Iroquois Confederacy

The Iroquois Confederacy, also called the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, is a political alliance of Indigenous nations in northeastern North America, founded on shared law and diplomacy.

Mohawk: A Haudenosaunee nation traditionally located in the eastern part of the Confederacy. The Mohawk held the eastern position in the alliance and guarded its approach from the Atlantic.
Great Law of Peace: The constitution and oral legal tradition governing the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. It established the principles and procedures that unified the nations.
Covenant Chain: A series of diplomatic agreements linking the Haudenosaunee and other Indigenous nations with Dutch and later British colonial authorities. It framed much of the Confederacy's diplomacy with colonial governments.
Hiawatha: A Haudenosaunee leader remembered in oral tradition for helping establish peace among the nations. Traditions credit Hiawatha with working alongside the Peacemaker to form the Confederacy.
Haudenosaunee sovereignty: The political self-determination and jurisdiction asserted by Haudenosaunee nations. The alliance's continuing institutions underpin collective and national claims to sovereignty.
Oneida: A Haudenosaunee nation whose historic homeland lies east of Onondaga territory in present-day New York. The Oneida were one of the original nations bound by the Confederacy's law.
Haudenosaunee Grand Council: The central council where representatives of the Haudenosaunee nations deliberate on confederacy-wide matters. Its councilors carried decisions through a process of consensus.
Beaver Wars: A series of seventeenth-century conflicts over territory and the fur trade involving the Haudenosaunee and neighboring peoples. The Confederacy used coordinated diplomacy and military action to expand its influence.
The Great Peacemaker: A culture hero in Haudenosaunee tradition who brought the message of peace that founded the Confederacy. His teachings are central to the Confederacy's founding account.
Haudenosaunee passports: Travel documents issued by Haudenosaunee governments to assert their distinct political status. Their use makes the Confederacy's claims to independent nationhood visible in international travel.

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