Iroquois Topics – Page 7 of 7

The Adirondacks

The Iroquois were not always the same fierce, rapacious and blood-thirsty people which they are now familiarly known to have been, but were once engrossed in the peaceful pursuits of the husbandman. Colden graphically relates the circumstances which led them in a measure to forsake that occupation, and involved them in a war with the Adirondacks, in which they were engaged when the French first settled Canada. We quote: “The Adirondacks formerly lived three hundred miles above Trois Rivers, where now the Utawawas are situated; at that time they employed themselves wholly in hunting, and the Five Nations made planting … Read more

Tuscarora Incorporated into the Confederacy

From the conquered nations they exacted tribute, and drew conscripts for their armies. The Tuscaroras, who resided in Carolina, were incorporated into the confederacy in 1715, and thereafter they were known as the Six Nations. From the extent of their conquests, the number of their subject nations, and the tribute and military aid rendered them by the latter, they have been called the “Romans of the New World.” When we reflect that of their own warriors they could bring into the field barely 2,000 braves, and with this number subjugated nations numerically more than twice as large, and spread terror … Read more

Hiawatha Speaks to the Tribes

At length he regained his composure and took his seat in the council, whose deliberations were participated in by the ablest counselors of the assembled nations. At the conclusion of the debate, Hiawatha, desiring that nothing should be done hastily and inconsiderately, proposed that the council be postponed one day, so that they might weigh well the words which had been spoken, when he promised to communicate his plan for consideration, assuring them of his confidence in its success. The following day the council again assembled and amid breathless silence the sage counselor thus addressed them: “Friends and Brothers: You … Read more

Iroquois Ceremonies

Among the Iroquois, and, indeed, all the stationary tribes, there was an incredible number of mystic ceremonies, extravagant, puerile, and often disgusting, designed for the cure of the sick or for the general weal of the community. Most of their observances seem originally to have been dictated by dreams, and transmitted as a sacred heritage from generation to generation. They consisted in an endless variety of dances, masquerading, and nondescript orgies; and a scrupulous adherence to all the traditional forms was held to be of the last moment, as the slightest failure in this respect might entail serious calamities. Dreams … Read more

Iroquois Feasts

Prodigality was as much a characteristic of their feasts as their dances and other amusements, with which they were often associated, and like them are supposed to have had their origin in religion. They were often participated in by whole villages, sometimes even by neighboring villages, and in this way a vain or ambitious host applied all his substance to one entertainment. Brbeuf relates an instance of this kind which occurred in the winter of 1635, at the village of Contarrea, where thirty kettles were over the fires, and twenty deer and four bears were served up. The invitation was … Read more

Iroquois Towns

The Indian towns were generally but an irregular and confused aggregation of Indian houses, clustered together with little regard to order, and covering from one to ten acres. They were often fortified, and a situation favorable to defense was always chosen–the bank of a lake, the crown of a difficult hill, or a high point of land in the fork of confluent rivers. These defenses were not often constructed with any mathematical regularity, but made to conform to the nature of the ground. Frequently a precipice or river sufficed for a partial defense–and the line or embankment occurred only on … Read more

Taounyawatha – Deity of the Forest

This was a part of the broad domain of the Iroquois Confederacy, which extended, in general terms, from the Hudson to the Genesee, and from the north to the south boundary of this State. This confederacy was composed of the following nations, located in the following order from east to west, the Mohawk, (Ganeagaonos,) Its origin is buried in the obscurity of vague tradition and was unknown to civilized nations in 1750. on the river which bears their name, the Oneida, (Onayotekaonos) Onondaga, (Onundagaonos) Cayugas, (Gwengwehonos) and Seneca, (Nundawaonos) mostly adjacent to the lakes which bear their names. The traditions … Read more

