# Deganawida, the Peacemaker *Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.* --- > DEGANAWIDA, THE > PEACEMAKER > (c. 1150 CE: Native traditional/academic; c. 1450–1550 CE: non-Native academic) > > Christopher Buck > > DEGANAWIDA, A NAME traditionally considered too Peacemaker was "American" in that he was a > sacred to pronounce (yet fine in printed form), is Native American—and possibly Native Canadian, > respectfully referred to as "the Peacemaker" by that is, a "dual citizen," if his Canadian birth "on > the Iroquois people, who are more properly the northerly side of the lake, Lake Ontario" (CL, > known as the Haudenosaunee ("People of the p. 2) has any credence—and was certainly a Na- > Longhouse"). The Iroquois were aboriginal tive North American. (Obviously the United > inhabitants of lands bordering Lakes Huron, Erie, States and Canada, as nations, did not exist durand Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, an area ing the founding of the Confederacy.) Not being > comprising nearly all of present-day New York a "writer" in the traditional sense, the Peacemaker > State, part of Pennsylvania, and southern Ontario was a charismatic figure—orator, author, and > and Quebec. The Peacemaker is a legendary yet author of a living tradition. Thus, Deganawida, > historical figure, memorialized in traditions held the Peacemaker, with the assistance of Hiawatha > to be sacred by indigenous peoples among the and Jigonsaseh (the leader of the corn-planting > Iroquois Nations—and, generally, among Native "Cultivators," also called the "Peace Queen"), > Americans and Native Canadians today. This united five warring Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) > article takes a look at the Deganawida epic, a nations into a formidable and enduring federacycle of narratives that exists in some forty ver- tion—a consensus-based matrilineally hereditary > sions—composites of Iroquois sophiology, as it federal council of fifty chiefs ("sachems," or > were—recorded largely as part of a process of spokesmen), each appointed by local councils of > Haudenosaunee survival and revival, culturally, clan matrons, with protocols rooted in "Condospiritually, and politically. lence" ceremonies that served as a vehicle for > The version privileged here is titled Concern- political decision-making. Never would Deing the League, translated by the linguist Hanni ganawida have been able to accomplish this had > Woodbury in collaboration with two native speak- he and his illustrious cohorts not met face-to-face > ers of Onondaga, the late Reg Henry and the late with the warlords of belligerent tribes and skill- > Harry Webster. This version (hereafter abbrevi- fully persuaded them to become close allies, > ated CL in page references) provides a direct, replacing war with a sophisticated system of > authentic link to the past. Other major versions peaceful conflict resolution by democratic consulwill be referred to as well. tation and collective decision-making. Barbara > Mann refers to Deganawida, Hiawatha, and > Jigonsaseh as "the peace trio" (Iroquoian Women, > WIDENING THE AMERICAN CANON: ORATURE p. 38). J. N. B. Hewitt, for instance, speaks of > AS LITERATURE the peace trio as "the swart statesmen Dekanawida [sic], Hiawatha, and ! the equally astute > It may surprise readers to characterize De- stateswoman Djigonsasen [sic], a chieftainess of > ganawida (a.k.a. Tekanawita and other variant the powerful Neutral Tribe" ("Some Esoteric > spellings) as an "American writer." Yes, the Aspects," p. 322). > > Some may disagree with characterizing the That said, in Hanni Woodbury's translation, > Peacemaker as a [Native] "American writer," Concerning the League, a stock introductory > since the Deganawida epic is about him, not by formula is used to directly quote the Peacemaker. > him. However, the latter could not have happened The recurrent phrase "Thereupon Tekanawita > without the former. In that sense, the "message" said," occurs 191 times (present writer's count). > and the "history" contained in the Deganawida This phrase is a literary device used in Iroquoian > epic may be said to have been "authored" by texts to distinguish temporal sequencing from > Deganawida. Since the Deganawida epic quali- declarative statements. Non-Native academics > fies as oral literature (and arguably as sacred generally do not take this formula literally as > literature), an analogy may be drawn with the indicating direct quotations by the Peacemaker. > traditional ascription of Moses as the traditional However, many, if not most, Native American > and Native Canadian authorities tend to accept > "author" of the Torah (i.e., "The Five Books of > the statements attributed to Deganawida as > Moses"), even though, as one early Jewish > substantially authentic transmissions of his > Christian document argued, referring to Deuterteachings. > onomy 34:6, "But how could Moses write that > 'Moses died'?" (Pseudo-Clementine Homilies, The Deganawida epic, moreover, belongs to > chap. 47). The Oxford English Dictionary defines world literature. Enter the Peacemaker among the > "author," in part, as "A creator, cause, or source." men and women of American and world literature, as a man of wisdom. The Deganawida cycle > One literary example given is this: "The author > is an originary voice that stories America before > of our religion." If the semantic penumbra of > America was "America"—originally called > "writer" adumbrates this sense of its synonym, > "Turtle Island" by the Iroquois themselves. De- > "author," then a case can be made. That said, > ganawida may therefore be considered to be a > provisions of the Great Law were preserved on venerable "American writer" (orator/author of > wampum belts (freshwater shells strung together), oral/written tradition) of history and culture, as a > a form of communication which, like writing, maker of history and culture, long before Ameriused visual symbols to convey information and can literati came on the scene. > aid memory. So transmission was not entirely > Some regard the Peacemaker as the founder > oral. (See Barbara Mann, "The Fire at Onondaga: > (along with Hiawatha and Jigonsaseh) of the first > Wampum as Proto-Writing.") > New World democracy. In this sense, not only is > The Peacemaker's inclusion in the American Deganawida a truly American orator/author in > Writers series is justified if "orature" is accepted the indigenous sense but is equally "American" > as "literature." Compositions in languages lack- given the extraordinary value that America ating writing can be designated as "oral literature." taches to democracy. That said, the notion of the > Literary productions in most indigenous lan- Peacemaker as an "American writer" (orator/ > guages remain predominantly "oral" in character author) fails to do justice to so powerful a > until print technology brings them to the threshold personality, who, by his inspired vision, charisof "writing." "Oral literature" therefore becomes matic influence, and skillful diplomacy, "wrote" > "orature" with the emergence of print technology history and revolutionized a culture, which > as a means of literary dissemination, once such survives today as a lived legacy. Given these > languages are committed to print. The Oxford reasons, recognition of Deganawida as an > English Dictionary defines "orature" as a "body "American writer" is both justified and timely. > of poetry, tales, etc., preserved through oral Equally at issue, however, is the question of > transmission as part of a particular culture, esp. a how this canonization of the Peacemaker compreliterate one." Thus the Deganawida epic, bet- ports with the views of Native Americans and > ter known as the "Great Law of Peace," is ora- Native Canadians. What justification for this > ture here being recognized as part of the Ameri- cultural appropriation, this impingement on all > can literary canon. things indigenous, this infringement, as it were, > > of sacred indigenous tradition, which is so cultur- with the inscriptions "Haudenosaunee" ("People > ally sensitive? By what right can the non-Native of the Longhouse") and "Great Law of Peace." > present writer presume to profane (i.e., to The official description reads, in part: > publicly render secular) a sacred oral tradition? > The Iroquoian ethnologist Michael K. Foster, The Haudenosaunee Confederation, also known as > curator emeritus of the Canadian Museum of the Iroquois Confederacy of upstate New York, was > remarkable for being founded by 2 historic figures, > Civilization, recounts how Chief Jacob ("Jake") > the Peacemaker and his Onondaga spokesman, > Thomas (d. 1998), a prominent proponent and Hiawatha, who spent years preaching the need for a > interpreter of Haudenosaunee culture, justified league. The Peacemaker sealed the treaty by > this profanation/translation to the non-Native symbolically burying weapons at the foot of a Great > world when, in September 1992 on the Six Na- White Pine, or Great Tree of Peace, whose 5-needle > tions Reserve near Brantford, Ontario, he took clusters stood for the original 5 nations: