Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier: The Penguin Library of American Indian History

by Timothy J. Shannon, George K. Wilson

A vividly drawn portrait of the powerful Iroquois nation during colonial America

In the fourth title in The Penguin Library of American Indian History, Timothy J. Shannon tells the story of the most influential Native American confederacy of the colonial era. The Iroquois occupied a strategic region between Canada and New York and engaged in active trade and diplomacy with their colonial Dutch, French, and British neighbors. While they were famous as fierce warriors, it was actually their intercultural diplomacy that accounted for the span and endurance of their power in early America.

By carefully maintaining their neutrality in the Anglo-French imperial wars in North America, they were able to claim an unrivaled influence in colonial America at a time when other Indian nations experienced dispossession and dispersal. Europeans who wanted to remain in the good graces of the Iroquois had to learn the ceremonies and the use of sacred objects that their diplomacy entailed. Shannon's portrayal contradicts the notion of the “noble savage,” showing just how politically savvy—and at times treacherous—the Iroquois Nation was in the face of colonialism.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Native Americans, Native American, American History, American, Audiobook

Audio CD

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good history of the Native American tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy, which was originally comprised of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas, and later included the Tuscaroras. It covers the 17th and 18th centuries during which time European settlers were encroaching further and further into their territory in present day central New York and the Montreal area. The focus of Shannon's book is to explain how the Iroquois Confederacy, or Six Nations, interacted with the French, Dutch and English colonies during this time-frame. It explains some of the diplomatic conferences and treaties that were negotiated and the various conflicts that arose.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be honest, this book probably deserves 4 stars, but I'm giving it extra credit!

For years I've wanted to learn more about Native Americans, but for some reason just about every book on the subject I've tried to read has ended with me not quite finishing the book.

Iriquois Diplomacy is one of the few that has kept my attention and my interest throughout the book---which is why I'm giving it the extra star.

The Iriquois are arguably one of the most important Native American organizations affecting American development. The Confederacy of 5 and later 6 Nations under one banner provided a legitimate challenge to the expansion of the United States. Their loose configuration of diplomacy has been cited by many as the foundation upon which the Constitution has been written---Shannon disputes this theory, but notes it is worth exploring.

While this book provides a number of insights into early American development and the relationship the United States had with Native Americans, one of the biggest insights for me was an understanding of the practice of Gift Giving.

In most Westerns and many histories, the giving of gifts is often portrayed as an indicator that the "Indian" is week and looking for a freebee. But this notion is utterly dispelled in this book. The importance of gift giving is not in the gift, but rather in the implied social contract surrounding the gift. In European/Middle Eastern Culture there is a notion that one does not share a meal with an enemy. Many stories/legends are born out of this notion. A classic story exists with the Knights Templar wherein the Muslim leader (Salidin?) offers the knight food. He eats it eagerly and when he passes it on to his cohort the Muslim leader kills the fellow knight because the Muslim Leader hadn't offered the food to a friend. A modern classic involves the "Black Dinner" in the Game of Thrones series. The massacre is considered a bigger afront because it occurs after the sharing of a meal.

In Western Cultures, sharing of a meal creates a social contract between the person providing the meal and the person receiving the meal. Both parties acknowledge their peaceful intentions by sharing a meal. In Native American communities (specifically Iriquois) the giving of gifts was seen as a declaration of peaceful intent. The acceptance of the gift was similarly perceived as such. While the value of the gift played a role, the act of gift giving created the social contract.

Shannon also explains that Iriquois saw two states of foreign relations... war and trade. Either you were at war with another group or you were willing to trade with them. Western culture can involve war AND trade at the same time.

The book discusses these and other cultural difference.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

An informative history of the Iroquois's complex relationships with the British(later Americans) and French in the 17th and 18th centuries. At times, I got bogged down in names, dates, and some of the finer details (a function, for me, of listening rather than reading) but the general account was worth it. Granted some of this is limited by the available sources, but I would have liked more about the Iroquois and their relationship to their indigenous neighbors. Most of this history is about the diplomacy with the European powers.

The history here is fascinating and nuanced. The author balances things well; and anyone coming in with a view that the Europeans were simply and only just imperialistic, racist land grabbers or that the Iroquois were innocent noble savages that were exploited will be disabused of these notions. The Europeans were often that but not only or always that. Along with the cynical treaties merely meant to push the Iroquois off their land, there were sincere efforts at relationship building that were successful and long-lasting. And the Iroquois were far from innocent dupes being played and exploited. They were quite astute and played the French and British off each to great effect. And the Iroquois were sometimes intentionally party to the exploitation of other native nations by the Europeans. History is always a lot more complicated and lot more interesting than what we learned in school.

