohio rivers. At the outset of the American Revolution, British and Americans had officially urged these Indians to remain neutral. The quarrel, they stated publicly, was between a white father over the water and his sons over here and was no concern of the Indians. The Indians were anxious to believe this, but each side was just as anxious, privately, to win their assistance. At last, the British made an open appeal to the Iroquois to declare war against the Americans, using bribes of rum and goods so generous that the occasion was remembered for years. The two representatives of the Chenussio Senecas, Kiasutha, who was partial to the Americans, whom he knew at Pittsburgh, and Cornplanter, were the last to hold out for neutrality. They acquiesced, however, in the majority decision made at Oswego, July, 1777, and went off with the rest to attack the American Fort Stanwix at Rome, New York. Accompanied by his nephew Governor Blacksnake, Cornplanter fought as a "captain" of Indians through the entire war, mostly in the New York theater. A majority of historical accounts declare that Cornplanter was frequently the leader in bloody raids on the Pennsylvania frontier. Cornplanter emerged from the Revolution a principal war chief of the Senecas. After the treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States, he learned that the British, despite their promises, had neglected the interests of their Indian allies and in effect had abandoned them to the former colonists. From that time on he cast his lot with the United States, believing that his people's wisest course lay in cooperating with the new nation and making thereby the best possible terms with it. He helped the whites because he regarded this as the only way to help the Indians. Once the struggle with Britain was concluded, hardy pioneers began to push to the west and establish a new frontier. Especially attractive were the rich lands of the Genesee country in New York and the adjoining part of northwest Pennsylvania; large land companies had plans for settlement. These had been the prized hunting grounds of the Six Nations and their sylvan home for generation upon generation. The once powerful confederacy had yet to feel any weakening of its power, and its chieftains were still inclined to view themselves as lords of the wilderness. History records that the man who faced this issue in the most statesmanlike way was Cornplanter, chief of the Senecas. Less farsighted leaders among his people, such as Red Jacket, his kinsman, sought to lead them into a policy of senseless and stubborn opposition, which could have had but one outcome-the annihilation of the Iroquois. Cornplanter foresaw this and envisioned another solution-the use of peaceful bargaining in an effort to save his people, and to preserve for them a small portion of the lands over which they once held complete dominion. Such a policy was not an easy one to adopt, for the whites were grasping and unappreciative, and the authorities at New York and Philadelphia could not always enforce treaties with the Indians. It was a policy of subservience and was pursued at a terrible cost in pride and self-respect, but Cornplanter saw that it was the only policy which could preserve the remnants of the Six Nations from extinction. Thus it is that the history of Indian relations during the years from 1784 to the turn of the century is filled with the record of the influence of Chief Cornplanter, son of a white trader and a highborn Seneca woman. It was the hand of this powerful war chief of the Senecas, now using the arts of peace, which was so much in evidence behind the scenes in concluding the treaties of Fort Stanwix in 1784 and Fort Harmar in These provided a settlement of land problems and Indian relations. The possibility of trouble remained, however. During 1790 and 1791, Cornplanter earned the gratitude of Pennsylvania by his heroic effort to check the development of a threatening alliance between eastern and Ohio Indians.

57. Chief Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha) 1757- 1830
Chief Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha) , Seneca Chief, Iroquois
Photo: Courtesy of the Smithsonian, National Museum of the American Indian
Red Jacket was born in 1750 in upper New York State near Conaga, Seneca County, New York. His father was a Cayuga. His mother was a Seneca of the Wolf Clan. At age 10, he was given the name Otetiani or "always ready." At manhood, he was called Sagoyewatha (Sa-Go-Ye-Wat-Ha) which means "he keeps them awake," and he became chief of the Seneca tribe. Red Jacket was a Pine Tree chief who outshone the hereditary chiefs and he dominated tribal and village society.
As a reformed drunkard, Red Jacket advocated social harmony through temperance. The name "Red Jacket" was given to him by the British soldiers who gave him a "red coat," when he fought with the British against the colonies. Red Jacket had a great intellect and was a great orator.
