Iroquois

The Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee, also known as the League of Peace and Power) is a group of First Nations/Native Americans. The Confederacy was based, at the time of the arrival of the Europeans, in what is now upstate New York. Now they also occupy territory in Ontario and Quebec.

The Haudenosaunee

The combined leadership of the Nations is known as the Haudenosaunee. It should be noted that "Haudenosaunee" is the term that the people use to refer to themselves. The word "Iroquois" is reputed to come from a French version of a Huron (Wendat) name—considered an insult—meaning "Black Snakes." The Iroquois were enemies of the Huron and the Algonquin, who were allied with the French, due to their rivalry in the fur trade. Haudenosaunee means "People of the Long Houses." The term is said to have been introduced by The Great Peacemaker at the time of the formation of the Confederacy. It implies that the Nations of the confederacy should live together as families in the same longhouse. Symbolically, the Seneca were the guardians of the western door of the "tribal long house," and the Mohawk were the guardians of the eastern door.

Related Topics:
Huron - Algonquin - Long Houses - The Great Peacemaker

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There exists another, perhaps more compelling, version explaining the origin of the word "Iroquois"; as the French combination of two distinct terms used in the language of the Haudenosaunee. Here is a link to published text discussing this point:

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http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/index.html#fn1

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The participants and writers developing the nascent US government addressed and compared the Haudenosaunee and their ways to a state of achievement in administrative self-governance which Rome itself never reached and which they hoped the US would aspire to and achieve.

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Another useful reference in learning about the Haudenosaunee exists here:

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http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/index.html

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The Iroquois nations' political union and democratic government has been credited by some as one of the influences on the United States Constitution. Please see Figure 31 at this link:

Related Topics:
Democratic - Government - United States Constitution

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http://www.ratical.org/many_worlds/6Nations/EoL/chp8.html#fig31

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However, that theory has fallen into disfavor among many historians, and is regarded by some as mythology. Historian Jack Rakove writes: "The voluminous records we have for the constitutional debates of the late 1780s contain no significant references to the Iroquois." http://hnn.us/articles/12974.html.

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