THROUGH THE EYES OF HAWK. . .
by Soaring Hawk
HAUDENOSAUNEE : Iroquois
Haudenosaunee (pronounced
Ho-deh-no-shaw-nee) is a confederation of tribes in the Northeastern United States and
Canada. The name by which the world knows them is Iroquois, a French insult that means
"venomous snakes." Originating as a confederacy of five tribes, it now contains
six members. The original five members are Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Mohawk. The sixth member is Tuscarora. Relatives of the Cherokee of the Southeastern
United States, the Haudenosaunee are credited with creating what historians call the
World's First Constitutional Democracy.
According to Haudenosaunee, they were a people engaged in
perpetual internecine warfare and that the practice of ritual cannibalism in which a
warrior ate the heart of a conquered enemy was commonly practiced. Amid these
circumstances, Great Spirit found it necessary to send a man to unite the tribes, bring
peace and stop barbaric practices.
This man, whom Haudenosaunee called Deganawida (pronounced
Deh-gah-nah-wee-dah) which means Peacemaker, was born to a virgin in the Huron tribe. His
grandmother had a dream in which Great Spirit revealed that a man born of her daughter
would unite their enemies the Haudenosaunee and bring about the destruction of his own
people, the Huron. When her daughter became pregnant, she reviled the daughter saying that
she was bringing shame on her family. The daughter's reply was that she had never slept
with a man so that she knew not how she had become pregnant. When the child was born, in
the middle of winter, the grandmother and her daughter, mindful of the prophecy that the
child would bring the destruction of his people, cut a hole in the ice of the lake and
threw him in to drown him They went home and went to sleep. When they awoke the following
morning, the child was lying between them, alive and unharmed. They attempted twice more
to drown him but each day following they found him alive and well between them. Deciding
that the purpose of Great Spirit would not be defeated, they reared the child as best they
could.
They say that Peacemaker grew up with a speech impediment
and no interest in practicing war in the midst of a people that valued oratory and battle
skills. Finding himself unwelcome among his own people, he ventured south into the land of
the Haudenosaunee where he met a cannibal named Hiawatha who was charismatic and skilled
in oratory. Contact with Deganawida caused Hiawatha to forsake his former lifestyle and
embrace the Plan of Peace, which Deganawida espoused. With Hiawatha as his spokesman,
Deganawida presented his plan to the five tribes of the Haudenosaunee.
Over a five year period, they managed to bring first the
Mohawk, and then "the people of the stone"¾ the Oneida, the Cayuga, the Seneca, and "the firekeepers"¾ the Onondaga into the Great Longhouse. Deganawida introduced
himself to the people by saying that he "had been sent by the Master of Life from
whom we are all descended to establish the Great Peace ¾ a
union of all the nations. " It was by "a great miracle of healing" that he
brought in the Onondaga and established the Great Commonwealth.
He divided the Nations into Clans led by "revered older
women," established councils of men and titles, decreed that members were to be
elected and could be impeached by the Clan Mother, the matron of the clan. He not only
created what historians call " the world's first federal democratic
constitutional government ," but also
the first in which women voted. He also made provision for the adoption of other nations
as members of the Great Commonwealth and of individual persons by families.
To cement the union and to provide a visual reminder to the
people of what they had agreed to, Deganawida planted a tree in the land of the Onondaga
at the center of the Commonwealth, which he called "The Tree of the Great Long
Leaves" and "The Tree of the Great Peace." He is also credited with showing
them how to make wampum belts to record both history and the minutes of Council meetings.
Before leaving the people, Deganawida gave them a prophecy of Troubles That Will Come and of Hope when he should return from the east as a "light that is many times brighter
than the sun" and will blind the serpent "which shall flee away and be seen no
more."
The Great Peace, which had existed centuries before the
arrival of Europeans, survived until the American Revolution when the tribes split over
joining the British or Americans. Benjamin Franklin derived his Plan of Union for the
Colonies, which Thomas Jefferson later revised, from the Haudenosaunee constitution.
No where did they ever give credit to the Haudenosaunee and they left out two important
features, the role of women in government and the impeachment of elected officials, both
of which were added later as constitutional amendments.
The Haudenosaunee exist today on reservations in Canada, New
York, Wisconsin and Oklahoma. Although not the power they formerly were, they still issue
their own passports. The tribes also are divided over reservation gambling. There are
still those among them who remember the story of Deganawida¾sent from the Master of Life and Creator of the world¾and who watch for the return of "the Peacemaker. "
E-mail me
tawodi@bellsouth.net
Web address
www.soaring-hawk.com
OTHER PAGES BY SOARING HAWK
Haudenosaunee/Iroquois
Haudenosaunee Prophecy
Tsalagi/Cherokee
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Copyright 1999 Darryl R. Earls Last revision 23 June 2005