The Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca people had been warring against each other. There was great bloodshed and death surrounding us. These people of the five nations had forgotten their ways and their actions saddened the Creator. The Creator decided to send a messenger to the people so that the five nations could live in peace. The messenger is referred to as the Peacemaker. The Peacemaker was born on the northern shores of Lake Ontario. There he was raised by his mother and grandmother. Right away, they knew that this young person was special. He always talked of peace and that he was given a powerful message by the Creator. When he was ready, the Peacemaker told his mother and grandmother that he was off to bring peace to the warring people. To travel there, the Peacemaker carved a canoe made entirely out of white stone! This amazing canoe would help convince the people of the powerful message of peace the Creator was sending to the five nations. He said his goodbyes, and then started his journey across the big lake in the stone white canoe.
The Onondaga Nation is a sovereign nation of people with its own government. This government has been in existence for countless centuries. Like other member-nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Onondaga Nation survives today as a sovereign, independent nation, living on a portion of its ancestral territory and maintaining its own distinct laws, language, customs, and culture. Today, the Onondaga Nation consists of a 7,300-acre territory just south of Syracuse, on which it maintains its sovereignty and operates outside the general jurisdiction of New York State. The Nation is still governed by a Council of Chiefs, selected in accordance with its time-honored democratic system. In the same vein, many Onondagas practice traditional ceremonies and adhere to religious philosophies and social customs that long predate contact with Western civilizations. Aspects of this ideology have been incorporated into America’s legal system, as well as into its culture. Personal and societal consideration of the Seventh Generation is but one example of a Haudenosaunee world view that has informed, enhanced and enlightened American and other national cultures.
Most believe that the confederacy originated between 1570 and 1600 when Dekanawidah (born a Huron) persuaded Hawatha (Onondaga living among Mohawks) to abandon cannibalism and advance peace and order. The emphasis on creating a universal law allowed the tribes to begin to create sanctions for confederation. Eventually the tribes united in a common council composed of clan and village chiefs. Each tribe had one vote and each decision was required to be unanimous before it became a official. The joint jurisdiction of 50 peace chiefs dealt with all civil affairs at the intertribal level. The practicality was shown in how they used an elaborate ritualized system that chose its leaders. The confederation was never dominated by a great individual personality which allowed them to sustain success for centuries. Also, while the tribes often acted in unison, the tribes had the freedom to govern themselves and would often act independently from each other. This allowed each tribe to keep their own identity and rituals in tact.
The Onondaga (Onöñda’gega’ or the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee). Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York. They were centrally located among the nations, with the Cayuga and Seneca to their west and the Oneida and Mohawk to their east. For this reason, the League of the Iroquois historically met at the Iroquois government’s capital at Onondaga, as indeed the traditional chiefs do today. Their Longhouse serves as a place of spiritual, cultural and social activities, the seat of government and symbol of security. Contemporary Onondaga are found in the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario, Canada. Like other member-nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Onondaga Nation survives today as a sovereign, independent nation, living on a portion of its ancestral territory and maintaining its own distinct laws, language, customs, and culture. Still, Onondaga culture continues to change and evolve to meet the challenges of the modern world. The Haudenosaunee concern for both personal and societal consideration of the seventh generation, that is to act in such a way that seven generations from now will benefit, informs their efforts. Onondaga today have much to offer human society, and their best representatives continue to offer that to the world.
TURTLE’S RACE WITH BEAVER & HOW BEAR LOST HIS TAIL
The Onondaga (Onöñda’gega’ or the People of the Hills) are one of the original five constituent nations of the Iroquois Confederacy (Haudenosaunee). Their traditional homeland is in and around Onondaga County, New York. They were centrally located among the nations, with the Cayuga and Seneca to their west and the Oneida and Mohawk to their east. For this reason, the League of the Iroquois historically met at the Iroquois government’s capital at Onondaga, as indeed the traditional chiefs do today. Their Longhouse serves as a place of spiritual, cultural and social activities, the seat of government and symbol of security. Contemporary Onondaga are found in the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve in Ontario, Canada. Like other member-nations of the Haudenosaunee, the Onondaga Nation survives today as a sovereign, independent nation, living on a portion of its ancestral territory and maintaining its own distinct laws, language, customs, and culture. Still, Onondaga culture continues to change and evolve to meet the challenges of the modern world. The Haudenosaunee concern for both personal and societal consideration of the seventh generation, that is to act in such a way that seven generations from now will benefit, informs their efforts. Onondaga today have much to offer human society, and their best representatives continue to offer that to the world.
HOW GOLDFINCHES GOT THEIR COLORS
STORY OF THE PEACEMAKER
Some say it was a thousand years ago. Some say that it was two thousand years when there was a dark period in the history of The People. The Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca Nations were at war with one another. It was a terrible time of cruelty, bloodshed and mourning. But then a Huron man, referred to as the Peacemaker, canoed from the western shore of Lake Ontario. He brought with him a message of peace and unity. The first individual to accept his message of peace was a Seneca woman named Jigonsaseh. Because it was a woman who was the first individual to accept his message of peace, the Peacemaker gave women an important role in the new confederacy that was to be formed. Jigonsaseh became known as “The Mother of Nations.”
The Onondaga is one of six member nations of the Haudenosaunee (“People of the Longhouse”), also referred to as the Iroquois Confederacy or Six Nations. Allied for hundreds of years and united by common traditions, beliefs and cultural values, the Haudenosaunee also include the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca and Tuscarora nations. The Two Row Wampu Belt (“Guswenta”) is the Haudenosaunee record of the first agreement between the Haudenosaunee and the first European settlers, the Dutch. It formed the basis for all of the subsequent treaties with the French, English, and United States. The agreement outlines a mutual, three-part commitment to friendship, peace between peoples and living in parallel forever (as long as the grass is green, as long as the waters flow downhill and as long as the sun rises in the east and sets in the west). Throughout the years, the Haudenosaunee have sought to honor this mutual vision and have increasingly and consistently emphasized that ecological stewardship is a fundamental prerequisite for this continuing friendship. The belt has three rows of white and two rows of purple beads made from quahog clam shells. One purple row represents the Haudenosaunee in their canoes and the other represents the Europeans in their ships, each carrying their way of life, culture and government. Both paths, or vessels, move side by side in the same direction, neither interfering with the other, moving into the future, into infinity (and hence, the Two Row Wampum). To this day the Haudenosaunee consider it the basis of diplomatic relations with the United States.
Indigenous Peoples Literature 
