A constitutional league of peace in the stone age of America

In Short

This work examines the origins and intricate social architecture of the Iroquois League, a confederation of five tribes—the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca—formed in the sixteenth century to replace perpetual blood-feuds with a lasting, principled peace. By analyzing the "ohwachira" (the uterine family) as the foundational building block of Iroquois society, the text details how kinship, female leadership, and constitutional law created a stable, democratic confederacy. It remains an essential record of how indigenous political innovation sought to extend the fellowship of mankind beyond tribal boundaries.

The Story

The narrative begins by situating the Iroquois tribes within the landscape of present-day New York, describing an era of "fierce tribalism" where individuals outside one’s own tribe were essentially outlaws. Into this volatile environment comes Deganawida, a prophet and lawgiver whose vision transcends the narrow confines of his time. He proposes a revolutionary idea: the formation of a permanent league that would not merely unite the five tribes, but eventually welcome all other tribes as confederates, creating a "rich fellowship of all mankind" through a shared system of law.

Deganawida’s mission is fundamentally a peaceful revolution. He first wins over Hiawatha, who is initially depicted as a cannibal. After experiencing a profound realization brought on by Deganawida’s influence—seeing that his violent habits are incompatible with the beauty and humanity mirrored in the prophet’s face—Hiawatha renounces his past and becomes a tireless partner in building the League. Together with the astute chieftainess Djigonsasen, who becomes the first to embrace their platform of righteousness and equity, they work to persuade the various tribes to abandon the brutality of the blood-feud.

Their efforts face intense opposition, most notably from the powerful Onondaga sorcerer Atotarho. The conflict is personal and severe, with tradition attributing the loss of Hiawatha’s family to Atotarho’s dark influence. Despite these obstacles, the reformers succeed in creating a constitutional government. They implement practical measures, such as the legal tender of wampum to settle homicides—placing a higher value on the lives of women, whose role in nourishing society is seen as parallel to the earth itself. They also establish the "condoling and installation council," a ritualized process to ensure that the leadership of the League remains intact after deaths, thereby preserving the integrity of the state.

The story concludes by emphasizing that this was not merely a political contract but an organic philosophy. The League was conceived as a "bisexed being," with the tribes divided into mother and father sides, embodying a balance of masculine and feminine principles. Through this complex structure, the Iroquois established a durable, non-military form of governance that separated civil authority from religious life, ensuring that those in power were dedicated to the welfare of the people rather than the pursuit of war.

How It Unfolds

The vision of unity Deganawida emerges from obscurity to challenge the prevailing creed of tribalism, which dictates that no one has rights outside their own group. He proposes that all tribes, regardless of their past, can be joined as "fathers," "mothers," and "sons" under a single constitutional framework.

The conversion of Hiawatha Deganawida encounters Hiawatha, a man caught in the cycle of cannibalism, and through mental suggestion or wise counsel, facilitates a transformation in his nature. Hiawatha abandons his violent past to become the primary architect of the League’s practical rituals and pledges.

Overcoming the sorcerer The reformers face the fierce opposition of the Onondaga chief Atotarho, whose magical and political influence threatens the stability of the nascent confederacy. The struggle against him tests the patience and wisdom of the founders, ultimately reinforcing the necessity of their peaceful, institutional approach.

The architecture of the League The narrative pivots to the structural mechanics of the union, defining the ohwachira as the essential unit of social organization. It explains how these uterine families are nested into clans, which in turn form the sisterhoods that constitute the two halves of the Iroquois League.

The installation of order The final phase details the establishment of the mourning and installation rituals, which serve to preserve the League’s political integrity. By performing these ceremonies, the Iroquois successfully institutionalize peace, ensuring that the death of a leader never leads to the death of the law itself.

The People

Deganawida stands as the central prophet and lawgiver, a figure of masterful intellect and "orenda"—a term for the spiritual power that drives his statesmanship. He is the visionary who imagines a world beyond the current state of war. Hiawatha, his primary lieutenant, undergoes the most dramatic change, evolving from a cannibalistic hunter into an enlightened statesman whose personal suffering at the hands of Atotarho only strengthens his resolve.

Atotarho serves as the primary antagonist, a figure of immense power and malevolence who represents the old, destructive order of tribalism and sorcery. His eventual integration into the League is the ultimate testament to the efficacy of the founders' vision. Finally, Djigonsasen, the chieftainess of the Neutral nation, acts as the vital link and early advocate for the movement. Her inclusion highlights the essential role of women in Iroquois governance, as she and other matrons hold the power to nominate chiefs and, crucially, the power to depose them if they fail to live up to the responsibilities of their office.

In Its Own Voice

"So, of more than passing interest is the fact that in the sixteenth century, on the North American Continent, there was formed a permanent league of five tribes of Indians for the purpose of stopping for all time the shedding of human blood by violence."

The author emphasizes that the League was a deliberate, historical project aimed at ending the endemic violence of the Stone Age.

"The proposal to include all the tribes of men in such a league of comity and peace is the more remarkable in view of the fact that that was an age of fierce tribalism."

The author notes that the revolutionary nature of the League’s inclusivity stood in direct opposition to the violent, exclusionary norms of its time.

"It was the central teaching of Deganawida, the great statesman and lawgiver of the Iroquois people in the sixteenth century, that out of the union of a common motherhood and a common fatherhood arise the daughtership of all women and the sonship of all men, and the rich fellowship of all mankind."

This passage captures the philosophical foundation of the League, which sought to harmonize human relationships through the lens of kinship.

What It's Really About

The book is a study in the transition from tribalism to constitutional government. It explores the tension between kinship-based social structures and the need for a larger, more inclusive political order. The central argument is that the Iroquois League was not merely a military alliance, but a sophisticated experiment in social engineering that relied on the "orenda" (or perceived spiritual power) of law to replace force with diplomacy. It asks fundamental questions about how a society can maintain its autonomy while fostering a "universal peace," and it asserts that the Iroquois achieved this by elevating the status of women, who served as the moral and political foundation of the state.

Why Read It Today

Readers interested in indigenous history, political philosophy, or the evolution of governance will find this work profound. It provides a rare, clear-eyed look at the mechanisms of a confederacy that existed long before the modern nation-state. The reading experience is one of intellectual discovery; the author writes with a sober, academic authority that values the "Stone Age" origins of these tribes not as primitive, but as a period of genuine, sophisticated innovation.

However, modern readers should be prepared for the formal, somewhat detached prose of the early twentieth century. The author occasionally moves into dense anthropological taxonomies, detailing the lineages and phratries of the tribes in ways that require careful attention to follow. You will also encounter the author’s critique of nineteenth-century writers like Henry Schoolcraft, whom he corrects for conflating Iroquois history with Algonquian mythology in the creation of the fictionalized "Hiawatha." It is a challenging but rewarding text that effectively dismantles popular misconceptions to reveal the genuine, complex history of the Iroquois. What stays with you is the surprising modernity of these ancient thinkers: their vision of a world where violence is replaced by law, and where the welfare of posterity is the highest aim of the state.