The Iroquois

Description

This is an account of the five tribes - Onandagas, Senecas, Mohawks, Oneidas and Cayugas - who together made up the Iriquois nation, from their origins in prehistory to their dispersal and confinement after the American Revolution. At the time of the first post-Viking contacts with Europeans, the League of the Iriquois, founded by Hiawatha at the end of the 16th century, were the most powerful of the north-east Native American peoples, and had either destroyed, absorbed or reduced to client status all the tribes around them. The series of mutual misunderstandings between the Iriquois and the French, the English and the new Americans - and their tragic and still evident consequences - have acted to obscure the true nature of Iriquois culture and society both before and after the European invasion. The Iroquois Contents List of Figures Preface 1 Origins, ad 900-1150: The Midwinter Moon 2 Owasco, 1150-1350: The Sugar Moon 3 The Development of Northern Iroquoian Culture, 1350-1525: The Fishing Moon 4 The Rise of the League, 1525-1600: The Planting Moon 5 The Coming of Europeans, 1600-1634: The Strawberry Moon 6 The Year of Death, 1634: The Lost Moon 7 The Struggle for Hearts and Minds, 1635-1700: The Green Bean Moon 8 Iroquoia in the Balance, 1700-1750: The Green Corn Moon 9 The Loss of Independence, 1750-1800: The Fresh Moon 10 Revival and Subjection, 1800-1850: The Harvest Moon 11 The Worst of Times, 1850-1900: The Hunting Moon 12 The Rise of Modern Iroquois, 1900-1950: The Cold Moon 13 The Contemporary Scene, 1950-2000: The Very Cold Moon Notes References Index