[Scott Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A narrative, really a monograph, of Native American/European interactions during the 18th century. Focusing on the Iroquois and their unique brand of diplomacy. The book provides an insightful, even-handed, factual account of this time frame, while avoiding a potential downfall of interpreting or providing meta-commentary beyond the very tight focus of its subject matter.

I recently read an account of an earlier time in the exploration and settlement of the northeastern parts of North America, told from the European (specifically, French) perspective. It was pleasing to see how well this book meshes with that one, in terms of its anthropology. It was nice to get the other side of the story, albeit in a different historical setting.

Unfortunately, while the accounts are interesting, this book could have used some more thematic direction. The accounts of various treaties and conferences gets a little repetitive after a while. Certain patterns are extremely evident to the reader, but not touched upon or expounded by the author. Though very focused and detailed, the work seemed to ramble at times on subjects you wonder are relevant or not.

But, regardless, it is a fast read and it would serve very well as a book to study in a classroom setting where a group could discuss the various events and their actors. As a book, its a bit dry.

[Taseti · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the worst books that I have read on the indigenous nations of North America, except that this “his-tory” has been the rule when told by vanquishers. First and foremost, the use of the discrepant denomination of “Indian” is not only offensive for proud descendants of Aboriginal peoples, but also a flagrantly false pejorative. In this book the ridiculous term “Indian” is the fallback depiction for an aggregation of First Nation peoples. It is shameful for what is supposed to be a scholastic venture. These multitudinous tribes were able enough to sustain themselves by themselves for tens of millennia before the so-called patriots, royalists, subjects of France or any other latecomer from across the Atlantic dawned foreign shores thought to be South Asia, more specifically India. The author even uses the term “squaw” when describing the wives or partners of the Iroquois. This is the most degrading description of a native woman. It is a good old boy boorish adjective. It should never be considered a noun by any person of good repute. It seems that the purpose of this chronicle is to debase the Iroquois Confederation rather than to elucidate. This author’s calumny begins by identifying the Mohawks as cannibals. His intent seems to be not only to dispel the notion of the “noble native,” but to uplift the greedy fur traders and land grabbers as patriots, royalists, and quasi-fair-minded negotiators. The author mildly criticizes the encroachers from time to time in his “tale” but not without making an ambiguous comparison with tribal behavior. The enduring theme throughout seems to be the obstruction, destruction, interruption, and procrastination by the First Peoples under the auspices of diplomacy. The indigens of those vast territories had every right to delay, deny, defy, deceive, and trifle with those men who meant to steal limitless land for pots, pans, trinkets, and tricks not exclusive to the unprincipled William Penn cartel. The monarchs and merchants of Europe were merciless plunderers who opened the door for deportees and refugees who continued to move out the worthy, if not noble, populations. Whatever the natives did to keep the traditions of the longhouse (East and West doors) against these greedy Europeans, is to be commended; good on them for the intransigence! Yes, there were sell-outs amongst the Mohawks especially, as there is always someone who is in the business of soul-selling. On the whole, the indigenous peoples wanted to keep their lands, yes the lands of their birth, youth, woman, and manhood. It would be like the First Nation tribes insinuating themselves into European countries and expecting an even hand, moreover, to make them subordinate. The notion that the women were “sloppy” planters, and the men were “lazy” hunters is another scornful and untrue indignity. That the indigenous hunters only killed what they could use and were discriminating of which animals to “do to death” is a credit to their respect for the land. This was contrary to the diabolical decision to destroy the buffalo in mass on the plains like genocidal governmental bodies wished to impose. As far as being “sloppy” farmers, can you say, “the three sisters?” The corn, squash, and bean farming method kept those colonist coming. The author slyly interposes that the natives dressed like “doofuses” except when they were attired like an Englishman. By the way, to call the “Great Turtle Island” the “New World” while the European continent is the “Old World” is just one more chauvinistic schism in this book. (The Great Turtle Island was a name designated by the Aboriginals and a term the author never used). There was nothing balanced about this book. I dare say, were it written by a proud descendant of this great Confederation, a more realistic narrative would be offered.

[Jeffrey L · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating read. For those who think they know something about United States' Indian diplomacy, Shannon takes the reader back almost a hundred years before the American Revolution, to a period most readers are only vaguely aware of. But despite his scholarly standing, Shannon is able to write in an engaging (and sometimes humorous!) manner, carefully choosing biographical vignettes to enrich his argument. A quote from the epilogue illustrates: "No one was quite sure if [John] Norton was in fact an Indian. . . . [But he] combined many of the characteristics of the American folk heroes who were his contemporaries: Daniel Boone's wanderlust, Andrew Jackson's swagger, Davy Crockett's relentless self-invention. But Norton's story is not commonly told to American schoolchildren today, and for that matter, neither are those of the Flemish Bastard, Teganissorens, Canastego, Hendrick, William Johnson, or Molly or Joseph Brandt. Those figures, all of whom figured so prominently in the history of the colonial frontier have been ignored or written out of our history because they did not fit the mold we have created for our frontier heroes. Boone, Jackson, and Crockett were Indian fighters. Their nineteenth-century Native American counterparts--Tecumseh, Black Hawk, Crazy Horse, Geronimo--have entered their own pantheon as Indian folk heroes who fought back. We Americans prefer frontier stories in which the characters swing tomahawks, now wampum belts. The sharp contrast those tales draw between red and white leaves little room for the likes of John Norton."

