Iroquois (Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas)

Important confederacy of indigenous peoples of the Iroquoian language family and of the Eastern Woodlands culture area.

It was founded in the 16th century in what is now central New York State. The original confederacy consisted of five tribes-the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, Oneida, and Seneca-and was known as the Five Nations, or the League of Five Nations. Sometime between 1715 and 1722, however, the Tuscaroras, an Iroquoian tribe originally of North Carolina, which had migrated to New York, was formally admitted to the confederacy, and the name of the league was changed to the Six Nations, or the League of Six Nations. As representative members of the Iroquoian family, and the ones first encountered and later most intensively studied by white people, the Iroquois gave their name to the family of which they are a part.

The Iroquois had an agricultural economy, based mainly on corn, with supplementary crops of pumpkins, beans, and tobacco and later of orchard fruits such as apples and peaches. They made fine pottery, splint baskets, and mats of corn husk and used wampum as a medium of exchange. Public records were woven into the designs of large wampum belts.

Each town contained several long, bark-covered communal houses, which had both tribal and political significance; along their inner sides the families of a clan lived in semiprivate compartments, and the central areas were used as social and political meeting places. The common council of the entire confederacy met in such meeting places. These councils were fairly democratic in composition; delegates were elected by members of various lineages, and each delegate represented both a tribe and one of the matrilineal clans within a tribe.

The office of delegate was restricted to chiefs, and every delegate had to meet the approval of both tribal and league councils. If the conduct of any delegate was perceived as improper, or if he lost the people's confidence, the women of his clan officially expelled him and chose another delegate to serve in his place.

The league as a whole had no single head, and deliberative decisions were usually made by a unanimous vote of the league council. The complexity and stability of this political organization, together with a carefully nurtured skill in warfare and the early acquisition of firearms, enabled the Iroquois to achieve and maintain a position of great power during the colonial period of American history.

During their formative period in the 17th century they broke up the tribal confederacies to their west, notably that of the Hurons.

They continued to expand the territory under their dominion until by 1720 they had subdued almost all the tribes in a vast region extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from the St. Lawrence River to the Tennessee River.

In their relations with white settlers, the Iroquois from the start played the role of an independent power. During the colonial period they held the balance of power between the French and English, particularly in the area around the Canadian border.

With few exceptions, chiefly factions of the Mohawk and Cayuga, who came under the influence of French Jesuit missionaries, the Iroquois allied themselves with English interests. They bitterly opposed the extension of French settlement southward from Canada, and they were responsible for preventing the English colonies from being flanked on the west by the French.

At the outbreak of the American Revolution, the league council declared for neutrality but allowed each of the six component tribes to take sides as it saw fit. Most of them joined the British.

After the revolution, the Mohawk, under their leader, Joseph Brant, crossed into Canada; they were followed by the Cayuga, and both tribes were eventually settled on two reservations to the north of Lakes Erie and Ontario.

The Tuscarora are scattered, although a number have found a home among the Mohawk; most of the Oneida are settled at Green Bay, Wisconsin, and most of the Seneca in western New York; the Onondaga still hold their valley near Syracuse, New York.

Despite their political importance, the confederacy probably never numbered more than 25,000. In 1990, 49,038 people in the United States identified themselves as Iroquois.

Masks play an important role in the culture of many indigenous communities, including that of the Iroquois. This "false-face" mask is made of wood carved from a living tree, but the Iroquois are also known for their cornhusk masks. Charles Gatewood/Art Resource, NY

"Iroquois," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2000 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2000 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Mohawk (people)

Mohawk (people), Native North American tribe of the Iroquoian language family and of the Eastern Woodlands culture area. Once the easternmost and chief people of the Five Nations of the Iroquoian Confederacy, the Mohawk had nine delegates on the confederacy council, three from each clan—the Wolf, the Bear, and the Turtle. They occupied the Mohawk River valley and were semisedentary; the women farmed and the men fished or hunted, depending on the season. As in other Iroquoian tribes, families lived together in large bark-covered dwellings called longhouses. Each community was governed by a ruling council and a village chief.

Their first encounter with Europeans was in 1609 when they fought against the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. They were early associated with the Dutch, from whom they bought firearms, and later most became firm allies of the British, fighting with them first against the French and then against the American colonists. After the American Revolution the Mohawk took refuge in Canada, where many have remained. About 5000 reside on reservations at Brantford, Ontario, and at the Bay of Quinte. They still farm, and many work in construction. Two settlements are found in Franklin and Saint Lawrence counties in New York State. According to the 1990 census, 15,490 people in the United States reported being of Mohawk descent.