Mohawk, > Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca. > the unprecedented step of reciting the Great Law > (U.S. Mint, "2010 Native American $1 Coin") > in English (drawing much indigenous indignation > thereby), in a nine-day event on the grounds of The mastermind behind Iroquoian political genius > his home, which attracted national media was Deganawida, assisted by Hiawatha (no > coverage. Among the some two thousand people resemblance to Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's > present, a large number of these listeners were poetic fiction) and Jigonsaseh (whose presence > white, not Iroquois. During the summer of 1994 assured a male-female equilibrium in the > Chief Thomas repeated the event. Responding to League's governance system). According to Chief > criticism, he offered this justification, according John Arthur Gibson's 1899 version (pp. 34–60), > to Foster: Hiawatha was a former cannibal whom Deganawida won over and who then became the > I think the white man needs to understand. It isn't > that he's going to take the law and use it himself.! > latter's spokesman. (In Gibson's 1912 version, > They already did! The 13 colonies already took the the cannibal is not named.) Together, De- > Great Law for their so-called Constitution. So what ganawida, Hiawatha, and Jigonsaseh established > should we be afraid of? ! If they want to learn it, the Iroquois League, uniting the "Five Nations" > they have a right to. That should have been done (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and > 500 years ago, to study and respect the Confederacy. Seneca) into a powerful confederacy, into which > Maybe we wouldn't have the problems we have > today if they would have studied our people, and the Tuscaroras, after a gradual migration that > [would now] understand and honor and respect [us]. began in 1714, were adopted in 1722 (now the > (Foster, "Jacob Ezra Thomas," p. 227) "Six Nations"), with the Tuteloes and Nanticokes > added to the "Longhouse" (the grand metaphor > It is in the spirit of this advice that the following for the League) in 1753, and protection extended > epitome of the life and teachings (i.e. oral to the Delawares and others. The territory under > "writings") of the Peacemaker are here presented. the sway of the Iroquois League was vast, as > In so doing, this is not intended as exploitation James A. Tuck notes in Scientific American: > of Native American spiritual traditions. It is not a > "theft of spirit." Rather, it is recognition of the Five tribes of the Iroquois confederacy were, from > universality and contemporary relevance of the west to east, the Senecas, the Cayugas, the Ononda- > Peacemaker's enunciation of "the Good Message, gas, the Oneidas and the Mohawks. At the beginalso the Power and the Peace." ning of the 18th century their power extended from > Maine to Illinois and from southern Ontario to > The Iroquois were known for their political > Tennessee. The Tuscaroras became the sixth after > genius, which impressed Benjamin Franklin and being ousted by white settlers in the Carolinas. > continues to be noted by the U.S. government to ("The Iroquois Confederacy," p. 36) > this day. In 2010, for instance, the U.S. Mint issued its Native American one-dollar coin, featur- Arthur Gajarsa, circuit judge on the U.S. Court > ing, on the reverse, an image of the "Hiawatha of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (1997–2012), > Belt," with five arrows bound together, along in Banner v. United States (2001), noted: > > The Iroquois Confederacy, or Haudenosaunee, is ment, the U.S. Constitution, that united immigrant > believed to have been formed in the fifteenth Europeans into a symbiotic union called America. > century when the legendary Hiawatha and the Great (pp. 29, 37) > Peacemaker united the warring eastern Native > American tribes. Prior to European colonization, Tribalography, as understood by the present > the Iroquois Confederacy exercised active dominion writer, recognizes that traditional narratives are > over nearly thirty-five million acres, most of what > is now the states of New York and Pennsylvania, > formative (culturally foundational), performative > and was considered the most powerful peacekeep- (ceremonially recited), and transformative > ing force of Native Americans east of the Missis- (spiritually and socially revitalizing). They resippi River. present the past in the present. Fact and fiction > (Banner v. United States, 238 F.3d at p. 1350) synthesize into the grand, collective tradition, > In New York, Archibald Kennedy and James admixed with legendary and mythic elements (not > Parker (Benjamin Franklin's printing partner) unlike the "magical realism" of Gabriel García > published a pamphlet, The Importance of Gain- Márquez), integrating symbolically mnemonic > ing and Preserving the Friendship of the Indians accounts, where cosmogony (origin of universe) > to the British Interest Considered (1751), calling functions as sociogony (origin of society), in a > for the Iroquois Six Nations to be federated with sacred embrace of physical and metaphysical > the colonies. In his letter, dated March 20, 1751, epistemology that characterizes Native American > to James Parker, Benjamin Franklin held up the perspectives. In other words, while there is no > Iroquois confederacy as a model of good gover- way to definitively recapture "pre-contact" hisnance: tory by way of "post-contact" sources, a consensus, for the most part, has emerged that the > It would be a very strange Thing, if six Nations of Peacemaker was a historical figure. > ignorant Savages should be capable of forming a > Scheme for such an Union, and be able to execute > it in such a Manner, as that it has subsisted Ages, > and appears indissoluble; and yet that a like Union HISTORICITY OF THE PEACEMAKER > should be impracticable for ten or a Dozen English > Colonies, to whom it is more necessary, and must Without considering Native Americans, one canbe more advantageous; and who cannot be sup- not understand the early development of North > posed to want an equal Understanding of their America. Enter the Peacemaker. Legends are > Interests. historically rooted and culturally bound. As such, > (Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 4, pp. 118–119) > Deganawida is not an ethnographic curiosity but > Having justified the significance and impor- a living cultural presence. The overmastering fact > tance of Deganawida as an "American writer" in the history of the Iroquois is the dominance > (orator/author of oral/written tradition) in the and centrality of the "Longhouse" tradition based > grand sense of the word, a word regarding upon the Peacemaker cycle. Phenomenologically, > methodology: The present author has adopted the Deganawida epic—most notably Concerning > and adapted a new methodology called "tribalog- the League, dictated by Chief John Arthur Gibson > raphy," which is still under development, and so in 1912—compares favorably with the sacred > may mean slightly different approaches depend- scripture in the world's great religions and, as > ing on the scholar. In her highly influential article such, belongs to world literature. > "The Story of America: A Tribalography," Le- Most ethnologists and linguists have assumed > Anne Howe explains: that Deganawida was a historical figure and use > the term "tradition" for that reason. A solid intel- > Native stories are power. They create people. They lectual approach is that the Peacemaker ought to > author tribes. America is a tribal creation story, a be treated as phenomenologically parallel to the > tribalography.! I am suggesting that when the > European Founding Fathers heard the stories of founders of world religions—such as Buddha, > how the Haudenosaunee unified six individual tribes Moses, Christ, Muhammad, or Bahá'u'lláh. By > into an Indian confederacy, they created a docu- adopting this approach, the Deganawida epic, in > > its several versions, is understood as a sacred or process that took place over generations. Taking > "enlightened" tradition within the Haudenosaunee Crawford's and Parmenter's best estimates > worldview, with an appreciation of the irreduc- together, the date range for the historical Peaceible historical dimension of the Peacemaker as maker becomes c. 1450–1550. > founder (variants and possible embellishments That date range is not the final word on the > within the collective tradition notwithstanding). subject, however, for what about "ethnohistory"? > For the Peacemaker gave supernatural sanction to What does Haudenosaunee tradition have to say > the League that he and Hiawatha founded, about the question of when the Great League was > "because the Great Spirit never planned for founded, and why is that tradition important? > humans to hurt one another nor to slaughter one The answer is as political as it is academic: > another" (CL, p. 106). While the historicity of indigenous scholars and activists are reclaiming > the Peacemaker is widely accepted by scholars, the right to their own history. So the date range > dating varies. By analogy, such dating presents that extends to the mid-1500s may soon be > problems akin