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Haudenosaunee [how-den-o-SHOW-nee]
the name that the people of the Six Nations called themselves.
people who build (also the name of the Longhouse people)
Iroquois - the name of the Haudenosaunee given by the French settlers.
United Nations (UN) - an organization that works for world peace. Many countries belong to the UN to help build cooperation among countries and protect the rights of people.
It is said, that a man, called the Peacemaker, came to share the message that human beings must stop hurting one another. He traveled to each of the five tribes and gathered them under the Tree of Peace and recited the Great Law of Peace. This new law was then followed by each of the five nations and their weapons were buried under the Tree. This was the beginning of the confederacy of five nations. Eventually a sixth group joined and the group was then called the Iroquois Confederacy.
The Six Tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy:
Mohawk - People of the Flint Stone
Oneida - People of the Standing Stone
Onondaga - The People of the Hills
Cayuga - The People of the Swamp
Seneca - The People of the Great Hills
Tuscarora (joined in the 1700's) - Hemp People
When you compare the people of Ancient Greece and those in the Iroquois Confederacy, they had different ways of making decisions.
Questions to ponder as you work through this chapter:
1. How are democratic ideas about equality, equity, and participation part of the Iroquois Confederacy?
2. To what extent was the Iroquois Confederacy a representative democracy?
Chapter 4: Introduction