American History tends to emphasize how the colonies won their freedom
from the oppressive British empire and while that's true
it's only part of the picture. See there were a lot
of players in the new worlds during and before the time of the
revolution. One of the most remarkable yet often overlooked
forces in shaping the course of history is the Iroquois Confederation.
The Iroquois was a league of five Native American (the Tuscorara was the one who joined in 1722)
peoples living in what is now known as Upstate New York, and these guys
are really cool! But they're often overlooked or
underappreciated in most written history.
Lucky for all of you
I spent WEEKS tracking down
a Notorious yet Incredibly Rare source
that goes into the Iroquois history with Exquisite detail!
[Intro Music: Drums and Swooshie Sword-like Sythesizers]
(Audience: CHILDWHY)
So let's fire it up and learn some history:
[Thumping Music and the sound of swords and blood] (The animation is really good though.)
AUGH! *Dies*
[Nervously] Okay...
Maybe I need to reevaluate my sources
Okay, so jokes aside, who ARE the Iroquois?
Well, the name Iroquois isn't quite accurate.
Europeans called them the Iroquois but we don't actually know where that
name came from. We DO know that they would've called themselves
the Haudenosaunee or the people of the Longhouse.
The Longhouse itself was... well... a long house
that they all lived in. As it had good insulation from the
cold winters and could hold upwards of 20 families at a time in it.
But beyond just a living space the Longhouse was deeply
symbolic of the Iroquois. The legends says
that the Longhouse was where the original 5 nations of what became the Iroquois
swore to peace and devised their subsequent government. The Longhouse
is the symbol of community and peace so it was the
perfect symbol for the Iroquois to identify themselves with.
The Iroquois also considered their share of land as one giant longhouse
uniting them all. So... yeah!
People of the Longhouse checks out! Almost all of what
we actually know the Iroquois comes from a strong oral tradition.
We're not super sure about the early history because there aren't
any written sources but the origin story is told roughly as follows:
Originally, there were 5 nations:
the Mohawk, the Onondaga, the Oneida, the Cayuga, and the Seneca
They spoke pretty much the same language and pretty much had the same culture
but they warring on and off with each other
for years and probably even centuries. Somewhere in
possibly/probably in the 1400 or 1500s a few
people wanted peace. And according to the legend, Hiawatha,
Jigonhsasee and Dekanawidah co-founded the Iroquois
Confederation by uniting those 5 nations of the Great Lakes,
One by one, into a peaceful alliance that would last for centuries.
That's the bare bones (and they mean BARE) of the story. Extra Credits tells
the story really well if you wanna see it in more detail, but since
I'm on a time crunch and still have a few centuries left to get through, I need to move on.
Like I said earlier, the history is a little dubious because it's
all oral tradition, but there's a good reason for that.
In case you're not from the American North East, I'll let you know right now
It gets C o l d in the winter
Nobody was eager to get frostbite, so most people stayed inside
the longhouses and they'd pass
the days, weeks, and months by telling stories.
So weirdly enough, the climate helped play a role
in enforcing the strong and persisting oral tradition.
So... Hooray for the murderous cold! Back to history,
The 5 nations agreed to the Great Law of Peace,
an oral constitution that was drafted cooperatively by
all 5 nations, and designed to ensure the safety and prosperity
of everyone in the Iroquois Confederation. One famous
feature of the law was how forward looking it was.
No law could be passed without giving specific consideration
to how it'll affect each of the next seven generations (Something America should learn about).
[Awed] Which.. Just... Damn!
That's really cool! The Iroquois
also lived in a genuinely interwoven community.
Everyone lived in longhouses together and almost everything was shared
between people. Also everyone was treated super fairly!
And their gender equality was top notch.
While men hunted more on average than women and women farmed
more on average then men, but that honestly kinda tends to happen.