to the so-called "quest for the regarded, by the Iroquois at least, as racist > historical Jesus." history. The Haudenosaunee see insisting on the > All religions are influenced by subsequent post-contact date (after Columbus) as colonializevents. As such, there is no single pristine ac- ing their history. > count of the Peacemaker, uninflected by various In principle (legally, at least), oral tradition > outside influences, be they Christian or otherwise. should be taken far more seriously. As of March > Traditionally, however, a plurality of Deganawida 21, 2014, U.S. federal law, as put forth in the > traditions are considered to be simultaneously Native American Graves Protection and Repatriatrue. That said, the Gibson-Goldenweiser version tion Act (NAGPRA), now recognizes that oral > (see below) has been widely acknowledged as tradition is accepted as admissible on a par with > the best version extant, in that it is structured expert opinion: > faithfully to how it was ceremonially recited and > ritually performed in the present. Where cultural affiliation of Native American hu- > So what is the most tenable date of De- man remains and funerary objects has not been > established in an inventory prepared pursuant to > ganawida? Arguably the most widely accepted section 5 [25 USCS § 3003], or the summary pursudate among academics is c. 1450 CE. In "The ant to section 6 [25 USCS § 3004], ! such Native > Long Peace Among Iroquois Nations," Neta C. American human remains and funerary objects shall > Crawford, after reviewing traditional sources and be expeditiously returned where the requesting > scholarly literature, concludes that Indian tribe or Native Hawaiian organization can > show cultural affiliation by a preponderance of the > evidence based upon geographical, kinship, biologiit seems likely that the League of the Iroquois was > cal, archaeological, anthropological, linguistic, > formed well before the five original nations came > folkloric, oral traditional, historical, or other > into contact with European explorers and settlers.! > relevant information or expert opinion. > The negotiations for the formation of the League > (25 USCS § 3005(a)(4)) > were probably concluded around 1450, about 85 > years before the Mohawks, in the League members' > One Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) voice is that of > first direct contact with Europeans, met Cartier on > the Saint Lawrence. Barbara Alice Mann, associate professor in the > (p. 351) Honors Department of the University of Toledo > and also an Ohio Bear Clan Seneca, who would > Similarly, Jon Parmenter, in his The Edge of the therefore be considered an expert in more than > Woods: Iroquoia, 1534–1701, holds that plausible one sense as defined by NAGPRA, given her > dates for the historical Peacemaker, where the command of the oral tradition, documentary > date of "founding" can be interpreted as the evidence, and the scholarly literature. At the polar > initiation of diplomacy by the Peacemaker and opposite are the reductionist views of the anthro- > Hiawatha, could be anywhere circa 1400–1550, pologist William A. Starna, professor emeritus at > while the League formation itself was a lengthy the State University of New York College at > > Oneonta. This intellectual landscape—a hyper- divine portent of cosmic and therefore historical > critical minefield—is difficult to map, because significance. > the claims are so territorial, with so much The latest date for the formation of the > heritage and history at stake. > Iroquois Confederacy has been put forward by > At issue is a central question: was the League Starna, who postulates that "the genesis of the > "pre-contact" (before Europeans arrived on the League is tied directly to the arrival of the Dutch > American scene), or was it "post-contact"? The > [in 1609] and the trade at Fort Nassau [1613– > earliest date posited for the formation of the > 14]" (p. 321). Henry Hudson, an English naviga- > Iroquois Confederacy is August 31, 1142, during > tor in the service of the Dutch East India > which a "Black Sun" (total eclipse) occurred right > Company aboard the ship Half Moon, discovered > before the League was finally and fully > established. This date has been proposed by the Delaware Bay and River, according to the > Barbara Mann and Jerry Fields, an astronomer, in journal kept by his first officer, on August 28, > "A Sign in the Sky: Dating the League of the 1609. According to Starna (pp. 285–286), the > Haudenosaunee." According to Mann and Fields, earliest documentary mention of a version of the > the Peacemaker, along with Hiawatha and Jigon- name "Deganawida" is found in A Dictionary of > saseh, flourished in the twelfth century. This is the Mohawk Language produced sometime in the > squarely based on a Seneca legend which holds period 1743–1748 by Johann Christopher Pyrthat, during a ratification council held at Ganon- laeus, a German-born Moravian missionary. > dagan (near modern-day Victor, New York), a Pyrlaeus' informant was an elderly Mohawk man, > solar eclipse coincided with the Senecas' deci- Sganarády. While Starna recognizes the Desion to join the League. In William W. Canfield's ganawida epic's "status as a sacred text" (p. 320), > comment on a parallel traditional account, as told he does not accord it much historical value. > to him by "the Cornplanter" (a warrior, Seneca Starna, moreover, holds that, once the Dechief, and major Iroquois leader of the late ganawida epic is set aside, nothing in the historieighteenth century), he cites both the Cornplanter cal or archaeological record confirms the exisand Chief Governor Blacksnake as authorities for tence of the League before contact; in other > the Seneca eclipse tradition: words, that "the impetus for and timing of the > The legend of its formation here published is not formation of the League ! cannot be satisfactorily > only based upon what was considered reliable answered solely on the basis of the Deganawidah > authority by Cornplanter, but has also the sanction epic" (p. 315), and that it is too much to expect > of that other noted Seneca chief, Governor Black- historians to accept a sacred narrative of events > snake (the Nephew), who was contemporaneous > so deep in the past without independent evidence. > with Cornplanter.! These chiefs both claimed to > have seen a string of wampum in their early years Even if one does not accept the date of > that placed the formation of the confederacy at a August 31, 1142, proposed by Mann and Fields, > time when there occurred a total eclipse of the > sun—"a darkening of the Great Spirit's smiling > they make a powerful and compelling argument > face"—that took place when the corn was receiving against dating the formation of the League as a > its last tillage, long before events that could be reli- response to Europeans in the mid-sixteenth > ably ascribed to the year 1540. century and beyond: > (Canfield, "Notes to the Legends," > The Legends of the Iroquois, pp. 205–206) > We know who "the enemy" was during the mid- > The same traditional/astrophysical approach sixteenth century: the Europeans. We also know > was used by Dean Snow to arrive at the Julian who "the enemy" was in League tradition: the cancalendar date of June 28, 1451, by adopting the nibal cult. At no point does League tradition state > that the cannibals were Europeans; quite the opdate of a later solar eclipse. (See "Dating the > posite, the cannibals were an absolutely Native > Emergence of the League of the Iroquois: A group. If the mid-sixteenth century claim is to stand, > Reconsideration of the Documentary Evidence.") its advocates must demonstrate that the cannibals > Such an eclipse could easily be interpreted as a and the Europeans are one and the same. They must > > also explain why the Keepers seem unaware of this Cayuga, he would reply in Onondaga.) Gibson > extraordinary fact. could, at will, converse with visiting Oneida > (p. 110) chiefs. Occasionally Chief Gibson performed > rituals in Mohawk. He knew some Tuscarora as > well. Chief Gibson was trained as a ceremonialist > DEGANAWIDA EPIC: VERSIONS BY LANGUAGE under the oldest living Onondaga fire-keeper at > that time (Fenton, 1962, p. 286.) Besides the > Although the chronological focus of the sundry Chiefs' version, there is the 1899 Gibson-Hewitt > Peacemaker traditions (collectively referred to as version and the 1912 Gibson-Goldenweiser > the Deganawida epic) is essentially "pre-contact," version. (See below.) > the primary sources are "post-contact." > The Chiefs' version was compiled in English > Native-Authored English Versions: As previin 1900 ("or composed in one of the Iroquois > ously stated, more than forty versions (oral and > languages and then translated by them into > written) of the Deganawida epic exist (Kimura, > English—the exact method used is not known," > p. 49). All are honored as "authoritative" among > according to Hanni Woodbury in her introduction > Iroquois communities and speakers. Perhaps the > to Concerning the League [p. xvi, n. 12]). It was > most truly representative tradition is the Chiefs' > published as Traditional History of