In a discourse about Amerindian tolerance for the differences of others, Ronald Wright, in "Stolen Continents", relates Seneca Chief Red Jacket's response to the efforts of a White preacher to convert his people to Christianity:
"In a scene reminiscent of the debate between Franciscans and Aztec priests nearly 300 hundred years before, the formidable Red Jacket rose to reply. His answer is one of the best ever given to Christianity's claims. Which mentality, he makes one wonder, is the more primitive: that which believes itself to have a patent on truth or that which pleads for cultural diversity, for tolerance, for mutual respect?"
"Brother ... listen to what we say. There was a time when our forefathers owned this great island. Their seats extended from the rising to the setting sun. The Great Spirit had made it for the use of Indians. He had created the buffalo, the deer, and other animals for food. He had made the bear and the beaver. Their skins served us for clothing. He had scattered them over the country, and taught us how to take them. He had caused the earth to produce corn for bread.... If we had some disputes about our hunting ground, they were generally settled without the shedding of much blood. But an evil day came upon us. Your forefathers crossed the great water and landed on this island. Their numbers were small. They found friends and not enemies. They told us they had fled from their own country for fear of wicked men, and had come here to enjoy their religion. They asked for a small seat. We took pity on them, granted their request; and they sat down amongst us. We gave them corn and meat; they gave us poison in return.
"The white people, Brother, had now found our country. Tidings were carried back, and more came amongst us. Yet we did not fear them. We took them to be friends. They called us brothers. We believed them, and gave them a larger seat. At length their numbers had greatly increased. They wanted more land; they wanted our country. Our eyes were opened, and our minds became uneasy. Wars took place. Indians were hired to fight against Indians, and many of our people were destroyed. They also brought liquor amongst us. It was strong and powerful, and has slain thousands.
"Brother, our seats were once large and yours were small. You have now become a great people, and we have scarcely a place left to spread our blankets. You have got our country, but are not satisfied; you want to force your religion upon us.
"Brother, continue to listen. You say that you are sent to instruct us how to worship the Great Spirit agreeably to his mind, and, if we do not take hold of the religion which you white people teach, we shall be unhappy hereafter. You say that you are right and we are lost. How do we know this to be true? We ... only know what you tell us about it. How shall we know when to believe, being so often deceived by the white people?
"Brother, you say there is but one way to worship and serve the Great Spirit. If there is but one religion, why do you white people differ so much about it?...
"Brother, we do not understand these things. We are told that your religion was given to your forefathers, and has been handed down from father to son. We also have a religion, which was given to our forefathers, and has been handed down to us, their children. We worship in that way. It teaches us to be thankful for all the favours we receive; to love each other, and to be united. We never quarrel about religion.
"Brother, the Great Spirit has made us all, but he has made a great difference between his white and red children. He has given us different complexions and different customs.... Since he has made so great a difference between us in other things, why may we not conclude that he has given us a different religion?...
"Brother, we do not wish to destroy your religion, or take it from you. We only want to enjoy our own."
The tolerance shown by Chief Red Jacket for different views was also a trait deeply imbedded in Mi'kmaq society. It was well reflected in the method the Nation had devised to resolve disputes, whereby disputing parties were brought together for mediation and reconciliation by community members, who would then assist them to reach an agreement based on justice and fairness. When struck, the final agreement would address all major concerns of the individuals, groups or governments involved. After the opposing parties accepted an agreement, it was understood, and supported by the will of the people, that they would live by its provisions.

58. Ely Parker - Seneca
Ely Parker was a Seneca chief, a legal scholar, an engineer, a Civil War hero, and a Cabinet-level commissioner -- all by the age of 40. At first glance, his story appears to be one of success and triumph.
Yet Parker died in poverty far from the land of his birth. In later life he was estranged from his people and dismissed by political leaders he once considered friends. Today, American history remembers him as a mere footnote, and inside the Seneca community, he is a controversial figure -- considered a hero by some, branded a traitor by others.
This web site offers insight into Ely Parker -- the human being -- and his accomplishments, which reach an almost mythical level. In the timeline below (starting with "A Time of Crisis") you can explore Parker's thoughts, his youthful dreams, his front-line battle experiences with General Grant during the Civil War, and the reflections and regrets of his final years.

