Haudenosaunee

1. Brief description of the Haudenosaunee.

Between the 15^th-17^th centuries there were many Native American nations who occupied the North American woodlands. The Iroquois speaking peoples included the Huron, Cherokee, Neutrals, Tuscarora, Wenro, Erie, Susquehannock, and the Five Nations Iroquois. The five nations are: Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk. The French called these nations the Iroquois, the English referred to them as the Five Nations, but they called themselves Haudenosaunee. The Haudenosaunee were also known as the Hauden, which meant people of the long houses. When Europeans first arrived in North America, the Haudenosaunee were based in what is now the northeastern United States. Each nation had specific function and the Iroquois influence extended into Canada.

The Haudenosaunee were very politically oriented and often discussed issues of trade. The Haudenosaunee were the longest running confederacy and were recognized as a legal political entity by the United States. With this political power, the clan mothers, or main women of each nation, helped to determine chiefs within a warrior culture. Descent and inheritance were determined by a matrilineal kinship system.

Sources:

Carpenter, Roger, and , eds. “The Renewed, the Destroyed, and the Remade.” The Three Thought Worlds of the Iroquois and the Huron. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Sep 2013.

Fenton, William, ed. “The Great Law and the Longhouse.” A Political History of the Iroquois Confederacy. University of Oklahoma Press, n.d. Web. 24 Sep 2013.

A re-creation of lodging that the Haudenosaunee people lived in.

With whom did the Haudenosaunee come into contact (individuals and nationalities)?

     One of the earliest encounters between the Haudenosaunee and Europeans occurred when the Mohawk found themselves at the wrong end of Samuel de Champlain’s arquebus in 1609. The French had allied themselves with the Algonquin and the shot that de Champlain fired sent the Mohawk running and brought an end to that day’s confrontation between the two indigenous groups. In the late 16^th century, the Haudenosaunee were at something of a disadvantage when it came to trade. Centrally located as they were around the Great Lakes regions, they were the last in line for acquiring exotic goods as the Europeans were stationed on the periphery of the continent at that time. Indeed, tensions between the Haudenosaunee and northern indigenous groups continued throughout the early part of the century with the Mohawk ambushing Algonquin and Huron traders returning from Quebec with European goods. These raids would subside in the 1620’s as the Haudenosaunee began trading more regularly with the Dutch at Fort Orange.

Source:

Richter, Daniel K., The Ordeal of the Longhouse: The Peoples of the Iroquois League in the Era of European Colonization(Chapel Hill: Published for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia, by the University of North Carolina Press, 1992): 52-55.

Where did the Haudensaunee come into contact?

It is believed that the first contact was with the French in the seventeenth century. When the French came into contact the Five Nations Confederacy, later six nations of the Haudenosaunee , was already formed. The earliest record of contact is a record of Samuel de Champlain firing upon the Iroquois at Ticonderoga in 1609. It was the Mohawk members of the Five Nations who ended up facing Samuel de Chaplain`s hand cannons or arquebus as defined earlier. The attack allowed solidification of the Five nations by the creation of a common enemy, and helped strengthen the trade with the Dutch for firearms. The Haudenosaunee encountered mainly the French and Dutch Europeans and conducted a large amount of trade at Fort Orange, which was held by the Dutch.

Sources:

Bruce Elliott Johansen, Barbara Alice Mann. Encyclopedia of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois Confederacy) Westport CT, Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000.

Canada`s First Nations, European Contact: B. Map – Native-European Encounters Preserved in Native Oral Tradition and European Written Narrative (The University of Calgary, 2000) by the Applied History Research Group. http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tutor/firstnations/gulf.html

An example of a arquebus.

For what purpose were Europeans in this area?

The first Europeans that the Haudenosaunee came into contact with were the French and Dutch. Both countries primary reason for their presence in the area was trade, especially the Dutch as they hoped to set up a commercial empire rivaling Spain. French interest in the area also included converting the Haudenosaunee to Christianity by Jesuit missionaries. In 1664 the English supplanted the Dutch in New York and continued with the trade that the Dutch had established. In the 18th the Europeans interest changed from trade to expanding their empires and as such Haudenosaunee lands became part of the power struggles between England and France.

Source:

Ward, Harry. Colonial America. Engelwood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1991.

How did the North American people respond to Europeans?

The Haudenosaunee were a people of oral tradition who passed down their histories and stories through wampum belts. By reading one of these 400 year old belts created for straightening things out with the Dutch traders it can be seen that the Haudenosaunee understood the Europeans were there to stay but intended to coexist with them peacefully but separately. They were thriving people before the Europeans came, in an established confederacy. Knowing the Europeans were there to stay, the Haudenosaunee helped them through the hardships of the new land and started to trade with them. Trade was already rooted between Indigenous societies before the Europeans came but the new wares, consisting mostly of metal goods, were a welcome addition to the community. The Europeans main interest in trade was of obtaining fur. For a while, a successful trading arrangement was established between them until competition grew within the fur trade and the Haudenosaunee soon needed to trade for guns to protect themselves. The fight for fur and European goods are issues contributed to the origins of the 70 year Beaver War.  So while Haudenosaunee-European relations began peaceful and cooperative, they ended up violent and disruptive.

Sources:
http://www.haudenosauneeconfederacy.com/

Owings, Alison. Indian Voices : Listening to Native Americans. New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, 2011.

The image above is an example of a wampum belt.

How did Europeans respond to the Haudenosaunee that they encountered?

Like many first time encounters with foreign and indigenous peoples, the european settlers based much of the relationship with the Haudenosaunee on trade. This trade focused heavily on the trading for furs, primarily beaver pelts. While initial relations proved to be good, future relations became strained as the haudenosaunee gained both wealth and power through the fur trade. This forced the europeans settlers to become nervous and weary of theirhaudenosaunee neighbours. This new found power and european fear ultimately  allowed the haudenosaunee to expand their territory through conquest of neighbouring tribes.

Source:

The Haudenosaunee Guide for educators; by the National museum of the American Indian: education office.

http://nmai.si.edu/sites/1/files/pdf/education/HaudenosauneeGuide.pdf

Below is an example of how stories were communicated and it tells more about the culture of the Haudenosaunee people. (Even though not perfectly historically accurate it allows for a greater understanding of Haudenosaunee people.)