the Confedversion (English-only), "written from dictation > eracy of the Six Nations in 1912 by Duncan C. > by the ceremonial Chiefs" from each of the Six > Scott, superintendent of Indian Affairs in Canada. > Nations. These chiefs were Peter Powless > Arthur C. Parker (Seneca, but who did not speak > (Mohawk), Nicodemus Porter (Oneida), William > any Iroquoian languages) published The Constitu- > Wage and Abram Charles (Cayuga), John Arthur > tion of the Five Nations (1916), in which he > Gibson (Seneca), Thomas William Echo > combined the Chiefs' version—reviewed, cor- > (Onondaga), and Josiah Hill (Tuscarora), with J. > rected, and revised by Albert Cusick (Onondaga- > W. M. Elliott serving as secretary, along with > Tuscarora)—with the Iroquois code of laws set > Chief Hill. The chiefs' version was promulgated > down by Seth Newhouse ("Da-yo-de-ka-ne," > on August 17, 1900, at the Six Nations Reserve > Mohawk-Onondaga) in "Indian English," corin Ontario, Canada, where, in 1874, Loyalist > rected by Cusick. Parker edited Newhouse's code > Mohawks and their confederated allies followed > of laws by reorganizing the sections to more > Joseph Brant to the banks of the Grand River > closely resemble the U.S. Constitution. Oddly, > near Brantford, Ontario. There, the Six Nations > Parker does not cite Scott's prior publication of > reconstituted the old League. > the Chiefs' version. > This endorsed version, promulgated "by the > authority of the Six Nations Council," represents Twice previously, the chiefs had rejected Seth > a synthesis of parallel traditions. Of these eight Newhouse's 1885 Native-English version of the > leaders, Gibson (1850–1912) was arguably the Peacemaker narrative, Cosmogony of the Iroquois > most influential. In 1872, at age twenty-three, Confederacy, for which he wanted to be paid and > Gibson was appointed a Seneca chief, having which called into question certain titles of > inherited his title, Kanyataiyo ("Beautiful Lake"), chieftainship and some of the Council's procefrom his mother's side. At thirty-one, Gibson dures as well. A true Mohawk patriot, Newhouse > suddenly became blind due to an injury suffered translated his Cosmogony into Mohawk, possibly > during a lacrosse match, a sport invented by the with Hewitt's assistance. It languishes as an > Iroquois. From then on, Gibson's nephew would unpublished manuscript. > typically escort and assist him. As one of the ap- The Chiefs' version was promulgated ostensiproximately 20 percent of the Grand River bly for the purpose of preserving the Peacemaker > Iroquois who followed the Longhouse religion, tradition for posterity. Why English? Theoreti- > Seneca was Gibson's mother tongue. Although cally, while the Chiefs' version could have been > his English was excellent, he spoke mostly in set forth in an Iroquoian language, as a practical > Onondaga. (While his wife would address him in matter, English was preferred since "birth speak- > > ers" of indigenous languages were fast of men's tradition and women spoke of women's > disappearing. Moreover, this project was also tradition. Scholars have not quite grasped that > concerned with legitimacy. This is indicated by fact, although Barbara Mann's work has drawn > the text's noting that "the installation of the Lords attention to this problem and to the need to hear > or Chiefs as rulers of the people, laid down in both traditions to regain a full perspective. > these unwritten rules hundreds of years ago, is According to Kimura (pp. 181–182), the > still strictly observed and adhered to by the Chiefs' version was promulgated "for the purpose > Chiefs of the Six Nations and people" (p. 196). of authorizing and legitimating a political > Not only was the Chiefs' version an anticolonial structure." Specifically, "the matrilineally herediproject, it was one of self-empowerment as well, tary council's primary intention was to persuade > particularly as a bulwark against Canadian the Department of Indian Affairs to accept the > colonial and assimilation policy. According to legitimacy of their special status." To achieve > Takeshi Kimura (p. 62), the Chiefs' version is that objective, a process of "reconstructing tradibest understood as a response to a self- tion" was involved. This reconstruction was essovereignty dispute between the Canadian De- sentially an act of reconstituting and codifying a > partment of Indian Affairs and the matrilineally somewhat fluid tradition into a solid framework, > hereditary Six Nations Council "in order to vested with the stamp of authority by representajustify the political authenticity of the chiefs' tives of the Six Nations. > council." That there was a clear need to establish In their "introductory remarks" of August 17, > and maintain such legitimacy is illustrated by the 1900, Chiefs Josiah Hill (Six Nations Council) > fact that, in 1924, the Canadian government and J. W. M. Elliott (secretary of the Ceremonial > abrogated the authority of the Six Nations Committee on Indian Rites and Customs) ac- > Council. Establishing the League tradition in an knowledge that some of the miraculous feats > authoritative, written version was an act of covert ascribed to the Peacemaker may betray some > resistance against overt coercion into U.S.- and Jesuit influence (p. 197). According to Darren > Canadian-friendly tribal councils—in other Bonaparte, however, the birth of the Peacemaker > words, a "settler" oppression tactic. has precedents not only in Christianity, but also > This is not to say that the Chiefs manipulated in the Iroquois creation story, where Sky Woman > and recast tradition beyond recognition in light and her virgin daughter may have been recast as > of these exigent historical circumstances, espe- Deganawida's grandmother and mother. In either > cially since such updating is itself traditional. As case, Kimura (p. 63) states that this foreword > social agents, anchored in time and place, the was probably prepared by the Christian chiefs > Chiefs obviously had reasons—a complex of mo- (not individually identified), since certain charactives—for producing an endorsed version of the terizations in the Chiefs' prefatory remarks— > Peacemaker epic in English, since doing so was such as "much modified" (p. 196), "past mythofar from customary and traditionally would have logical legends," "crude (religious) belief," and > been frowned upon. Thus the Chiefs' version was "transition from a state of paganism to that of > not only culturally and religiously significant but civilization and christianity" (p. 197)—could not > had political, economic, and juridical dimensions have been made by the traditional Longhouse > as well. By providing an authoritative narrative chiefs. Some of the Christian chiefs strongly > of the Longhouse tradition to the Department of advocated an elective rather than matrilineally > the Indian Affairs and to outsiders generally, the hereditary tribal council, for instance. Although > Chiefs' version was intended for the public. This united for the purpose of producing the Chiefs' > rendition was not an "invention," since the version, the preface raises some questions that > Peacemaker tradition was a long-standing and must remain unanswered until the perspective of > venerable one. That said, Parker's version each of the eight ceremonial Chiefs is analyzed. > crucially included women's sections, which are That said, the preface may well be an instance of > missing from other traditions, because men spoke "double-voicing" (what W. E. B. Du Bois called > > "double-conscientiousness"), in which an op- as the Gibson-Hewitt version, this manuscript is > pressed group speaks in language that the op- preserved as MS 2316, National Anthropological > pressive power would respond to. Archives, Smithsonian Institution (189 typescript > Other Native-English versions—beginning pages). The 1899 recitation is a shortened verwith the 1885 version by Seth Newhouse—are sion in that it does not relate the great ceremony > cited in the selected bibliography below. Native- for condoling deceased chiefs and raising their > language versions are listed, by language, at the successors in their stead. This version, it should > end of this article as well. A brief overview of be noted, is distinct from the Chiefs' version > these versions in indigenous languages is pro- (1900), which was dictated in English, not > vided as follows: Onondaga. > Onondaga Versions: In 1888, Chief John In 1912 Chief Gibson dictated his fuller ver- > Buck, Sr. (a fourth-generation Onondaga chief, sion of the League tradition to the anthropologist > fire-keeper, and wampum-keeper), dictated in Alexander Aleksandrovich Goldenweiser (born in > Onondaga, a critically endangered language, his Kiev) at the Six Nations Reserve. This "Gibsonversion of the League tradition to the ethnogra- Goldenweiser" version was transcribed in the > pher J. N. B. Hewitt at the Six Nations Reserve, first part of the twentieth century, when recording > Ontario, Canada. Hewitt was part Tuscarora and technology was unavailable. This undertaking > had a good command of the Onondaga and was completed just four months before Chief > Mohawk