59. Chief Oren Lyons CHIEF OREN LYONS JO AG QUIS HO
Faithkeeper, Turtle Clan, Onondaga Nation, Haudenosaunee, Six Nations, Iroquois Confederacy Cattaraugus Indian Reservation, New York
Oren R. Lyons is a traditional Faithkeeper of the Turtle Clan, and a member of the Onondaga
Nation Council of Chiefs of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy. He is Professor of American Studies at the State University of New York at Buffalo, where he directs the Native American Studies Program.
Oren Lyons was born in 1930 and raised in the traditional lifeways of the Iroquois on the Seneca and Onondaga reservations in northern New York state. After serving in the Army, he graduated in 1958 from the Syracuse University College of Fine Arts. He then pursued a career in commercial art in New York City, becoming the art and planning director of Norcross Greeting Cards with 200 artists under his supervision. He has exhibited his own paintings widely and is noted as an American Indian artist.
Since his return to Onondaga in 1970, Chief Lyons has been a leading advocate for American Indian causes. He is recognized not only in the United States and Canada but internationally as an eloquent and respected spokesperson on behalf of Native peoples. He is a sought-after lecturer or participant in forums in a variety of areas, including not only American Indian traditions, but Indian law and history, human rights, environment and interfaith dialogue, and has received numerous honors and awards.
For over fourteen years he has taken part in the meetings in Geneva of Indigenous Peoples of the Human Rights Commission of the United Nations, and helped to establish the Working Group on Indigenous Populations in He serves on the Executive Committee of the Global Forum of Spiritual and Parliamentary Leaders on Human Survival, and is a principal figure in the Traditional Circle of Indian Elders, an annual council of traditional grassroots leadership of the major Indian nations of North America. He was a negotiator between the governments of Canada, Quebec, and New York State and the Mohawk Indians in the crisis at Oka during the summer of 1990, and led a delegation of seventeen American Indian leaders which met with President Bush in Washington on April 16, 1991.
A lifelong lacrosse player, Oren Lyons was an All-American in this sport, which was invented by the Iroquois, and the Syracuse University team had an undefeated season during his graduating year. He is currently Honorary Chairman of the Iroquois Nationals Lacrosse Team, which competed in the summer of 1990 at the World Games in Perth, Australia, against the national teams of the United States, Canada, Great Britain and Australia. In 1989 he was named Man of the Year in Lacrosse by the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Chief Lyons was the subject of a one-hour television documentary produced and hosted by Bill Moyers, which was broadcast on PBS on July 3, He has authored numerous books including Exiled in the Land of the Free; Democracy, Indian Nations, and the U.S. Constitution; as well as Voice of Indigenous Peoples (1992), and Native People Address the United Nations (1994), both by Clear Light Publishers, Santa Fe, NM.
Chief Lyons is a tenured professor of American Studies at the State University of New York, Buffalo

60. Naho
Naho – “It is Finished” , Let it Stand, The End

61. Native American Internet Resources:
An excellent resource with many links can be found at:

62. The Wenro Instructor’s Notes Wenro Location
Western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania centering around the present town of Cuba, New York.
Population
The Wenro were a small tribe of somewhere between 1,200 and 2,000 people. The number of their villages is unknown, but from the pattern of their dispersal in 1639, there appears to have been either two or three. The Wenro ceased to exist as a tribe in Any descendents would be found among the Iroquois, the Seneca of Oklahoma, or possibly the Wyandot.
Names
Wenro is a short form of their Huron name, Wenrohronon, meaning "the people of the place of floating scum." The name derived from the location of their main village near the site of the famous oil spring at Cuba, New York. Other names given them by the Iroquois, with approximately the same meaning, were Ahouenrochrhonon and Ouenrionon.
Language
Iroquian
Culture
What little is known about them has come to us from the Huron, since there was no direct contact between the Wenro and Europeans until after a large group of Wenro refugees came to the Huron villages in Oil was highly prized by the Iroquian tribes in the region for its medicinal properties, and the trade for this commodity is the major reason the Wenro maintained good relations with the Huron. It can safely be presumed that the Wenro lived in a manner very much like their other Iroquian neighbors. If true, they farmed extensively (corn, beans and squash) with hunting, gathering, and fishing providing the remainder of their diet. Political and social organization are unknown, but since all other Iroquian people traced descent through the mother, it is probable the Wenro did also. None of their village sites have been specifically identified, so their housing (large longhouses) must have been the same as the Iroquois who lived in the area after the Wenro had been forced to abandon the area. It is not known whether their villages were fortified, but considering their situation, this should have been the case.
