Shawnee enemies: The Iroquois
Last week I introduced you to two Native American groups that shared a deep brotherly bond with the Shawnee, the Delaware and the Kickapoo. This week we will begin to explore the enemies of the Shawnee and how the relationships with these people influenced the lives the entire Shawnee people. The Shawnee people had many enemies yet one group of Native American people had the greatest devastating impact on the Shawnee. The Iroquois.
An Iroquois man in traditional clothes
next to a reconstructed longhouse by Nathan Benn/CorbisThe People of the Longhouse
The Iroquois are often referred to today as being one tribe yet they are not. Known as the Hodensaunee, or People of the Longhouse, the group is a confederation of six different Iroquoian speaking nations. These being the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onodagas, Cayugas, Senecas and Tuscaroras. Originally the confederacy had not included the Tuscaroras since they joined the confederacy as non-voting members in 1722 AD. The confederation of tribes originally inhabited the present day central and upper New York state areas. By the seventeenth century they were already trying to expand the lands they controlled. Although there were other Iroquois speaking tribes outside the New York area they were not members of the confederacy.
No one knows the exact date of when the confederacy was formed. Oral Iroquois tradition and archaeological evidence supports that the league could not have been formed prior to 1490 AD but was probably completed by sometime around 1525 AD. Iroquois tradition states before the league of nations was founded, "Everywhere there was peril and everywhere mounting....Feuds with other nations, feuds with brother nations, feuds with sister towns and feuds of families and of clans made every warrior a stealthy man who liked to kill....A man's life was valued as nothing." There was an endless cycle of killing and retribution.
By the time the French, British and Dutch reached the Iroquois homelands for the first time in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the explorers were amazed to find a complex political system already in place within the Iroquois confederacy. Over a hundred years later, when the founding fathers were developing our constitution and laws, it would be the Iroquois Confederation they would call upon to aide them. The United States political system is one of the oldest systems in North America and is based completely on a Native American political system. Iroquois politics shaped the way our country handles local, state, federal and international matters.
Watch this video to learn more about the formation of the confederacy and how our nation was founded by the Iroquois confederacy
Expansion and War!
While the French, Dutch and English has set their sights on establishing colonies the Iroquois had their eyes on expanding their territory. War was no stranger to the Iroquois. Iroquois warriors were fierce. Much like the Shawnee, boys were trained when young with knives, war clubs, bows and arrows. When they were teenagers they were ready for their first raids against the confederacy's enemies. As a man, they could gain respect in their society through their military exploits. Also like the Shawnee, Women and children who were captured during raids were often times adopted by tribes. If a man was adopted he would have to walk the gauntlet. If the man did not make it to the end of the gauntlet he would be turned over to the widows where the women would avenge their husbands deaths by torturing him. Sometimes the man might be cooked alive then eaten by the warriors to absorb their enemies strength.
During the seventeenth century the Iroquois Confederacy faced many wars in their expansion efforts. Their alliance with the Dutch had provided Iroquois warriors with plenty of firearms. During the first half of the seventeenth century, the Iroquois found themselves in a war for control of the Saint Lawrence Valley with the Huron. The Huron's population was comparative to the Iroquois Confederacy. An Iroquoian speaking group, the Huron had established trade relations with the French in the Saint Lawrence Valley. The Iroquois controlled the Lake Ontario and the valley leading up to Quebec, which had been founded by the French in 1608. Quebec was strategically important for both the Iroquois Confederacy and the Huron in that it was a trade hub for French-Native trade. From 1616 to 1649, the Huron had a large trade empire with the French. Their trading empire allowed villages to north, who were too far north to farm, to trade furs with the villages to the south for corn and beans. The Huron trade only grew larger after the French came to their area.
Fifty years before the French had arrived to the arrive the Iroquois and Huron had begun to dispute claims on the Saint Lawrence Valley, west of Ontario. By the time the French had established Quebec the area was already a war zone. In 1610, combined forces of French, Algonkin and Huron forced the Mohawk to leave the Saint Lawrence Valley. Afterwards, the Mohawk established trade with the Dutch. The confederacy returned with a vengeance for control of the valley in the 1640's. Well armed and organized the Iroquois launched military units across Huron lands annihilating every village and their inhabitants. The Hurons burned their own villages then scattered across the countryside in fear for their lives. The Iroquois burned any French missionary they had captured at the stake. Hurons who survived had survived the invasion fled in all directions. One of these groups made their way into Ohio and settled along Lake Erie. They are known as the Wyandot.