"Mohawk (people)," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Oneida

Oneida, North American tribe belonging linguistically to the Iroquoian family and forming part of the Iroquois Confederacy. The name by which the tribe is known is a corruption of an indigenous word meaning “standing rock,” referring to a boulder sacred to the tribe situated near the site of their ancient village on Lake Oneida, New York. Their territory included the region surrounding the lake and later extended south to the Susquehanna River.

The tribe was friendly toward the French colonists and Jesuit missionaries, although most members of the confederacy were hostile to the outsiders. During the American Revolution the Oneida sided with the colonists and were obliged to take refuge within the American settlements when their fellow tribes took the side of the British. After the war most of the Oneida returned to Canada and settled in the region of the Thames River, Ontario, where their descendants still remain. Between 1820 and 1835, most of the Oneida who had returned to their homes in New York State sold their land and moved to a reservation near Green Bay, Wisconsin.

The Oneida number about 3500.

"Oneida," Microsoft® Encarta® Online Encyclopedia 2001 http://encarta.msn.com © 1997-2001 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Seneca Indians

The Seneca Indian tribe living in Ohio during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries was not a part of the Seneca Indian tribe from New York. The Seneca in New York were one of the most powerful tribes of the Iroquois Indians. The Ohio Seneca Indians spoke the Iroquois language, but they joined with the Algonquian Indian tribes of the Ohio country in their wars with the Iroquois. The Ohio Seneca Indians were probably a group of Mingo and other Iroquois Indians who escaped to the Ohio country to avoid being conquered by the New York Iroquois.

They came to live along the Sandusky River after the American Revolution. They gave up their claim to much of their lands in Ohio with the signing of the Treaty of Greenville (1794). In 1831, they gave up their claim to their remaining lands in Ohio under the terms of the Treaty of Lewistown.

from the Ohio Historical Society Site, for much more information, please visit their site!

The Iroquois Indians

The Iroquois Indians originally lived around Lake Ontario. At around A.D. 1600, five Iroquois tribes banded together to form a confederacy: the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas. A sixth tribe was added to the confederacy -- the Tuscarawas -- in 1722. There were other tribes who spoke a form of the Iroquois language, but who were not part of the Iroquois Confederacy. For example, the Erie Indians were related to the Iroquois. They lived along the eastern shores of Lake Erie in New York and Pennsylvania. The Iroquois Confederacy considered them enemies and wiped out the entire tribe.

By 1650 the Iroquois began to push their way into the rich Ohio country beyond the lands of the Erie. They conquered and drove out the Algonquian Indian tribes living in Ohio. These wars are known as the Beaver Wars because the Iroquois wanted more land for hunting and trapping beaver and deer.

The Iroquois never really lived in Ohio. They only came here to hunt. For a long time, other Indians were afraid to live here without the permission of the Iroquois.

Text & pic from the Ohio Historical Society Site, for much more information, please visit their site!

Iroquois

Derived from an Algonkian word meaning "serpent."

In the seventeenth century, the five member tribes of the League of the Iroquois of the Five Nations Confederacy (Kayanerenh-kowa, "the great peace," also known as Kanonsionni, the "long house") inhabited the territory south of the St. Lawrence River and Lake Ontario, from roughly the Richelieu River and Lake Champlain to Rochester, in what is now the State of New York.

From east to west, they were: the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and Senecas.

Their struggle with the Hurons for control of the fur trade largely dominated the military history of New France from the 1630s until the arrival of the Carignan-Salish regiment, in the summer of 1665.

(DCB Dictionary of Canadian Biography"," G. Brown"," ed.)
Museum of Civilization, Ottawa, Canada

Mohawks

Language

The Mohawk language is part of the Iroquoian linguistic group. Around 15% of the total population of the Mohawk Nation in Quebec speak their language.

Total Population

The single largest population of any First Nation in Quebec, there are upwards of 14,735 people in the Mohawk Nation, with more than 12,450 residents in one or the other of the three Mohawk communities in the province. Other communities are located in Ontario, and the United States.

Territories

In the 16th century, the Mohawks were a member of the powerful Iroquois confederation known as the Five Nations, or Haudenosaunee, and their territories covered much of what is still known as New England. Today, there are three Mohawk territories in Quebec, one of which straddles the borders of Quebec, Ontario and the state of New York, and with the other two located near the city of Montreal.

Communities

The three communities that make up the Mohawk Nation in Quebec are Kahnawake, Kanesatake, and Akwesane.

Organizations

Each community has its own band council for the administration of local affairs.

from First People, Native Trail, for much more information, please visite their site!

The Tuscarora & Six Nations Website contains lots of information and links about the 'Six Nations'

The Wampum Chronicles, a Website of Mohawk History represents independent research into Mohawk history. It is based on historical documentation, secondary sources, and Mohawk oral tradition. None of the conclusions or opinions are officially endorsed (nor was any endorsement ever sought) by any Mohawk government or institution.