History
The Wenro occupied a strategic position at the eastern end of Lake Erie just south of Niagara Falls that possessed a valuable item in Native American trade, oil. This alone may have been the reason they were the first victim of the Beaver Wars. As a small tribe, they were required to protect themselves from the large confederations which surrounded them (specifically the Iroquois) through a three-way alliance with the Erie to the west and the Neutrals across the Niagara River in southern Ontario. However, their closest ties, language and cultural, appear to have been with the Neutrals. For reasons unknown, the Wenro alliance with the Erie and Neutrals ended during The withdrawal of their protection by the Neutrals apparently was critical. As an epidemic swept through the Wenro villages that year, the Iroquois learned that the Neutrals would no longer help and attacked the Wenro.
Quickly overrun, most of the Wenro were driven across the Niagara River into Ontario. Many moved in with the Neutrals, but one large group of about 600 Wenro were given refuge by the Huron Confederacy. However, one group of Wenro remained east of the Niagara River and fought with the Iroquois until Finally forced to abandon New York, the survivors fled west and became part of the Neutrals. At this point the Wenro had ceased to exist. Their reprieve was only temporary. The Wenro with the Huron were either killed or captured (and later adopted) in 1649 when the Iroquois destroyed the Huron Confederacy. Two years later, the same fate befell the Wenro that had become part of the Neutrals ( ), when the Iroquois vanquished this rival.

63. Instructor’s Notes contd.
The Seneca
Seneca
The Senecas call themselves on¸otowá[?]ka[?], 'People of the Big Hill." Their name in Iroquois Confederacy councils is Ho-nan-ne-hó-ont, "the Door Keeper." Historically, they were the westernmost nation of the League of the Iroquois and are depicted as being the "western door" of the figurative extended longhouse of the confederacy, reaching across New York State, with the Mohawks as the "eastern door" and the Oneidas, Onondagas, and Cayugas extending westward in that order to the Senecas. Foreign ambassadors wishing to approach the Iroquois were reminded to enter by one of the doors, through which they or their messages could pass to the other nations.
The Senecas, Mohawks, and Onondagas are the Elder Brothers of the Iroquois Confederacy and have reciprocal relationships within league councils with the Oneidas and Cayugas, the Younger Brothers. The Senecas have eight chiefs in the confederacy.
At the time of first contact with Euro-Americans, the Senecas occupied what is now western New York State. The western Senecas lived near the Genessee and Allegheny Rivers, and the eastern group near Canandaigua Lake. They resided in two large, and one or two smaller, agriculturally based villages. Agriculture was supplemented by hunting, fishing, and the gathering of fruits and vegetables.
From 1641 to 1684, the Senecas, together with other Iroquois, warred against nations to the northwest, west, and south of them to control trade, to forge alliances, and to "fill the places" of the dead among them. Captives from as far away as Canada and the Great Lakes region were often absorbed among the Senecas and other Iroquois. Conflict with the French, who were expanding westward, also ensued. A peace treaty with the French in 1653 opened the door for the Jesuit missionary Joseph Chaumonot, who visited the Senecas in The Senecas preferred traders to missionaries, however.
Another peace treaty was signed in Nonetheless, relations with the French remained tense. The Senecas were invaded unsuccessfully by a French force under the command of Joseph-Antoine Le Febvre de La Barre in 1684, and successfully in July 1687 by another led by Jacques René de Brisay, marquis de Denonville, which resulted in the burning of Seneca villages and cornfields. Hostile feelings between French and Senecas continued until treaties of neutrality were signed between the Iroquois and the French, and the Iroquois and the English, in 1701.
During King George's War ( ) and the Seven Years' War ( ), Seneca warriors, especially western Senecas and others who had begun to settle in multicultural villages in the Ohio region, often supported the French, largely because of the influence of a trader, Louis-Thomas Chabert de Joncaire, who had been raised as a captive among the western Senecas.