Women were highly respected in the community. Women
had the power to appoint members to the Confederation's counsel, and remove them
if they weren't governing judiciously. Elderly women were respected as
"clan mothers" and had many spiritual and practical
responsibilities among their people. And let's not forget that the
earth was personified as female.
You know... Mother earth!
Although given the abundance of fertility themes afoot
that one shouldn't be surprising. Following the formation of the
Confederation and the implementation of the Great Law of Peace (say that 5 times fast)
everyone's quality of life went up by a lot.
Raids and local conflict stopped almost entirely
as the council would rule on things and people wouldn't resort to violence.
One such way the Iroquois would settle
differences and disputes was by playing a sport involving a ball
and a curved stick. Which, we today, call Lacrosse!
If two groups had beef with each other, they just throw
a few hundred dudes onto a field and play for days! That's kind of
hilarious, but also amazing!
I, for one, am honestly looking forward to when world wars
are fought via Yu-Gi-Oh duels. So fun ball games
and egalitarian culture aside, the actual government
of the Iroquois is Kind of Incredible. The Multi-National Peace Agreement
was a huge deal because nothing of the sort had ever
been done before. In the Americas, or anywhere else.
The fundamental principles of the Iroquois government being
a collection of small local states united in peace
under a binding federal roof were entirely new. But still, that all
might sound familiar to you because there's this
cool new nation called the "United States of America".
And, well, the proof's kind of in the name!
This fact often goes unacknowledged, but the United
States was founded on the Federalist governing
principles of the Iroquois. And the constitution is, in many ways,
a codified version of the Great Law of Peace.
And that's not just crack-potted revisionism.
See a little known gentlemen's club called- uh-
CONGRESS
Officailly recognized in 1988 that the structure of the U.S. government is
directly modeled after the Iroquois Federation
And this next claim isn't properly substantiated historically
So grain of salt, but according to modern day Iroquois
Several members of the confederation were present during the continental congress
And kept upstairs
So that when the American founders had a question about something
They would just run Upstairs and ask what the Iroquois did to resolve that given problem.
If you ask me, It Shows.
I think it's really cool that the American founders took so much from a system
That clearly worked and employed to such good effect- [Blue is fanboying here]
- in what became the american government
We often want to think of the constitution as a revival
of great Democratic Ideals of Ancient Athens or Rome
But all of the Capital's stone collumns
and Greco-Roman Architecture really just establishes an aesthetic
The REAL BONES of the US Government comes from the Iroquois.
In the 1600s, the Iroquois expanded outwards in a series of conflicts
called the Beaver Wars.
Now unlike the great Australian Emu War of 1932 (Wait, WHAT)
This wasn't a war against Beavers but For Them.
See, with the French and British Colonies starting to gradually take shape
Well-to-do Europeans back on the Continent wanted to import goods
And the most prized good was beaver fur.
the Iroquois like many Native American Nations wanted In
So they hunted all of the beavers that they could,
Until local Beaver Populations tanked and everyone needed to find new
hunting grounds. Since nobody wanted to be left out of the trade,
Everyone started fighting over the remaining Beavers
The Iroquois, despite their peaceful origins, began fighting and expanding
with their neighbors to secure the best grounds and make the most trade.
The Iroquois became, by far, the most dominant in the region.
And even went on to attack 'New France' on a couple of occasions.
These conflicts were seriously brutal.
With thousands dead and tens of thousands displaced.
In the aftermath of the beaver wars, the British and the Iroquois buddied up
and the Iroquois made a temporary peace with the French.
About 50 years later, France, Brittian, and whole bunch of other places-
Erupted into a giant Cartoon Dustcloud- (They fought)- of globetrotting fighting.
Partially because the Brittish wanted to push more westward
in America and get more 'England Colonizing' going on
But France was like
Aw Heeeelll Naw! (Blue's Voice squeaks sassily)
A large handful of Native American Nations were caught in the slap fight
and had to pick sides.
Based on both location and prior alliances, the line up was pretty much
Britain and the Iroqois Against France and Everyone else.
