Table of Contents INTRODUCTION 6 CH A PT ERS FROM EAST TO WEST 9 BEING IROQUOIS THE MOST FAMOUS IROQUOIS 11 BEING IROQUOIS A COLORFUL HISTORY 13 BOUND BY CLAN 17 BEING IROQUOIS MAKING PEACE WITH THE SETTLERS 19 BEING IROQUOIS BRITAIN’S IROQUOIS ALLY 25 A NEW POWER IN THE NORTHEAST 27 BEING IROQUOIS THE IROQUOIS GENERAL 29 BEING IROQUOIS FROM LACROSSE TO HOLLYWOOD 31 CHOOSING SIDES 35 BEING IROQUOIS BUILDING AMERICA 37 BEING IROQUOIS CONSCIENCE OF A NATION 43 T R A DI T ION A L STORY THE CELESTIAL TREE 44 R ESOU RCES ENDNOTES 46 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY 47 READ MORE 47 WEBSITES 47 INDEX 48 C The Seneca chief Cornplanter on page 3 ceremonial items pictured here C
I R O Q U OIS c PEOPLES of NORTH AMERICA Introduction Still viewed today as one of America’s most beautiful regions northern New York was home a thousand years ago to five Indian nations that hunted in its rolling hills fished in its c many rivers and lakes and farmed its fertile soil This environment of the eastern woodlands provided food and shelter for the Oneida Onondaga Seneca Mohawk and Cayuga Known in historic times as the Iroquois those five nations and later a sixth the Tuscarora came to play an important role in the history of what would become the United States The Haudenosaunee as the Iroquois call themselves are often re ferred to as the People of the LONGHOUSE This name was given to them to show how important their dwellings were to their culture The ancestors of the Iroquois spread across northern New York as early as a d 1000 They developed a culture that revolved around farming Within two centuries of their first contact with Europeans the Iroquois became embroiled in wars between European powers and were fighting to hold on to their ancestral lands By the end of the American Revolution in 1783 the Iroquois like many Indian na tions found themselves directly in the path of persistent westward moving settlers As time went on and their lands were gradually overtaken the Iroquois struggled to maintain their culture Their story is one of the most fascinating in all of American history The Mohawk lived near Heart Lake close to the town of Lake Placid in the Adirondacks 6
