"The Iroquois Confederacy" Interpretation Sign Letchworth State Park ~ Livingston/Wyoming Counties, New York
Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora, Mohawk
The Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois League, was created around 1340, mainly to reduce warfare by binding five Iroquoian nations into one group. The five nations of the confederacy were originally" the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, & Mohawk. These nations were bound by clans & "the Great Law," the oral guidelines of the Confederacy. In 1722 the Tuscarora joined the confederacy & it became the Six Nations, the most powerful & longlasting Native political organization in the New World.
Tradition traces the beginnings of the condederacy to Dealanawidah, who is said to have befriended Hiawatha, an Onondaga, & convinced him to embrace peace & "the Great Law" as the foundation of the confederacy. A common council of clan & village chiefs united the individual nations in the confederacy. Each nation had one vote, & major decisions affecting all were decided by consensus.
*The Iroquois Confederacy was created with the adoption of the Gayanashagowa (or "Great Law of Peace"). This wampum belt is a symbolic representation of the Great Law of Peace. Wampum is the individual beads. They are used to make a wampum belt.
*The Iroquois Tree of Peace by Oren Lyons, Onondaga, The Tree of Peace is a powerful symbol of the Great Law. According to tradition, the weapons of the Iroquois were buried under this tree.
*The borders of the five, & later six, nations were fluid & changing/ The shaded regions on the map above represent the territories, circa 1720.
"The Iroquois Confederacy" Interpretation Sign Letchworth State Park ~ Livingston/Wyoming Counties, New York
Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Tuscarora, Mohawk
The Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Iroquois League, was created around 1340, mainly to reduce warfare by binding five Iroquoian nations into one group. The five nations of the confederacy were originally" the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, & Mohawk. These nations were bound by clans & "the Great Law," the oral guidelines of the Confederacy. In 1722 the Tuscarora joined the confederacy & it became the Six Nations, the most powerful & longlasting Native political organization in the New World.
Tradition traces the beginnings of the condederacy to Dealanawidah, who is said to have befriended Hiawatha, an Onondaga, & convinced him to embrace peace & "the Great Law" as the foundation of the confederacy. A common council of clan & village chiefs united the individual nations in the confederacy. Each nation had one vote, & major decisions affecting all were decided by consensus.
*The Iroquois Confederacy was created with the adoption of the Gayanashagowa (or "Great Law of Peace"). This wampum belt is a symbolic representation of the Great Law of Peace. Wampum is the individual beads. They are used to make a wampum belt.
*The Iroquois Tree of Peace by Oren Lyons, Onondaga, The Tree of Peace is a powerful symbol of the Great Law. According to tradition, the weapons of the Iroquois were buried under this tree.
*The borders of the five, & later six, nations were fluid & changing/ The shaded regions on the map above represent the territories, circa 1720.