A Wyandot woman
Join me Tuesday as we take a look into the corsets of the Progressive Era America.
Then join me again on Thursday as we learn about the Beaver Wars; the fight between the Iroquois and Shawnee.
What is your favorite season and why?
An Iroquois man in traditional clothes next to a reconstructed longhouse by Nathan Benn/CorbisThe People of the Longhouse
The Iroquois are often referred to today as being one tribe yet they are not. Known as the Hodensaunee, or People of the Longhouse, the group is a confederation of six different Iroquoian speaking nations. These being the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onodagas, Cayugas, Senecas and Tuscaroras. Originally the confederacy had not included the Tuscaroras since they joined the confederacy as non-voting members in 1722 AD. The confederation of tribes originally inhabited the present day central and upper New York state areas. By the seventeenth century they were already trying to expand the lands they controlled. Although there were other Iroquois speaking tribes outside the New York area they were not members of the confederacy.
No one knows the exact date of when the confederacy was formed. Oral Iroquois tradition and archaeological evidence supports that the league could not have been formed prior to 1490 AD but was probably completed by sometime around 1525 AD. Iroquois tradition states before the league of nations was founded, "Everywhere there was peril and everywhere mounting....Feuds with other nations, feuds with brother nations, feuds with sister towns and feuds of families and of clans made every warrior a stealthy man who liked to kill....A man's life was valued as nothing." There was an endless cycle of killing and retribution.
By the time the French, British and Dutch reached the Iroquois homelands for the first time in the beginning of the seventeenth century, the explorers were amazed to find a complex political system already in place within the Iroquois confederacy. Over a hundred years later, when the founding fathers were developing our constitution and laws, it would be the Iroquois Confederation they would call upon to aide them. The United States political system is one of the oldest systems in North America and is based completely on a Native American political system. Iroquois politics shaped the way our country handles local, state, federal and international matters.
Watch this video to learn more about the formation of the confederacy and how our nation was founded by the Iroquois confederacy
Expansion and War!
While the French, Dutch and English has set their sights on establishing colonies the Iroquois had their eyes on expanding their territory. War was no stranger to the Iroquois. Iroquois warriors were fierce. Much like the Shawnee, boys were trained when young with knives, war clubs, bows and arrows. When they were teenagers they were ready for their first raids against the confederacy's enemies. As a man, they could gain respect in their society through their military exploits. Also like the Shawnee, Women and children who were captured during raids were often times adopted by tribes. If a man was adopted he would have to walk the gauntlet. If the man did not make it to the end of the gauntlet he would be turned over to the widows where the women would avenge their husbands deaths by torturing him. Sometimes the man might be cooked alive then eaten by the warriors to absorb their enemies strength.
During the seventeenth century the Iroquois Confederacy faced many wars in their expansion efforts. Their alliance with the Dutch had provided Iroquois warriors with plenty of firearms. During the first half of the seventeenth century, the Iroquois found themselves in a war for control of the Saint Lawrence Valley with the Huron. The Huron's population was comparative to the Iroquois Confederacy. An Iroquoian speaking group, the Huron had established trade relations with the French in the Saint Lawrence Valley. The Iroquois controlled the Lake Ontario and the valley leading up to Quebec, which had been founded by the French in 1608. Quebec was strategically important for both the Iroquois Confederacy and the Huron in that it was a trade hub for French-Native trade. From 1616 to 1649, the Huron had a large trade empire with the French. Their trading empire allowed villages to north, who were too far north to farm, to trade furs with the villages to the south for corn and beans. The Huron trade only grew larger after the French came to their area.
Fifty years before the French had arrived to the arrive the Iroquois and Huron had begun to dispute claims on the Saint Lawrence Valley, west of Ontario. By the time the French had established Quebec the area was already a war zone. In 1610, combined forces of French, Algonkin and Huron forced the Mohawk to leave the Saint Lawrence Valley. Afterwards, the Mohawk established trade with the Dutch. The confederacy returned with a vengeance for control of the valley in the 1640's. Well armed and organized the Iroquois launched military units across Huron lands annihilating every village and their inhabitants. The Hurons burned their own villages then scattered across the countryside in fear for their lives. The Iroquois burned any French missionary they had captured at the stake. Hurons who survived had survived the invasion fled in all directions. One of these groups made their way into Ohio and settled along Lake Erie. They are known as the Wyandot.
A Wyandot womanJoin me Tuesday as we take a look into the corsets of the Progressive Era America.
Then join me again on Thursday as we learn about the Beaver Wars; the fight between the Iroquois and Shawnee.
What is your favorite season and why?
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