History of the Iroquois Indians

We have no authentic history of a people inhabiting this country anterior to those who occupied it on the advent of the Europeans, and who are classed under the generic term Indians. Even their history prior to their intimate association with civilized people is shrouded in obscurity and is transmitted to us in the form of vague and fragmentary legends. The aborigines were a barbaric race and have left no written history, except that we occasionally discover traces of their rude paintings and still ruder engravings. But this is in a measure compensated by the more enduring relics, consisting of … Read more

Iroquois Domestic and Social Life

We purpose giving in this chapter some of the more prominent features of Indian domestic and social life, which furnish the best index to their true character. The Indian, viewed as a distinct branch of the human family, has some peculiar traits and institutions which may be advantageously studied. They furnish the key to those startling impulses which have so long made him an object of wonder to civilized communities, and reveal him as the legitimate product of the conditions attending his birth, his forest education, and the wants, temptations and dangers which surround him. They show him also to … Read more

Iroquois Social Interactions

Family discipline was little resorted to. Filling the mouth with water and spurting it over the refractory urchins, or denuding and plunging them into cold water, were the principal means employed. The children were always considered the property of the wife, and in case of divorce followed her; though those who had grown up might stay with the father if they chose. Both parents were very desirous of gaining the affection of their children, and hence never opposed their inclinations, that they might not lose it. Their education therefore was not much attended to. The father generally gave the child … Read more

Iroquois Religion

Indian Guardian Manitou

French and Indian War

Iroquois Indian Bands, Gens and Clans

Many tribes have sub-tribes, bands, gens, clans and phratry. Often very little information is known or they no longer exist. We have included them here to provide more information about the tribes. Dooesedoowe (plover. Hewitt). A clan of the Iroquois. Gueyniotiteshesgue (four tribes). A phratry of the Caughnawaga Iroquois.

Iroquoian Peoples resulted in the separation of the Siouan and Algonquian Tribes

Many of the protected sites may have been constructed and occupied by the Iroquoian tribes during the movement northward, and consequently a comparative study of the archeological material recovered from them should prove to be of the greatest interest. If this hypothesis is correct, it is probable that before the Iroquoian tribes had reached the left bank of the Ohio the Siouan peoples were living in security in the upper valley of the stream. The great majority were north of the river, but others, including the Catawba, may have been south of the Ohio in the mountains to the eastward. The region … Read more

Linguistic Groups at the beginning of the Sixteenth Century

The groups of tribes continued to move, and by the beginning of the sixteenth century they were located approximately as indicated on tile last map. The Iroquoian tribes had moved far eastward, and some occupied the country south of the St. Lawrence. The Hurons had settled north of Niagara, and the Eries remained south of the lake that bears their name. The Cherokee had become established far south in the Alleghenies, with Uchean tribes to the west of them. The Siouan peoples had scattered far from their ancient homes in the valley of the Ohio Some had traversed the mountainous … Read more

Iroquoian and Muskhogean Tribes after arrival East of the Mississippi

After the Iroquoian and Muskhogean Tribes had arrived East of the Mississippi.

The fertile valleys of Tennessee and Kentucky present more convincing evidence of having been occupied by a great number of tribes, at different times, than does any other section of the southeastern United States. Many of the tribes differed in manners and customs, as indicated by the great variety of archeological material recovered front the innumerable sites. During the migratory movements as theoretically expressed on the maps, the present States of Tennessee and Kentucky were crossed and re-crossed by many tribes, representing the historic Siouan, Uchean, Iroquoian, and Muskhogean stocks, while probably at an early time, and certainly at a … Read more

Linguistic Stocks During the Earliest Period Migrations

Map Intended to Visualize the Position of the Several Linguistic Stocks During the Earliest Period Considered in this page. The Algonquian tribes are believed to have come from the far northwest and to have skirted the shores of the Great Lakes before reaching the country farther south. At their first coining, long before the Iroquoian peoples had arrived in the regions south of the St. Lawrence, some tribes of the Algonquian stock appear to have penetrated far south along the mountains into Tennessee or beyond, while others pushed onward into the piedmont sections of the present Virginia and of the Carolinas.