Haudenosaunee

Haudenosaunee smoke dancers take to the arena at the prestigious Six Nations Pow Wow,

where large financial rewards attract the nations most skilful performers. This mouth watering spectacle also hosts musicians, crafts people, and indigenous cuisine.

Each of the Six Nations – Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Tuscarora, Cayuga, Mohawk – manage their reservations slightly differently. Some run casinos and hotels, others smoke and marijuana shops, or tax-free Gas Stations, or they simply rent or sell resources to fund their reservations running costs.

What they all have in common though, is a united confederation of peace and understanding that stretches back to before the arrival of the Europeans. As well as promoting Pow Wows and Lacrosse sports events, this confederation also knits together their matrilineal systems. Within the governing body of the Six Nations is a group of Clan Mothers – one from each Clan in each Nation. Their role being to select and monitor the chiefs so as to safe guard the status of women for future generations.

Celebrations of culture, however, are still most visible at the Pow Wow, it is also the one place you can witness many different ceremonial/dance costumes of the men and women. On the reservations traditional ceremonies are strictly reserved for Native Americans. So these dances at the Pow Wows have become the main way the Haudenosaunee express themselves to the outside world and other Native American Nations of the USA.

Facts

Location: United States of America (New York, Wisconsin and Oklahoma) and Canada (South Québec and South Ontario)

Population: Around 125 thousand (many Haudenosaunee however refuse to participate in the official US Census, so the number is somehow misleading)

Religion: Longhouse Religion (a fusion of traditional beliefs and Quaker Religion), Animism, Christianity and others.

Language: English, French, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Cayuga, Tuscarora.

Matriarchal features:

  • Children belong to the mother’s clan (matrilineal name)
  • Clan mothers (elderly highly respected women) appoint clan chiefs and have the power to remove them if they become corrupt.
  • The status of Haudenosaunee women inspired the early American feminist movement, which led eventually to the US constitution being changed. The Haudenosaunee even claim they influenced the founding fathers to create the United States, which is very similar to the Six Nations Confederation before the settlers arrived.
  • Traditionally, women owned houses and oversaw the farming of the land.
  • Property, titles and social status were inherited through the mothers (matrilineal inheritance)
  • Historically, after marriage, a young couple lived in the longhouse of the wife’s family.  If the man misbehaved, the wife could make him leave, and the children would stay with her. (matrilocal)