languages. (It was Hewitt, a founder of Gibson suddenly died of a stroke on November > the American Anthropological Association, who 1, 1912. The original manuscript (529 pages on > in 1887 definitively established the connection of lined legal pads) is archived as III-I-116M in the > Cherokee with the Iroquoian family of Canadian Ethnology Services Archives, Canadian > languages.) The original is preserved as MS 3130, Museum of Civilization, Hull, Québec. Taken > National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian together, the Gibson-Hewitt (1899) and the > Institution. A translation of Chief Buck's was Gibson-Goldenweiser (1912) versions represent > published by Hewitt in 1892. This version, albeit "the most satisfactory single native account of > anomalously, ascribes certain events to Hiawatha the League" (Fenton, p. 158). > instead of Deganawida. Oddly, this version refers Oneida Versions: On June 22, 1971, Damas > to the "Seven Nations." Elm (ninety-three-year-old Oneida elder of > Now we come to the preeminent—and per- Southwold, Ontario) recited "The Story of Dehaps definitive—version of the peacemaker epic. ganawida" in the Oneida language. This version > A renowned speaker in the Longhouse, the was recorded on magnetic tape. The text was > Seneca chief John Arthur Gibson has already transcribed by the linguist Floyd G. Lounsbury > been introduced above. Chief Gibson assiduously with the assistance of Damas Elm on June 23– > followed the time-honored method of committing 28, 1971. It remains unpublished. The archival > oral traditions to memory. From youth, Gibson files are difficult to access since they are deemed > took every possible opportunity to hear recitals "culturally sensitive." > from his elders, which, over time, he learned by Another Oneida version is that recited by > heart, bit by bit. Stock phrases and word-for- Chief Robert Brown (a.k.a. Anahalihs ["Great > word repetitions, as obvious memory aids, are Vines"]), Bear Clan chief of the Oneida tribe, > very typical of oral literature. (Improvisation is translated by Brown and Clifford F. Abbott of the > not acceptable in the strict performance of a University of Wisconsin–Green Bay and edited > sacred narrative. Although the main action can by Randy Cornelius (Tehahuko'tha), also of the > never be changed, certain details in the narrative Sovereign Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. It apcan fluctuate, depending on the era and the telling. pears that Brown's recitation closely parallels, if > And so, in 1899, at the Six Nations Reserve, not depends heavily upon, Gibson's 1912 Onon- > Chief Gibson dictated, in Onondaga, a version of daga version, such that it may be fair to say that > the League tradition to J. N. B. Hewitt. Known Brown was recasting Gibson's work into Oneida. > > But there are significant differences as well. most of these core elements (as summarized by > Although not formally published, this version is the present writer), with headings by Vecsey, as > currently available on the Internet. noted: > Mohawk Versions: Chief Seth Newhouse (1) "The Migration and Separation of the > produced a typescript translation of the Mohawk People" (Vecsey, pp. 82–83): This element is > version of the "The Great Law of Peace," as the absent in the Gibson-Goldenweiser version. > Peacemaker cycle is also known. This Newhouse (2) "The Birth and Growth of Deganawida" > document is archived as MS 3490, National (Vecsey, p. 83): In the distant past, war and blood > Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian revenge plagued the Mohawk homeland on the > Institution. The translation is titled Constitution northern shore of Lake Ontario (in what is now > of the Confederacy by Dekanawidah: Collected Canada), where warriors, ruthlessly and relentand Translated from [the] Mohawk Text by Chief lessly, killed and scalped inhabitants of settle- > Seth Newhouse. Digital scans of all forty-three ments across forest and countryside. (This may > pages of the translation are available online. A be a Western interpolation. According to Mann, > bilingual Mohawk-English version was published the war was the overthrow of the Mound Builder > in 1993 by Ohontsa Films. priesthood.) To escape the dangers of this ongo- > Cayuga Version: The ethnographer J. N. B. ing onslaught, a mother ("End of the Field") takes > Hewitt committed to writing the "Cayuga version her daughter ("She Walks Ahead") away from > of the Deganawida legend 1890," cataloged as her people and migrates to a remote area of the > MS 1582, National Anthropological Archives, bush, where the two do not see another human > Smithsonian Institution. Digital scans of all being for a long time. > seventeen pages are available online. (See Later on, the mother discovers that her > bibliography.) daughter is pregnant and demands to know who > Non-Native English Version: In January 1946 the father is. The daughter has no idea. The old > the University of Pennsylvania Press published woman, sure that her daughter is lying, grows > Paul Wallace's White Roots of Peace. See discus- angry, and the two are estranged until a mession of this book below. senger from the Great Spirit appears and tells the > mother that her daughter is about to have a divine > birth. (This is patent Christianization, since the > DEGANAWIDA EPIC: STRUCTURAL ANALYSIS Haudenosaunee traditionally do not value "virgins" and "virgin birth" stories.) They should call > Comparing the major versions, Christopher Vecthe boy Tekánawí·ta'; [Deganawida], whose missey identifies twenty-two key structural elements > sion will be to bring about peace. The boy grows > common to the majority of extant versions of the > rapidly, a sign of supernatural origin or powers > Deganawida epic. To give the reader a fair > (CL, pp. 1–14). > impression, Christopher Vecsey's twenty-two elements may be cited as a structural framework of (3) "The Journey to the Mohawks, the Situaanalysis. As Vecsey observes: "No one version tion, and the Mission Explained" (Vecsey, p. 84): > contains every episode, although Gibson's 1899 When the boy becomes a young man, his mother > manuscript comes the closest to completeness" and grandmother return home, where he an- > (p. 82). From a traditional (plurality) perspective, nounces to their people the Good Message, the > these episodes enjoyed reciprocity as simultane- Power, and the Peace. After the Peacemaker tells > ously true. Gibson simply put together all the the village's children of his mission, the older > versions he had heard, which is allowed in women spread the news, and a day is appointed > indigenous tradition. Vecsey wrote this in 1986, for the Peacemaker to speak to the elders (CL, > before Hanni Woodbury published her translation pp. 15–36). This is his message, which the chief > of Concerning the League in 1992. The Gibson- and elders accept: > Goldenweiser version (Concerning the League Thereupon Tekanawita [Deganawida] stood up in > [CL], translated by Hanni Woodbury et al.) has the center of the gathering place, and then he said, > > "First I will answer what it means to say, 'now it is After Tekanawita had departed in that direction > arriving, the Good Message.' This indeed, is what it he came to a house belonging to a cannibal who > means: When it stops, the slaughter of your own had his house there. Then Tekanawita went close > people who live here on earth, then everywhere to the house. Then, when he saw the man coming > peace will come about, by day and also by night, out, departing, sliding down the hill to the river, > and it will come about that as one travels around, and dipping water, thereupon Tekanawita hureveryone will be related. Then, indeed, [?]in future riedly climbed onto the house to the place where > days to come. there was a chimney for the smoke to escape; he > lay down on his stomach and looking into the house > he saw that the task of breaking up meat and piling > Now again [?], secondly, I say, 'now it is arriving, > it up had been completed. > the power,' and this means that the different nations, all the nations, will become just a single one, Then the man returned, and he was carrying a drum > and the Great Law will come into being, so that of water in it. Thereupon he poured it into a vessel, > now all will be related to each other, and there will put meat into the liquid, and hung the vessel up > come to be just a single family, and in the future, in over the fire until it boiled. Moreover, the man > days to come, this family will continue on. watched it, and when it was done, he took down > the vessel placing it near the embers. Thereupon he > Now in turn, the other, my third saying, 'Now it is said, "Now indeed it is done. Moreover, now I will > arriving, the Peace,' this means that everyone will eat." There upon he set up a seat, a bench, thinking > become related, men and also women, and also the that he will put it on there when he eats. Thereupon > young people and the children, and when all are he went to where the vessel sat, intending to take > relatives, every nation, then there will be peace as the meat out of the liquid, when he saw, from inside > they