The defeat of the French by the English in 1763 left Senecas with no diplomatic foil for the advancement of English colonists into Indian country. In that year Senecas in the Ohio region and the western Senecas joined the nationalistic Pan-Indian movement led by the Ottawa war leader Pontiac. Pontiac's failure to capture Detroit in 1763 weakened the Senecas' negotiating position with the English. They were induced to cede strategic land at Niagara.
During the American Revolution, Senecas such as the warriors Cornplanter, Blacksnake, and Red Jacket aggressively supported the British as the best option against land-hungry Americans. The Americans retaliated in 1779, when General John Sullivan led an expedition that burned their crops and villages, and forced communities to flee northward

64. Instructor’s Notes contd.
The Mohawk
The Mohawk
By Zoltan E. Szabo – Rooseveltown NY 1997
KANIEN'KEHAKE or "People of the Flint." You might ask, "Who are the Mohawks?" Well, the Mohawk Nation is one of five founding nations of the Iroquois Confederacy formed by neighboring and closely related North American Native Nations: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and the Seneca. According to the oral history of the Iroquois, the founding date was some time between AD 1000 and 1450, and maybe as late as 1600 according to some writers, but certainly before the arrival of the Europeans. Later on, in the early eighteenth century, a sixth nation, the Tuscarora, was admitted to their fold, although they are still known as "The Five Nations." They were also know as the "People of the Longhouse" or HAUDENOSAUNEE (ROTINONTSIONNI) from the rectangular shape of their communal houses and the layout of their territories. Thus the lands of the Confederacy are likened to a communal house, and the role of each Nation is likened to that of the family occupying the same position in a communal house. The Mohawks guarded the territory in the East and became know as the "Eastern Doorkeepers," the Seneca were the "Western Doorkeepers." The Onondagas in the middle were the "Firekeepers" while the Cayuga and Oneida are the "Younger Brothers" and the Tuscarora the "Adopted Brothers." The name "Mohawk" was given to them by the Algonquin Nation and was later adopted by the British, Dutch, French and Americans due to the fact that it was easier to spell and to pronounce. Their true name is KANIEN'KEHAKE or "People of the Flint." By being called the Mohawks through history, they more or less accepted that name in the same manner as they accepted being called "Indians." Some people in Akwesasne are of Abenaki, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and Huron blood but the majority are of Mohawk or Kanien'kehake descent. Akwesasne today is a small remnant of the hunting and dwelling grounds that the Mohawk have occupied for eons. During the mild and warmer months they lived in the area along the St. Lawrence River, true name Kaniatarakeh. During the colder weather they migrated to the "Mohawk Valley" - what is now Central New York State - near present-day Fonda and Auriesville. The Mohawks were never tent, tee pee or wigwam dwellers. They erect tidy, comfortable and permanent homes using locally available building materials, in the past in the form of long houses (averaging in size from 80 to 120 feet) covered with Elm bark and sometimes Hemlock bark, in the present in the form of European style houses. Their St. Regis village closely resembles the villages of central and eastern Europe, and especially the villages of the plain in eastern Hungary, the Ukraine and Russia. Thousands of years ago, according to history, when Mohawk hunters travelling from the Mohawk valley to Akwesasne for the first time, they found limitless quantities of game, moose, beaver, deer, muskrat, birds and a large variety of fish. One day, as they were exploring the area, they heard a drumming sound from over the hills. They started to follow the direction of the sound and as they climbed a hill and cleared away the bush, spotted a male partridge perched on a thick tree branch, beating his wings and generating the drumming sound. This was the first time they had witnessed the partridge's mating ceremony, and the motto, "Akwesasne, where the partridge drums its wings" is rooted in this historical description. Akwesasne was an established settlement with a large population long before the Reverend A Gordon S.J. and his followers from Kanewake further down the Mohawk River arrived to establish a mission in The Mission and the Rectory were completed in 1789 by Rev. J.A. McDonnell and his followers. They named their creation after St. Jean Francis Regis who, never entering the country but wanting to work amongst the "Indians," made numerous and generous financial contributions to the Mission. Due to its location, several tiers of government are involved in Akwesasne. The so-called American portion is administered by the St. Regis Tribal Council with offices off Route 37, Hogansburg, NY., while the Mohawk Council of Akwesasne with its offices in St. Regis village administers the so-called Canadian portion, including St. Regis and Kawehnoke (Cornwall) islands. Kawehnoke, in the infamous traditions of the Berlin Wall, is divided in two with an 8 to 10 foot tall chain link fence, topped with razor wire erected by the Canadians to protect "their rights" - rights they do not own. The Mohawk Council of Chiefs do not recognise any of the artificial boundaries imposed on them and as the natural and historic government of their peoples, administers the community as a whole, in accordance with their heritage, traditions and culture. Today, 10,000 people maintain their Haudenosaunee identity and move about freely within their territory with total condemnation and disregard towards the boundaries drawn by European immigrants. "We were always here and we will always be here."