[Nichola · Rating 3 out of 5]

Surprisingly readable- this covers the interactions of the Iroquois with the early settlers, the British government, the French government and the other Native Nations through the American war for Independence and shortly after. A strong but informed narrative describes their early customs and patterns of governance, the way negotiations were carried out, where the groups had their strengths and how they were undermined. Its a complex account, showing that no group acted in completely good faith all the time.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good overall. Interesting introduction to Iroquois society and the role the Six Nations played in American and Canadian History. The downside is that it's easy to loose track of the narrative because the events are so repetitive (treaty council in Montreal, treaty council in Albany, repeat as needed).

[Nathan Albright · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author of this book seems to assume that his listening audience will be entirely unfamiliar with the complexities of Iroquois diplomacy or with any of the most notable figures of it. I had heard of some of the people involved myself, like the illustrious Brant family, but some of the names were unfamiliar to me and would likely be unfamiliar to most readers of this book. At the heart of this book is a subtle (?) call for respect for the way in which the Iroquois were able to act like an attractive young woman with multiple suitors trying to keep her options open rather than seeking the sort of open warfare against colonial powers that would have led to certain defeat but enshrinement in our own cultural pantheon as noble but doomed savages in the vein of Osceola or Geronimo or Tecumseh or someone of that sort. As it is, the author praises the Iroquois not for their supposed and illusory importance in our constitutional law, nor for their military prowess or skills in government, but rather for their skills in diplomacy, and if you enjoy reading (or listening) to a thoughtful and complex work on diplomatic history [1], this book manages to do so in the familiar and yet sometimes alien context of American colonial and early American republican history.

The contents of this book are basically a chronological look at Iroquois diplomacy from its beginnings in prehistory to the early American republic. Of interest to many readers or listeners will be the fact that the Iroquois confederacy itself began out of an act of diplomacy that, at least according to oft-repeated legends, ended some brutal conflicts between various Iroquoian speaking tribes. It should be noted that the Iroquois Confederacy did not include all of the speakers of that language family and that there were many children who were adopted as youth from other cultures and who acculturated as various members of first the five nations--the Mohawks, Senecas, Cayugas, Onondagas, and Oneidas, and then the six nations when the Tuscaroras joined in the early 18th century. The book spends a lot of time discussing treaty conferences between the Iroquois and the English, Dutch, French, and later Americans, as well as the careers of particular people involved with the Iroquois or their various "props" like the Mohegans or Delaware over whom they claimed some sort of loose authority. The author also discusses the various fissures within Iroquois society between those who favored one side or another between the British and French or between the British and the Americans, and the ways that they profited off of the sale of lands belonging to other tribes over whom they held specious claims. One of the most praiseworthy aspects of the book is the way that it respects its subject without trying to whitewash it completely of blame.

If one has any reason to enjoy books about our nation's first peoples and their history, this is a worthwhile book to check out, as it demonstrates how a fairly loose confederation bound together related and culturally aligned tribes which nonetheless had a high degree of autonomy. It demonstrates the way that they used bluff and bluster to be viewed as powerful and to maintain a position of independence and dignity, and how despite the divides over acculturation with European Christianity and their widespread issues with alcoholism and economic dependence on colonial powers after they exhausted their hunting grounds and were unable to gain new ones through warfare with other tribes, they maintained a sense of identity that continues to this day. For those who have Iroquois heritage, this book gives a good reason to be proud of that heritage and some worthwhile names to be proud of. For those who desire to know more about the quirks of Iroquois diplomacy or its characteristic cliches like broken and polished chains, blocked or cleared paths, and the like, this book is also worthwhile in that it explores the language of Iroquois diplomacy as well as the exoticism in which Iroquois statesmen were viewed by Europeans and also the sordid matters of corrupt land deals and economic subsidies and annuities to fiercely proud but often dependent leaders. This book encourages its readers to place within their own mental maps a space for appreciating and remembering the remarkable achievements of the Iroquois confederacy, and presents an excellent case for the historical importance of its sachems and chiefs.

[1] See, for example:

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2014...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2016...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

https://edgeinducedcohesion.blog/2015...

[Ilse Alva]

read for class

[Cassy]

Who recommended this book to me: Interest in reading entire series curated by Calloway, first discovered at Smithsonian

[Gary · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a native of Upstate New York, I found this book to be a very interesting, very readable study of the Iroquois and their interactions with the early European settlers.

