History & Society
Iroquois Confederacy
American Indian confederation
Also known as: Five Nations, Haudenosaunee, Iroquois League, League of Five Nations, Six Iroquois Nations, Six Nations
Iroquois Confederacy
Category:
History & Society
- Self-name:
- Haudenosaunee (“People of the Longhouse”)
- Also called:
- Iroquois League, Five Nations, or
- (from 1722):
- Six Nations
- Date:
- c. 1570 - c. 1784
- Areas Of Involvement:
- Iroquois
- Related People:
- Hiawatha
- Sir William Johnson, 1st Baronet
- Samuel Kirkland
Iroquois Confederacy, confederation of five (later six) Indian tribes across upper New York state that during the 17th and 18th centuries played a strategic role in the struggle between the French and British for mastery of North America. The five original Iroquois nations were the Mohawk (self-name: Kanien’kehá:ka [“People of the Flint”]), Oneida (self-name: Onᐱyoteʔa∙ká [“People of the Standing Stone”]), Onondaga (self-name: Onoñda’gega’ [“People of the Hills”]), Cayuga (self-name: Gayogo̱hó:nǫ’ [“People of the Great Swamp”]), and Seneca (self-name: Onödowa’ga:’ [“People of the Great Hill”]). After the Tuscarora (self-name: Skarù∙ręʔ [“People of the Shirt”]) joined in 1722, the confederacy became known ...(100 of 1158 words)