65. Instructor’s notes contd.
The Cayuga
The Cayuga
By Mary Druke Becker Iroquois Indian Museum, Howes Cave, New York
The Cayugas form one nation of the Iroquois Confederacy. With the Oneidas, they are the Younger Brothers of the league, having reciprocal relations vis-à-vis the Elder Brothers: the Mohawks, Onondagas, and Senecas. They have ten sachemships (matrilineally inherited chieftainship positions) within the confederacy.
At the time of first contact with Euro-Americans, the Cayugas occupied three main agricultural villages in what are now Cayuga and Seneca counties in western New York State. Cayuga hunting territory ranged north to Lake Ontario and south to the Susquehanna River.
From 1641 to 1684 the Cayugas warred with other Iroquois against nations to the northwest, west, and south of Iroquois country and incorporated captives from these groups into their communities. Because the French were allied with their enemies, relations were strained with Europeans until neutrality with both France and England was established in separate treaties in 1701.
In the eighteenth century, the Cayugas continued their policy of incorporation, taking in Tutelos, Saponis, Nanticokes, and Conoys, all of whom joined the League of the Iroquois as nonvoting members under Cayuga auspices in 1753.
Although the Cayugas were officially neutral during the Seven Years' War ( ) between France and England, Cayuga warriors often joined the French. Most Cayugas, alarmed by the encroachment of English colonists into Indian country after the defeat of the French in 1763, allied themselves with the British during the American Revolution against land-hungry Americans. Cayuga villages were destroyed by American forces in After the war, New York State acquired the homeland of the Cayugas in negotiations that took place from 1789 through 1807.
Many Cayugas moved to the Six Nations Reserve in Ontario, Canada, where they joined other Iroquois displaced by the war. Most practice the Longhouse religion instituted by the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake between 1799 and 1815, and accept the authority of the hereditary Confederate Council. Some of the leading Iroquois ritualists of the 1990s are Cayugas living at Six Nations Reserve.
After the American Revolution, other Cayugas settled with Senecas at Buffalo Creek (near present-day Buffalo, New York), where they, too, were exposed to Handsome Lake's teachings. Although some Cayugas in modern-day communities are Christian, missionary efforts among them met with less success than they did among other Indian nations. Buffalo Creek was ceded at the Treaty of Buffalo Creek in Cayugas there then moved with Senecas to the Cattaraugus Reservation. In 1848, the people of Cattaraugus and the Allegany Seneca Reservation joined politically to form the Seneca Nation, with an elective system of government.
As a result of the Buffalo Creek treaty, a few Cayugas, along with some Senecas, moved to Kansas. Although most returned, a very small number stayed, eventually receiving allotments of land.
Another band of Cayugas settled on the Little Sandusky River in Ohio between 1807 and 1817; from there they moved to Oklahoma in From 1887 to 1903, most Iroquois land in Oklahoma was allotted to individuals, though some was kept as tribally owned property for ceremonial and burial grounds. In 1934, the Oklahoma group adopted the name "Seneca/Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma" and established an elective council.
Although the Cayugas are without their original homeland, they have not given up hope of reclaiming it. An official land claim was initiated in the late 1970s and was still being negotiated in the mid-1990s. The Cayugas have very persuasive arguments, the strongest being that, contrary to federal law, their land was acquired through treaties conducted by New York State rather than by federal officials.