THE SIX NATION IROQUOIS [Forgotten Founders of Our Nation] AN EPIC POEM by Gregory Christiano

Copyright 06-22-2003

Foreword and Brief History:

Who were the Haudenosaunee? (Pronounced Ho-deh-no-shaw-nee). We know them as the Iroquois, a league of six nations of the Northeastern Indian tribes, consisting of the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondegas, Cayugas, Senecas (the original Five) and later the Tuscaroras. Their confederacy stretched across most of New York State to Lake Erie, south to the Adirondack chain, west to the Ohio valley, and north into Ontario. Iroqu (meaning rattlesnake) was the name given to them by their enemies the Algonquins. The French added the suffix “ois,” as an insult, thus the name Iroquois. They preferred to be called the Haudenosaunee (People of the Long House).

Dekanawidah, born in Ontario, founded the Iroquois and bound the original five nations together into a Confederacy, establishing the Gayanashagowa – The Great Binding Law – which ensured a lasting peace among these independent tribes. They were bound together with this formal “constitution.” To this day the Iroquois are the oldest, continuous participatory democracy on Earth! The Ha do no sau nee, living in peace under one common law. They have practiced this representative form of government for centuries. In the Iroquois’ Book of the Great Law there are striking parallels with our country’s Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches. It is well acknowledged by historians that the democratic principles of the Six Nations influenced and shaped the Constitution of the United States.

Apart from this remarkable fact is an even more astounding item. The clan mothers (or Gantowisas) were female officials who enjoyed political, economic, religious and social powers unprecedented and unparalleled in any civilization! These ladies owned the land and homes, and all the children. They had the right to adoption, to determine life and death. They declared and ended wars. They conferred or retracted citizenship. They had the exclusive right to raise up or depose Chiefs. They had to be represented in all councils. They made or abrogated treaties. They also held trusteeship of tribal property. The tribes relied on their opinion and ability to make wise decisions. These women were the political and social backbone of all the Confederacy.

We have much to thank the genius and culture of this magnificent indigenous people!
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Haudenosaunee, People of the Long House
Long, long ago, anno domini 1390,
This stronghold formed,
Dekanawidah, its father, its founder.
This Brotherhood of nations – The Iroquois-
Dekanawidah, who planted the
Tree of Peace,
In willing kinship did form, affirm’d
From the Chesapeake through Ken-tuc-kee,
To the vales of the Ohio, reach outward these lands.
Upon the Mississippi, laid claim.
North to Ontario and Quebec eastward turn.
New England held its reign supreme to
Connecticut where falls the path, thence
To the hudson Valley down the Delaware
To meet the People of the Turtle
Caughnawaga, of the St. Lawrence.
All – all abide your rule, vast and just.
One Mighty Confederacy –
Wise above all men, Dekanawidah, founder,
Father of the Great Peace.
New York is your seat of power.
How did they come to rule the Earth?
The Spirit of the Sky World descended thereupon,
To travel and bless the Earth Mother,
Creating the Five Tribes.
He gave them names – He gave them life!
To the Mohawks, “I give corn,”
Spoke the Sky Spirit.
Oneidas, the patient ones, “I give the nuts and
fruit of many trees.”
To the Senecas, so industrious, “I give beans,”
To the friendly Cayugas, “I give the roots of plants
to be eaten.”
Onondegas, the wise and eloquent people, “I give grapes and squashes to eat and tobacco to smoke at the campfires.”

Rejoice!
The Sky Spirit smiled upon them, the new people.
Pleased He was thus wrapped a white cloud around Himself
Returning to the Brother Sky.
Lo! This was not enough. Only Five. Earth Mother
Was in need of one more.
In the great past this need filled the air.
A woman, beautiful, fell from the sky.
The birds, flying, saw Her fall to earth.
This Celestial Woman thus fell to the Waters
Where the Giant Tortoise bore Her weight.
Whereupon Sky-Holder brought forth a Sixth Nation,
The Tuscaroras were the favored tribe,
And their descendants thus blessed
“Ours was the favored tribe.”
We became Six Nations, the Haudenosaunee –
The Iroquois, thus named by Frenchmen.
The Tuscaroras entered in the White Man’s
Year, 1715.
The six separate peoples became one!
The Onondagas say, “We are the chosen people. We have the council fire!”
Onondaga (Onundagaono) The People of the Hills
Seneca (Onondowahgah) People of the Large Dark Door
Cayuga (Guyohkhyoh) The People of the Great Swamp
Oneida (Onayotekaono) The People of the Upright Stone
Mohawk (Kanienkahagen) The People of the Flint
Tuscarora (Ska-Ruh-Reh) The Shirt Wearing People
All Ongwehnoweh – The Original People
The First People of the Land.

Prosper under Earth Sky,
Scattered wide under the high clouds.
Beaver, Deer, Wolf, Snipe and Tortoise were the clans.
Sky-Holder, Ta-rhu-hia-wah-ku,
Hold true the People to surpass all other races,
With beauty, strength and bravery.
Great Nation Iroquois, are One.
Corn Mother and West Wind,
Rulers of the Forest, jagged cliffs, rivers running,
And all beasts thereupon.
De-ka-nah-wi-da came to bring Peace.
Tidings of Peace He brought.
Summoning all the People to the campfires.
There, Chief Atotarho, Grand Sachem,
Given to praise and thanksgiving,
Assured, “Yo-Hen, yo-Hen.”
The sinews of the Deer spreads outward,
Proudly – the symbol comes –
A bundle of arrows to the Eagle grasped,
The symbol of your power,
There stands the Eagle
To warn of danger,
To protect the People (The Gononh’sees),
People of the Long Dwellings,
The Romans of the New World,
Bestow a Constitution to share,
And ratified the Gonandaga –
The Great Law of Peace, in wampum.
Rise Brothers, to crown the height of their benevolence.
Rise, League of the Sun,
The sign has come, clearly shows the way.
The Journey of Deganawidah (The Peacemaker).
Bless’d by Heaven in support of the Great Law.
Office of Todadaho (The Speaker)
With Hiawatha, together maintain the Nations.
Their greatness undenied.
Lead us, the Whites, to their shores,
To share with their Wisdom, Law and Rule.

Keepers of your unshaken truth,
Legacy of your history, we will camp together
Upon the Handsome Lake
Where the Fifty Seats of Council – the Grand Council presides.
Invincible Peacemaker,
Officiate their power to administer the democratic way.
There the Women of all Tribes own the land and homes,
Women of all the Tribes – exercise their veto.
Belov’d Daughters of Jingosaseh,
Of Arinwantha, gentle gender
Come to balance the Earth and give this gift,
This Constitution.
They carry their duty with words and calm deliberation.
And show us the true path.
Great Haudenosaunee, lead us east toward sunrise!
Bless us with the Great Law of Peace,
Diffus’d from war bonnets.
This House Made of Dawn,
This Law adopted by the White man’s Union,
With song-words set upon their New Country,
With fullness has come Iroquois Knowledge and Wisdom.
Our new lands to cherish,
Our new Law to Rule.

THE END
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“Think not forever of yourselves, O Chiefs, nor of your own generation. Think of continuing generations of our families; think of our grandchildren and of those yet unborn, whose faces are coming from beneath the ground.”
-Dekanawidah, Peacemaker, Founder of The Iroquois Confederacy.
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