Hiawatha was a great leader in History and helped shape the Great Law of Peace for the 6 Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy.
The Iroquois people was actually a name given from the Settlers and the Algonquin. The original word to describe these powerful people were the Haudenosaunee or people of the Long House.
The earliest date that Scholars believe that the League of the 5 Nations was created was in 1142. The Haudenosaunee believe that it was created long before this date.
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The Great Peacemaker
The Story told that the Great Peacemaker known as Dekanawida who was born of the Huron Nation and received a vision of Peace that he would dedicated his life to as his life’s mission.
It was said that Dekanawida was born from a virgin mother so his coming about was a miracle.
A legend tells that he first approached the Mohawks with his vision and they refused his vision. He decided to win them over another way, by showing them purity and spiritual power.
He climbed the highest tree near the Cohoes Falls and told the Mohawks to cut down the tree. The tree fell over into the falls and they witnessed him fall into the rapids and swept away.
They presumed he was dead, but the next morning they saw him near a campfire. They were so impressed by what he had done that they became the founding tribe of the Confederacy.
Hiawatha
After this moment Dekanawida met a wanderer named Hiawatha
Hiawatha had lost everything he loved. He lost his wife and all of his children to his leader and Chief – Tadodaho
Tadodaho was the most feared leader out of all the 5 nations. He was the primary chief of the Onondaga People. He was not to be persuaded into joining the League of Peace.
Jigonhsaseh
Hiawatha new peace was needed and joined in on Dekanawida’s vision of peace. Dekanawida than united Hiawatha with another great person by the name of Jigonhsaseh, which means “she who lives on the road to war”.
Jigonhsaseh lived near the path of the warrior. She would often invite warriors from different tribes into her Long House and feed them from the same bowls.
It was said if other tribes ate from the same bowl they would become related through kinship. She was already creating mini alliances between enemy tribes through this practice.
Together Dekanawide (The Great Peacemaker), Jigonhsaseh, and Hiawatha formed the movement of the Great Law of Peace and set out to join the 5 Nations together.
The Original 5 Nations
The original 5 nations that fought amongst each other was the Seneca, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, and the Mohawk.
Each of these nations had their own language, customs, and values.
The job of the original 3 founders of the Great Law of Peace had a job to do to unite these five nations together who were so used to fighting each other.
They had some easy success in bringing in three of these tribes.
The Cayuga, Oneida, and the Mohawks.
The other two tribes were tougher and they were the Onondaga and the Seneca. Two power houses which had a lot of power.
Onondaga Nation and Chief Tadodaho
Tadodaho was the leader of the the Onondago People. He was said to be a very ruthless person who was even seen as a sorcerer with snakes in his hair.
He was feared among the other tribes and fought often with the Cayuga and Seneca People.
Tadodaho was also seen as a huge hinderance to the Great Law of Peace. They new that in order to make the Peace happen that they needed Tadodaho to be apart of it.
It was said that Tadodaho had 7 crooks in his body which made him look crooked and that he also had a twisted mind to match.
The Ceremony
Eventually they convinced Tadodaho to take part in a ceremony that was performed by the Mother of Nations (Jigonhsaseh) which helped to soothe Tadodaho’s mind and smooth out the crookedness in his body.
After they completed the ceremony and got rid of the evil in his body and combed out his hair, he came on board to join the Great Law of Peace.
Finally all 5 Nations were united in the Great Law of Peace
Wampum Belt
A Wampum belt was created to show the symbol of peace. The belt united each tribe together which is still represented today.
The belt is made up of quahog clam shells. The belt is made up of White and Purple coloured shells. The white connects all the tribes together to signify them as a whole.
The United States Constitution and The Haudenosaunee Confederacy
George Washington and Benjamin Franklin, are known to have greatly admired the concepts of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy;
They admired the concepts so much that they used the philosophy to help create the Constitution itself.
The Haudenosaunee Confederacy Today
Today the Haudenosaunee Confederacy is a strong proud nation holding on to their ways and traditions. They have some of the largest tribes in Canada and United States.
These nations also host amazing Powwows that you can visit where they will host you and your family to come dance and sing.
Visit them at their website as well to learn more of these great people.
Interesting fact is they have one of the Wealthiest Native American’s on the planet as well.