roam about by day and also by night. Now, the vessel, a man looking out. > also, it will become possible for them to assemble > in meetings. Then there will be truthfulness, and Thereupon he moved away without removing the > they will uphold hope and charity, so that it is peace meat, and sat down again on the long bench, for it > that will unite all the people, indeed, it will be as was a surprise to him, seeing the man in the vessel. > though they have but one mind, and they are a Thereupon he thought, "Let me look again." > single person with only one body and one head and Thereupon he, Tekanawita , looked again from > one life, which means that there will be unity. above where the smoke hole was, again causing a > Moreover, and most importantly, one is going to as- reflection in the vessel, and then the man, standing > sembly in meetings where it will be announced that up again, went to where the vessel sat, looked into > all of mankind will repent of their sins, even evil the vessel again, saw the man looking out, and he > people, and in the future, they will be kind to one was handsome, he having a nice face. Thereupon > another, one and all. When they are functioning, the the man moved away again and he sat down again > Good Message and also the Power and the Peace, on the long bench, and then he bowed his head, > moreover, these will be the principal things every- pondering and thinking, "I am exceedingly handbody will live by; these will be the great values some and I have a nice face; it is probably not right, > among the people." my habit of eating humans. So I will now stop, > (CL, pp. 36–41) > from now on I ought not kill humans anymore." > (CL, pp. 78–83) > This episode is omitted in the Chiefs' version Hiawatha mistakes the Peacemaker's face, which > and in the Gibson-Hewitt version. is reflected in the pot, for his own. In the Gibson- > (4) "The Cannibal Converts" (Vecsey, p. 84): Hewitt version, the Peacemaker gives the former > After returning to their camp in the bush, the cannibal the name Hiawatha, who is then sent to > Peacemaker carves a canoe of white stone. He a settlement to announce the coming of "the > sets out on his mission. He first encounters a Good Message, and the Power, and the Peace." > Mohawk who had fled for safety from the However, in the Gibson-Goldenweiser version > bloodshed, and the Peacemaker tells the Mohawk (Vecsey, p. 84, citing the Gibson-Hewitt version, > to announce his forthcoming arrival and mission pp. 34–60), the cannibal remains unnamed, and > to the chief. Peacemaker then encounters a can- the Peacemaker confers the name "Hiawatha" on > nibal, the story of which is one of the most the great warrior and chief of the next Mohawk > famous episodes (CL, pp. 78–90) of the Peace- settlement. (See also White Roots of Peace, pp. > maker epic: 42–45.) If analyzed sociologically, this episode > > may indicate a transition from cannibalism negotiations with the Peacemaker and her per- > (especially by Mound Builder priests among the sonal centrality and ending the Second Epochal > Ohio Iroquois) to crop farming and deer hunting. war resulted in the women's sections of the > (5) The "Mother of Nations Accepts Iroquois Constitution, twenty-three of the one > Deganawida's Message" (Vecsey, p. 84): Arriv- hundred seventeen clauses, according to Renée > ing at the waterfalls on the eastern side of the Jacobs' count" (Iroquoian Women, p. 155). > river, the Peacemaker encounters "Fat Face" (the (6) "The Prophets Prove Their Power" > traditional name is most commonly spelled (Vecsey, p. 84): The Peacemaker proceeds to a > "Jigonsaseh"), the head mother of the Senecas, Mohawk settlement. He camps on the outskirts > who became the Head Mother of the League. overnight, and awaits invitation. The next day, > The Peacemaker chides her for feeding the war- the chief sends scouts, calls a meeting, and invites > riors, thereby aiding and abetting warfare. After > the Peacemaker to deliver his message. The chief > converting her to his message, he sends Fat Face > accepts, yet "the Great Warrior and his deputy" > to travel east, to announce his arrival in three > express hesitation, challenging Deganawida to a > days (which is really three years) (CL, pp. 90– > test to see if he is endowed with supernatural > 94). On the role of women who carry the traditional title of "Jigonsaseh," Barbara Mann notes power. The Peacemaker climbs a great tree, > that the Head Clan Mothers of the League were perched precipitously over a deep gorge. The > the title-keepers (and also lineage-keepers): Great Warrior's men then cut down the tree. Deganawida plunges into the river's turbulent waters > The Jigonsaseh ! allowed or disallowed passage of below and disappears. The next morning, a young > war parties, thus giving them tacit veto power over man sees smoke rising from the edge of the > warfare. Because federal officials could be put cornfield, which turns out to be where the > forward only by their respective Clan Mothers, and > could be impeached by them, Clan Mothers ef- > Peacemaker is encamped, and the chief, Great > fectively controlled the national agenda: Federal of- Warrior, and deputy are now convinced of the > ficials of the two Brotherhoods (Congress) and the Peacemaker's power to accomplish his mission > Firekeepers (the Executive Branch) considered mat- (CL, pp. 95–130). > ters at a national level only after they had already > been discussed, approved, and forwarded by the (7) "Tadadaho the Wizard Prevents Peace" > "women's councils," i.e., the Clan Mothers in their (Vecsey, p. 85): The Peacemaker proceeds > own councils. eastward. "First I will go to the dangerous place, > ("The Lynx in Time," p. 440; where we two will converse, the Great Witch [or > see also Mann, Iroquoian Women, chap. 3) 'Sorcerer'] and I." If the Wizard accepts, they > Seneca Chief Cornplanter refers to the office of will hear a great voice announcing this, at which > those who succeeded Jigonsaseh (who, according time the meeting should be convened at "Standto parallel traditional accounts, would, and did, ing Stone" [the Oneida nation] (CL, pp. 130– > carry the title of "the Jigonsaseh") as the "Peace- 132). > maker Queen," among the Seneca. (Cornplanter, (8) "Hiawatha's Relatives Are Killed" > qtd. in Canfield, "The Peacemaker," The Legends (Vecsey, p. 85): Meanwhile, Hiawatha's eldest > of the Iroquois, pp. 149–154.) Barbara Mann daughter has taken ill and died. Then the next > stresses the traditional importance of this office. daughter succumbs. To console him, the young > She also laments the fact that it was largely warriors divert Hiawatha's attention by putting > forgotten, due to American and Canadian policies on a game of lacrosse. During the game, his third > of forced assimilation, and further obscured by daughter, the youngest of the three and pregnant, > Western scholarship, which has simply failed to goes to the river to bathe. On her way back, the > appreciate the importance of the "Peace Queen" warriors see a great bird flying low overhead. In > and those who held her office, in succeeding their zeal to seize it, they collide with the last > generations, among the Iroquois nations. Speak- daughter, whose injuries are fatal (CL, pp. 132– > ing of the original Jigonsaseh, Mann notes: "Her 138). > > (9) "Hiawatha Mourns and Quits Onondaga" Deganawida then sends two messengers to "look > (Vecsey, p. 86): Heartbroken, Hiawatha departs. for smoke." They transform into hawks, see the > He goes to a cornfield, builds a lean-to, and lights smoke rising, and change back into humans. They > a fire to camp overnight (CL, p. 139). see a man smoking a large pipe, who is the chief > (10) "Hiawatha Invents Wampum" (Vecsey, of the "Big Pipe People" (the Cayugas). He acp. 86): At his camp, Hiawatha cuts and cores cepts the Peacemaker's message. The messengers > sumac branches (later described as "basswood," proceed to the "Great Mountain." > identified as elderberry in the Chiefs' version) The Senecas remain unconvinced. So the > into short sticks, hooks them onto a horizontally Peacemaker goes to them, and finds them split > suspended rod, and gazes at them (CL, pp. 140– into two factions. The chiefs accept, although the > 141). This is the origin of the "Welcome at the warriors do not (CL, pp. 141–222). > Woods' Edge" wampum. Since wampum already (14) "Scouts Travel to Tadadaho" (Vecsey, p. > existed and was widely used, what Hiawatha 87): Deganawida and Hiawatha launch the stone > actually invented—or rather, revivified—were the canoe to cross the great lake. Representatives > Condolence speeches. from the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, and Seneca > (11) "Hiawatha Gives the Mohawks Lessons nations embark, climb aboard. Hiawatha paddles. > in Protocol" (Vecsey, pp. 86–87): Puzzled at see- In the middle of the lake, the Sorcerer shouts, "Is > ing this, the man guarding the cornfield reports it time yet?" This stirs up a fierce gale, with great > to the chief, who sends two scouts to invite waves threatening to capsize the canoe. Then the > Hiawatha to the chief's house. They address Peacemaker commands, "Rest wind!" The