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WHO ARE THE
HAUDENOSAUNEE (IROQUOIS)? click on the names to learn about each of the Six Nations |
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A map on the slide show above indicates where Haudenosaunee communities are located today although Haudenosaunee people live in cities and towns around the world.
| Upstate New York is the traditional territory of the Haudenosaunee, “People of the Longhouse," also known as the Iroquois Confederacy. The confederacy is composed of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora Nations. Their traditional territory extended from the Schoharie Creek through the Mohawk Valley to the Genesee River. The Haudenosaunee believe that the Confederacy was formed “on the last day that the green corn was ready”, about 1,000 years ago. There is much scholarly debate regarding when the Iroquois Confederacy was established, but historians and archeologists agree that it was in existence by 1630. The traditions of the Haudenosaunee state that the Confederacy was founded before Europeans first visited their country. |
 Painting by Sanford Plummer, Seneca |
| Haudenosaunee are unique in that they maintain one of the
very few traditional governments in North America, with leaders selected
according to the oldest constitutional democratic systems.
The Haudenosaunee is a matrilineal society whose
descent is traced through the females of the families.
The families are represented by different clans. A
clan is a group of families that shares a common female ancestry.
The nine principle clans include the Bear, Wolf,
Turtle, Beaver, Heron, Snipe, Hawk, Deer, and Eel Clans. |
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