Haudenosaunee

The Haudenosaunee are an Indigenous confederacy of northeastern North America and the peoples who belong to it. The confederacy traditionally comprises the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca nations, with the Tuscarora joining in the eighteenth century.

Mohawk: An Indigenous people and one of the founding nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Mohawk are the confederacy’s easternmost founding nation.
Great Law of Peace: The constitution and oral tradition that establish the principles and institutions of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It sets out the confederacy’s council structure and principles of peace.
Hiawatha: A figure in Haudenosaunee tradition associated with the founding of the confederacy alongside the Peacemaker. Tradition credits Hiawatha with helping bring the founding nations together.
Haudenosaunee diplomacy: The diplomatic practices through which Haudenosaunee nations conduct relations with one another and with other peoples. Diplomacy allowed the confederacy to negotiate alliances and maintain political relationships.
Iroquois: A name historically used by Europeans for the Haudenosaunee and, in some contexts, for related Indigenous peoples. Haudenosaunee is the confederacy’s own name; Iroquois is an exonym with contested origins.
Oneida: An Indigenous people and one of the founding nations of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Oneida joined the confederacy as one of its original nations.
Haudenosaunee Confederacy Council: The council in which representatives of the Haudenosaunee nations deliberate on matters affecting the confederacy. Council deliberation is the confederacy’s central political practice.
Great Peacemaker: A figure in Haudenosaunee tradition who brought the message of peace and helped establish the confederacy. The Peacemaker is central to the confederacy’s account of its founding.
Haudenosaunee land rights: The rights and claims of Haudenosaunee nations concerning their traditional territories and treaty lands. Land disputes and treaty obligations remain central to Haudenosaunee relations with governments.
Wendat Confederacy: A political alliance of Wendat nations in the Great Lakes region, distinct from the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. The Wendat were neighbors and at times opponents, not members of the confederacy.

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