Which explains why Anglo-centric circles refer to this conflict as
the French and Indian War.
Unlike the Beaver Wars, the Iroquois were
pretty calm and casual during this one. Because most nations had
already learned their lesson on messing with the Iroquois a century prior
However the Iroqous were given a hard time by the
French. And the Brittish didn't quite seem to care...
Britain also didn't do much to stop the flow of settlers pushing
into Iroquois land over the previous half century.
and with a vastly diminished french presence after the war
Why bother now, right?
While the Iroqouis didn't do a lot in the war itself
The conflict still marked a drop-off in
relations between them and the British.
This partially explains why, when the Colonies declared war
on the British (Empire) in 1775
the Iroquois had no interest what-so-ever in picking a side.
They pretty much figured out that money and land meant more to their English speaking neighbors
than friendship for friendship's sake.
They wanted to stick to their peaceful
roots and remain neutral as long as they could.
But when they realized that they needed to be in the good graces of the eventual winner...
the Iroquois were torn. The Tuscarora,
who (had) joined the Iroqouis in 1722, and Oneida allied with the Colonies
While the Mohawk, Onondaga, Seneca, and Cayuga allied with Brittain.
Partially for old times sake, but also for trade
and territory reasons. Even though Britain had a habit of
breaking agreements, the new Colonies didn't have any formal
agreements at all with the Iroquois. So they were a wild card.
But those of you who are aware that the United States is currently a
Thing That Exists- Can see why the Iroquois are about to have a Really bad time.
During the war, the British mostly occupied cities while the Colonists held strong in
the countryside. It should be no surprise, that the Colonists made a
regular habit of raiding and burning the Iroquois land.
Among the Iroquois the American Revolution isn't referred to as a
Revolution. Or even as a war.
Many simply called it the 'Burning of the Valleys' - which should get the point across.
In addition to all this, the split alliances
of the Iroquois nations often lead to Iroquois fighting Iroquois
Which hadn't happened since before they became the Iroquois in the first place
It was so bad that the confederation just kinda, Broke after the war
The Treaty of Paris in 1783,
which ended the war, completely Ignored the holdings of any Native Americans
and subsequent treaties between Natives and
Americans weren't so much treaties, as they were a series of official
requests to vacate thier ancestral homeland - Or Else.
And the Iroquois were so weakened after the war that they had no choice but to accept.
These land acquisitions were explicitly illegal according to America's own:
Articles of Confederation AND the later constitution!
[Sardonically] But those laws are just suggestions right?
What follows is a bunch of Manifest Destiny
that I won't get into, by sheer virtue of how depressing it is.
But suffice to say that the Americans felt that their effort in winning the war
justified almost a century of non-stop conquest
This was great if you were an American!
But it was pretty rough if you were a NATIVE American.
As for the Iroquois, they split up, Moved. Moved again.
And today live on designated Reservations in America and Canada.
It's really sad to see such a strong nation
built on a foundation of peace get the short end of the stick
- in a conflict they didn't even ask for. But it's at least nice to know
that the cultures of the Individual Nations have lived on
in the centuries following (the conflict).
So... there you have it.
The Iroquois are an underappreciated player in
American history, as it is. But they're such unique people
that it's worth looking at Iroquois History in itself too.
I think they serve as a great example
of how effective and worthwhile cooperation can be
And how much we can all benefit when we learn from each other
*CENSORSHIP*
AND how history is actually about a centuries old conflict between Assassins and Templars
That too.
[Awesome Music for Awesome Patrons]
((Blue has been pronouncing Iroquois as "Ee-roh-koy"))
((And that word is waaay to hard to spell. Probably French. ))
((Also, these sentences just RUN ON. ))
((Blue, I love you. But you talk wayyy too fast.))
((...Red does that too actually...))
((Nothing could have prepared them for the sudden demands of international trade.... sad.))
This has been an Overly Sarcastic Translation.