| Iroquois Federation Haudenosaunee Timeline: An Honorable Retelling | ||||||
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 Location of Iroquois (green)
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| Capital | Tinawatawa | |||||
| Largest city | Ganatsekwyagon | |||||
| Official languages | Iroquoian languages | |||||
| Religion | Longhouse Religion, Roman Catholicism, Waldensian Christianity | |||||
| Demonym | Iroquoian | |||||
| Government | Federal presidential constitutional republic | |||||
| Legislature | Grand Council of the Seven Nations | |||||
| Establishment | ||||||
| - | Confederacy established | Between 1450 and 1660 (estimate) | ||||
| - | Treaty of Laval | 1784 | ||||
| - | Federation proclaimed | 10 June 1953 | ||||
| - | Universal citizenship amendment | 8 February 1970 | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2020 estimate | 648,238 | ||||
| Currency | Iroquoian guilder (ƒ) |
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| Drives on the | right | |||||
The Iroquois, officially the Iroquois Federation and also known as the as the Haudenosaunee, the Iroquois League, the Iroquois Confederacy until 1952, the Five Nations, the Six Nations from 1722 until 1970, and later as the Seven Nations from 1970 onwards, is a country located on the continent of Columbia, bordering the United States to the south and Canada to the north.
History[]
Formation of the League and expansion[]
The Iroquois Confederacy is believed to have formed in the 15th century, roughly 100 years after contact was made between the Old World and New World but before extensive European exploration and settlement of the Columbian continent had occurred. However, anthropologists and historians have argued about the exact cause of the Confederacy's formation which remains unknown. One theory suggests that the League formed shortly after a solar eclipse on August 31, 1142, an event thought to be expressed in oral tradition about the Confederacy's origins. Archeological sites near the modern-day city of Montreal, Canada suggests that the Iroquois originated around the Saint Lawrence River.
The Five Nations of the Iroquois (c. 1650)
The founders of the Iroquois Confederacy are believed to be Dekanawida the Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha, and Jigonhsasee, the Mother of Nations who acted as mediators between the squabbling Iroquoian nations. They brought the Great Law of Peace to the Iroquoian people, unifying the divided Iroquoians under a common oral constitution. This meeting between the Confederacy's founders is said to have taken place at Onondaga Lake in modern-day Oosterwolde, New Netherland.
The Iroquois Confederacy would subsequently experience a period of growth and expansion, fueled by trade with the Dutch in New Netherland and with other indigenous nations. During this period of growth, Iroquoian society was described as highly egalitarian and self-sufficient. A Dutch colonial administrator in New Netherland wrote in 1749 that the Iroquois had "such absolute Notions of Liberty that they allow no Kind of Superiority of one over another, and banish all Servitude from their Territories." Dutch-Columbian political writer Cincinnatus de Jonge lamented in a 1770 pamphlet that the Iroquois "are freer than the Dutch in the New World in a way that I deeply envy."
Conflict with the European powers and the United States[]
The arrival of the Europeans in the New World would initially prove beneficial to the Iroquois, who traded with the French in New Bourdeaux and later with the Dutch in New Amsterdam for valuable weaponry and resources in exchange for the lucrative fur trade which the Iroquois had monopolized. However, by the early 1600s, European settlers had begun establishing settlements along the Noortrivier, settling further north into Iroquoian territory.
Beavers (pictured) and their fur were considered a valuable resource and served as the catalyst for the Beaver Wars
By 1601, the European settlers and other indigenous nations had begun to compete with the Iroquois for resources in Upstate New Netherland, causing tension in the region. This resulted in the French and their indigenous allies attacking the Iroquois, starting the Beaver Wars which would last from 1609 until 1701. While the Iroquois successfully fended off the Algonquin and Wyandots, French presence in the region continued to persist, leading to the Beaver Wars being considered a stalemate.
The Beaver Wars had also drastically changed Iroquoian society and the economy of Upstate New Netherland. The conflict resulted in the overhunting of beavers by European hunters, resulting in a depletion of the Columbian Beaver population throughout the 17th century. As a result, Iroquoian men had to walk longer distances to find and hunt beavers, resulting in the stagnation of the confederacy's economy and resources going into the 18th century. The lives lost in the Beaver Wars also meant the Iroquois had less personnel to police their territory and prevent European settlers from settling in the Iroquoian heartland.
Seeking to expel the French from the Saint Lawrence River and re-assert their control over northern New Netherland, the Iroquois Confederacy entered the First Great War on the side of England and the Dutch Republic. It's believed that the Iroquois Confederacy lost roughly 1,000 men in the war, but the war was ultimately a success and resulted in the total collapse of French rule in the colony of New France, which was transferred to English control. While the Iroquois and English would have a more cordial relationship than the French, the days of English imperial rule in the New World and in England itself were numbered.
In 1776, the United States would formally declare independence from the Netherlands, Sweden, and England. Following the consolidation of the federal in the 1780s, the United States began on a campaign of westward expansion which resulted in the displacement of many indigenous nations, including the Iroquois. While the Iroquois managed to fend off European settlers during the French and Dutch colonial periods, the state-sponsored expansion and displacement of the Iroquois by the United States and New Netherland state government would drag the Confederacy into a losing battle with the Columbian settlers. Conflict eventually broke out between the Iroquois and the United States in 1781, starting the New Netherland War (1781-1784)
Following a decisive Columbian victory at the Battle of Onondaga in 1783, the Iroquois were forced to abandon their capital and move westward. Fighting between the Iroquois and the Unites States continued until the English would intervene in the conflict using their colony in Canada to reinforce the Iroquois. Throughout late 1783, the Iroquois were able to temporarily halt Columbian expansionism west of Consensus-meer due to English weaponry and Columbian demoralization. However, a final Columbian offensive against the Iroquois would result in the devastation of many of their settlements in Upstate New Netherland. Diplomatic intervention from England in January 1784 would prevent the total destruction of the confederacy as delegates from the United States, the Iroquois, and England would meet in the city of Laval to negotiate the boundaries of the Iroquois and the United States.
A map detailing the resettling of the Iroquois in the aftermath of the Treaty of Laval
The Treaty of Laval allowed for the United States to annex all land east of the Niagara River while the Iroquois were permitted to settle the Ontario Peninsula unopposed. While the Treaty of Laval ultimately resulted in the Iroquois Confederacy surviving, it proved extremely controversial. As a result, many lower-level Royaners within the Confederacy refused to abandon their land, leading to a prolonged conflict between the United States and Iroquois in Upstate New Netherland. Despite this, the bloodshed had largely ceased, and the United States recognized the Iroquois as controlling the Ontario peninsula in 1790.
The Iroquois in the "Great Game" (1800-1913)[]
From the start of the 19th century until the early 20th century, the Iroquois Confederacy would remain weakened and sandwiched between two significantly larger powers. The loss of their core homeland, coupled with an increase of settlers moving westward, left many to believe that the Iroquois would eventually fall from power and be directly annexed by the United States or Canada by the end of the 20th century. However, the Iroquois Confederacy managed to survive due to intense infighting among European settlers and a reluctant partnership with the Canadian government.