[Ash Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are two competing narratives about the Iroquois that dominate popular conceptions of them---that they were an independent and warlike people who rose up against colonial encroachments on their territory, and that they were politically advanced culture whose form of government was a major source of inspiration for the American founders. Shannon provides an evidence-based history that shows that neither of these views is particularly accurate. Far from a federalist system, the Iroquois peoples were more of a loose confederacy based largely on a clan system, often with individual towns or villages acting independently of the larger group, and all of them basically acting pragmatically in their dealings with foreign powers. He paints a picture of them as neither "noble savages", nor just plain savages (though still emerging from a state of savagery in their recent history), with large and relatively politically complex settlements. Neither the European colonists nor the Iroquois were entirely to blame for their eventual fate, though there was plenty of blame to go around on both sides. It was more a case of two very different cultures at different stages of development that very often simply couldn't understand each other. The descriptions of the ongoing diplomatic negotiations are sometimes a bit dry, but on the whole this is a very interesting read for anyone interested in Native American, or just plain American, history.

[David Bates · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timothy Shannon’s 2008 work Iroquois Diplomacy on the Early American Frontier provides a picture of an Iroquois League. Persistently misunderstood as a kind of native nation state, the Iroquois League functioned foremost as a forum for the five (later six) nations of its membership to mediate disagreements and stifle the violent cycle of retribution which racked native people’s elsewhere. Formed one to two centuries after the onset of the Little Ice Age, sometime after southern migrations of the related Susquehannocks and Tuscaroras, the League gave the Iroquois a competitive advantage under the twin stresses of European contact – disease and competition for access to trade. Rather than turn on each other the Iroquois decimated their competitors, restoring their numbers through captivity and winning valuable trade partnerships with European colonies, creating the shattered Algonquian world described by White in the Middle Ground. Playing the English, Dutch and French off against each other, and aggressively capturing and assimilating, or subordinating, other peoples, the Iroquois occupied a powerful role in the western Pennsylvania and Ohio Country which became the focus of imperial competition in the 18th century.

[Vilo · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a detailed account of the diplomacy practiced by Six Nations among themselves and with Europeans from the 1600's through the American Revolution. Thinking about the vast cultural differences it was amazing how often the Six Nations and the Europeans did manage to understand each other. Unfortunately from the beginning the Iroquois became dependent on European goods, which put them at a disadvantage. Incidentally, the first Europeans settling in Ohio were illegal aliens. Britain and the Iroquois had agreed through treaty that was Indian land but "squatters" came anyway.. Seeing the French and Indian wars and the American Revolution through an Iroquois perspective was interesting. The Revolution was devastating to the tribes. They never recovered. And the Americans were much less concerned about diplomacy with natives. The author ends with a thought that perhaps we should have more descriptions of heroes who gave speeches and negotiated rather than those who used war to express themselves.

[Homer H Blass]

Using as a textbook in my graduate course in American Diplomatic History for the first week. I found it interesting and insightful and my students found it easier going than the other text; Schiff's account of Franklin on Paris. I would like to read or at least skim the other volumes in this Penguin series on American Indian tribes and American foreign relations. There was a related article I posted from The New York Times last week. In 2010 the Iroquois nation was invited to attend the international La crosse championships in England. The Iroquois team tried to use Iroquois passpports and the English government initally insisted on American ones or the team would not be allowed to enter the country.

[Skuli Saeland · Rating 3 out of 5]

Iroquoi indjánarnir voru voldugt bandalag indjánaþjóða í norðaustur Ameríku þegar landnám álfunnar hófst. Öfugt við aðrar indjánaþjóðir beittu þeir pólitískum klækjum í samskiptum sínum við Evrópubúa og héldu lengi vel velli m.a. með því að tefla andstæðum fylkingum gegn hvorri annarri. Það var ekki fyrr en veldi þeirra hafði hnignað í kjölfar sjálfstæðisbaráttu Bandaríkjamanna, sem virtu gerða samninga lítils, að verulega fór að síga á verri hliðina. Greinargott og upplýsandi rit en þó bragðdauft.

[Amy H. Sturgis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an able and concise scholarly examination of Iroquois diplomacy through the 17th and 18th centuries. As Shannon says, the Iroquois "were flesh and blood participants in a scramble for dominion in North America, and diplomacy was their tool of choice." For those who wish to understand how the Covenant Chain functioned between the Iroquois Confederacy and other Native nations, the British, and the French, this is an excellent place to start.

[Ex Libris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid introduction for generalist reader

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Evenhanded and detailed. A little Mohawk-heavy, but I think that's driven by availability of sources. The brief historiography review in the intro was informative.

[Jackie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I learned much from this book. The chain of peace, the conflict management, the power of people in large numbers, kindness and blindness (figuratively), and the rise and fall of the Iroquois.