Sor- > Hiawatha three times. No response. On hearing cerer shouts again, stirring up a great whirlwind. > this, the chief guesses what's expected. Cutting Deganawida then says, "Stop wind!" and calms > shafts from feathers, he arranges these in similar the tempest (CL, pp. 223–225). > fashion. When the scouts then present these to (15) "The Nations March to Tadadaho, Sing- > Hiawatha, he accepts the chief's overture, saying: ing the Peace Hymn" (Vecsey, pp. 87–88): This > "This is right and I accept it." (This is the origin element evidently is absent from the Gibsonof the "Invitation Wampum," which is part of Goldenweiser version as well. > "forest diplomacy.") The chief calls a meeting. (16) "Deganawida and Hiawatha Transform > Hiawatha relates what transpired among the Tadadaho" (Vecsey, p. 88): At last they reach the > Mohawks and announces the Peacemaker's im- "Great Sorcerer" (i.e., Tadadaho). "They observed > minent arrival (CL, pp. 141–171). that all over his head beings were writhing—it > (12) "Deganawida Consoles Hiawatha" was like snakes, his hair, and his fingers were > (Vecsey, p. 87): This element appears to be absent gnarled—all over they were writhing, nor was he > in the Gibson-Goldenweiser version. about to talk. Thereupon they saw something > (13) "Deganawida and Hiawatha Join Onei- hanging on him" (CL, p. 228). The Peacemaker > das, Cayugas, and Senecas to Mohawks" (Vecsey, then sends Hiawatha to fetch "Fat Face" > p. 87): The Peacemaker arrives in the middle of (Jigonsaseh), now called "our mother, the Great > the night, tells Hiawatha he has been to Onon- Matron." She arrives. A "grand council" > daga, where he announced his mission to the convenes. The Peacemaker proposes the follow- > "Great Sorcerer," and from there proceeded to ing to the Great Sorcerer: > the "Great Mountain" (a Seneca settlement) as > Now, indeed, all of them have arrived, they of the > well. The Peacemaker's unobserved arrival four nations, that is, the Mohawks and the Oneidas > astonishes the inhabitants of Standing Stone and the Cayugas and the Senecas; they are the ones > [Oneidas], who take council, where Deganawida who have accepted the Good Message and the > proclaims his message. They accept. Power and the Peace, that which will now function: > the Great Law. Moreover, everything reposes there, > Meanwhile, the Great Sorcerer (by whom Ta- the minds of the several nations, and as to you, > dadaho is likely meant), now growing impatient, they place before you their proposition that it is to > shouts a great shout, heard all over the world. be you who is the title bearer, and the Great Chief, > > and you also are to be the fire keeper at the place order for the operation of good governance > where we will kindle the fire, whose rising smoke among the Five Nations, Hiawatha then invites > will pierce the sky. Then one will see it in all of the the recalcitrant Seneca warrior chief ("the Great > settlements on earth. Warrior") and his deputy, who are brought to the > (CL, pp. 230–232) > council to hear the Peacemaker's message. He > offers them the special authority over all of the > So, after the uniting of four nations (Mohawks, > League's warriors, and also offers them the post > Oneidas, Cayugas, and Senecas), the allegiance > of "Doorkeepers." The Great Warrior accepts, > of one more remains to be won: the Onondagas, whereupon the Peacemaker gives thanks by recitled by the Great Sorcerer (still, at this point in ing a short version of the Thanksgiving Address: > the saga, unnamed). The Peacemaker then proclaims: Thereupon Tekanawita stood up, saying, "The > Great Power came from up in the sky, and now it is > "Now moreover, it is accomplished; now she has functioning, the Great Power that we accepted when > arrived, our mother, the Great Matron whose name we reached consensus. So now our house has > is [Tsikonhsahsen]; now she has accepted the Good become complete. Now, therefore, we shall give > Message, and this, moreover, is what you should thanks, that is, we shall thank the Creator of the > confirm and adopt, the Great Law, so that she may earth, that is, he who planted all kinds of weeds > place antlers on you, our mother, and they shall and all varieties of shrubs and all kinds of trees; > together form a circle, standing alongside your and springs, flowing water, such as rivers and large > body." ! "Now you are looking at all of the ones bodies of water, such as lakes; and the sun that > who will be standing with you." Thereupon the man keeps moving by day, and by night, the moon, and > bowed his head. Thereupon his hair stopped writh- where the sky is, the stars, which no one is able to > ing and all of his fingers became quiet. Thereupon count; moreover, the way it is on earth in relation > Tekanawita said, "Now, indeed, it is functioning, to which no one is able to tell the extent to which it > the Peace." Thereupon the man spoke up saying, is to their benefit, that is the people whom he cre- > "Now I confirm the matter, I accept the Good Mes- ated and who will continue to live on earth. This, > sage and the Power and the Peace." then, is the reason we thank him, the one with great > (CL, pp. 232–234) power, the one who is the Creator, for that which > will now move forward, the Good Message and the > Power and the Peace; the Great Law." > In this dramatic scene, the Great Sorcerer bows > (CL, pp. 294–296) > his head in humble, yet grand, acquiescence. His > hair stops writhing. His fingers uncurl. Un- The Peacemaker then lays out the specific > seethed, he accepts the message. Then the laws of good governance by which the Confed- > Peacemaker strokes the Sorcerer's head, straight- eracy will function. Women become the propriens his fingers, while others disentangle the etors of lordship titles (CL, pp. 294–326). > objects hanging from his shoulders. The Sorcerer (19) "The Confederacy Takes Symbolic Imis now righted, his humanity restored (CL, pp. ages" (Vecsey, p. 89): The Peacemaker estab- > 226–235). lishes the central hearth, being the council fire. > (17) "Deganawida and Hiawatha Establish They plant a great white pine ("Great Tall Tree > Iroquois Unity and Law" (Vecsey, p. 88): The Trunk") named, in Woodbury's translation, as the > Peacemaker then summons Jigonsaseh, the Great "Great Long Leaf," which puts forth four white > Matron, whom he recognizes as a "Great Chief." roots ("Great White Root[s]") extending east, > Together with Jigonsaseh, Deganawida places a west, north, and south (CL, pp. 296–297). Arcrown of antlers (a symbol of authority) on the rows are bound together by the sinew of a deer, > Sorcerer's head. The Peacemaker confers on the to represent the Confederacy's strong bond (CL, > Sorcerer the title "Thatotaho'." Antlers are then pp. 300–309): "for this bundle, made of five arplaced on the other chiefs (CL, pp. 235–251). rows, is impossible to break, and it is impossible > (18) "Deganawida and Hiawatha Establish to bend it" (CL, p. 306). > League Chiefs and Council Polity" (Vecsey, pp. Later, on his way home, Hiawatha comes > 88–89): After the Peacemaker sets forth rules of upon a lake, on which a group of ducks are > > floating. When the ducks take notice, they fly off, Barbara Mann (personal communication, Septemmagically lifting all of the water from the lake. ber 3, 2014), these are traditionally referred to as > On the lake bed, Hiawatha sees "white objects" the "Three Pillars," since "three" is the indig- > (that is, shells; CL, p. 326) that remind him of enous number meaning "pay attention"; therefore, > his first wampum of sumac sticks. He then col- the Chiefs' version, in giving two, not three such > lects the white shells and puts them into a pouch "pillars," reveals its Christianization. However, > of fawn skin, and places these objects near the the Oneida version recited by Chief Robert > central fire, to serve as symbols of the Great Law Brown of the Wisconsin Oneida Nation (who is > (CL, pp. 326–330). According to Mann ("The considered a national treasure), echoes this > Fire at Onondaga: Wampum as Proto-Writing"), formulation: "First, what is the meaning of 'good > wampum was a full writing system, whose message' and second what is the meaning of > characters were immediately readable by any 'power' and then third what is the meaning of > wampum reader. 'peace has now arrived'?" (Brown, pp. 46–47). > (20) "The League Declares Its Sovereignty" So, in the final analysis, this may be a distinction > (Vecsey, pp. 89–90): This element is absent in the without a difference. > Gibson-Goldenweiser version as well. Translator Hanni Woodbury characterizes the > (21) "The Condolence Maintains the Confed- "Good Message, Power and Peace" as the "three > eracy" (Vecsey, p. 90): The Peacemaker sets forth Great Words" (CL, p. 61 and n. 61-1.) In Conclear laws of succession to the matrilineally cerning the League, "the Good Message, Power > hereditary titles of the Confederacy, with ceremo- and the Peace" occurs only once (p. 63). But its > nies for mourning the passing of a former chief variations are numerous. "Good Message and the > and installing his replacement. The League is Power and the Peace" is the expression most > constituted by fifty chiefs, upon each and every commonly met with (37 times). "Good Message" > one of whom is bestowed, by the head clan moth- comes up 112 times. "Peace" (also capitalized) > ers (each of whom bears the position title of occurs 114 times. "Power" is found 85 times. > "Jigonsaseh," after the Great Matron), a matrilin- The three great words, summed up, is the "Great > eally hereditary title (CL, pp. 237–250). The Law" (16 times). > Condolence ceremonies are then set forth, in In Chief Brown's Oneida version, the Peaceconsiderable detail and at great length. These maker gives the following explanation to a > solemn rites of passage are followed by installa- Mohawk chief (a former cannibal), to whom he > tion ceremonies to induct a successor to the gives the name "Two Matters": > deceased chief (CL, pp. 486–701). > (22) "Deganawida Departs" (Vecsey, p. 90): ["Two Matters"] "Who are you and where did you > This element appears to be absent in the Gibson- come from?" > Goldenweiser version as well. In other words, > [The Peacemaker] Then he said, "I am the Peacethere is no departure scene in Concerning the maker and from the north I have come.! The > League. Certain other versions feature the Creator sent me here on earth. The Creator ap- > Peacemaker's farewell prophecy. pointed me to lecture people on what they are > doing.! > > THE PEACEMAKER'S MESSAGE Now I will tell you what message the Creator send > [sent] with me of what there will be on earth. He > As Kathryn Muller points out (p. 22, n. 5), the intended everyone to have a good mind on the earth > Gibson-Goldenweiser version is unique in that it you travel. He thought there would be reasons. First, > refers to the "Good Message, Power and Peace" he intended all the peopled [people] should be having peaceful thoughts in their minds. Then love will > (Onondaga: kaihwíyóh, ka'tshátstéhsæ' and > come from that. If their thinking is not peaceful > ˛ e¨é'nu˛˛'') as three distinct concepts, whereas the > ske˛ëé'nu > ske¨é'nu > Àõe then they will not have love. And if they do have > Chiefs' version refers to the "the message of the love then from it will come compassion and if they > good news of Peace and Power." According to have no love, then they won't have any compassion. > > Each and every one of you has the power. Whatever Power means authority, the authority of law and > power you have comes from what you have thought. custom, backed by such force as is necessary to > Then that comes from a good mind. He intended make justice prevail; it means also religion, for > you all to be helping each other. You people should justice enforced is the will of the Holder of the > not be arguing." Heavens and has his sanction." > (The Great Law of Peace, pp. 28–31) > "Thy message is good," said the woman; "but a > This explanation appears to be a gloss on the word is nothing until it is given form and set to > "Good Message," which gives rise to the "good work in the world. What form shall this message > mind," from which, through force of thought, take when it comes to dwell among men?" > arise feelings of peace, love, compassion, and > altruism. "It will take the form of the longhouse," replied > That said, further distinctions have been Deganawidah, "in which there are many fires, one > made. In the popular non-Native English version, for each family, yet all live as one household under > one chief mother. Hereabouts are five nations, each > Paul Wallace's White Roots of Peace, originally > with its own council fire, yet they shall live together > published by the University of Pennsylvania as one household in peace. They shall be the Kan- > Press in 1946 and considered a classic of Native onsiónni, the Longhouse. They shall have one mind > lore, the Peacemaker elaborates on "the Good and live under one law. Thinking shall replace kill- > News of Peace and Power" as follows: ing, and there shall be one commonwealth." > (Wallace, White Roots of Peace, pp. 39–40) > So Deganawidah passed from settlement to settlement, finding that men desired peace and would This version of the Peacemaker's message is one > practice it if they knew for a certainty that others > would practice it, too. of the most widely cited today, being the easiest > for Westerners to follow. The above passage, or a > But first, after leaving the hunters, Deganawidah substantial part of it, appears on various Native > sought the house of a certain woman who lived by American and Native Canadian Web sites as well. > the warriors' path which passed between the east > and the west. Who are the sources of authority for Wallace's > variation on Deganawida's "gospel"? Paul Wal- > When Deganawidah arrived, the woman placed food lace, a literary historian, credits Chief William D. > before him and, after he had eaten, asked him his Loft, to whose memory Wallace dedicates his > message. > book. Conversant in five of the Iroquoian lan- > "I carry the Mind of the Master of Life," he replied, guages, Chief Loft, Mohawk of Caledonia, was > "and my message will bring an end to the wars Speaker of the Six Nations Council at Grand > between east and west." River, 1917–1918, and a noted orator of Haude- > "How will this be?" asked the woman, who won- nosaunee traditions and stories in the 1920s and > dered at his words, for it was her custom to feed 1930s. Another source may be the Gibsonthe warriors passing before her door on their way Goldenweiser version, which Wallace read in a > between the east and the west. draft translation that was begun by Hewitt and > "The Word that I bring," he said, "is that all peoples completed by William Fenton, with Simeon > shall love one another and live together in peace. Gibson (son of John Arthur Gibson), archived in > This message has three parts: Righteousness and the Smithsonian Institution's National Anthropo- > Health and Power—Gáiwoh, Skénon, logical Archives. (MSS. 1517b, c.) Yet another > Gashasdénshaa. And each part has two branches. source may be J. N. B. Hewitt, who gave a paper > Righteousness means justice practiced between men at the International Congress of Americanists held > and between nations; it means also a desire to see in Washington in December 1915 on "Some > justice prevail. Esoteric Aspects of the League of the Iroquois," > published in 1917. > Health means soundness of mind and body; it means > also peace, for that is what comes when minds are Here, the three words that epitomize the essane and bodies cared for. sence of the Peacemaker's message—Gáiwoh > > ("Righteousness"), Skénon ("Health"), Gashas- endangered" (p. 230). In so criticizing the recastdénshaa ("Power")—correspond to their respec- ing of the Peacemaker's message, Jocks demontive Onondaga equivalents: kaihwíyóh ("Good strates how the "appropriation" of Native Ameri- > Message"), ske˛é'nu > ˛ é'nu˛ ' ("Peace"), ka'tshátstéhsæ' can spirituality implicates ethical, political, and > ("Power"). Evidently, Professor Wallace has hermeneutical issues. (See also Jocks's "Spiritualtaken artistic license with these sacred terms ity for Sale.") > of art, reconfiguring the "Good Message, Peace, However, the sixfold explication of the > and Power" as "Righteousness, Health, and Peacemaker's three core principles evidently goes > Power." Thus, "Good Message" becomes back to Hewitt, who wrote: > "Righteous-ness." "Peace" becomes primarily > The founders of the league, therefore, proposed and > "Health" and only secondarily "peace" (i.e., "also expounded as the requisite basis of all good governpeace, for that is what comes when minds are ment three broad "double" doctrines or principles. > sane and bodies cared for"). In the Gibson- The names of these principles in the native tongues > Goldenweiser version, "health" occurs only vary dialectically, but these three notable terms are > expressed in Onondaga as follows: (1) Ne'´´ > twice, and only in relation to a person's individual > ˘n˜´non', meaning, first, sanity of mind and the > Ske˘ñ´no > SkeÃÜn > health (CL, pp. 13, 448), whereas "righteous- health of the body; and, second, peace between > ness" is absent entirely. Such a shift in emphasis individuals and between organized bodies or groups > is scarcely warranted by the 1912 text. Since De- of persons. (2) Ne'´´ Gaii'hwiyo', meaning, first, > ganawida is revered as the "Peacemaker," whose righteousness in conduct and its advocacy in > purpose was to unite five warring Iroquois tribes thought and speech; and, second, equity or justice, > the adjustment of rights and obligations. (3) Ne'´´ > into "the League of the Great Law" (CL, pp. 310– ˘'s'hasde˘ n'´sä', meaning, first, physical strength > Ga˘'s'hasdĕ > Gă's'hasde > 311) by means of the "the Good Message, the or power, as military force or civil authority; and, > Power, and the Peace," it would seem odd to second, the orenda or magic power of the people or > rename these three great words as "Righteous- of their institutions and rituals, having mythic and > ness, Power, and Health." religious implications. Six principles in all. The > constructive results of the control and guidance of > Christopher Jocks (Mohawk), in his article human thinking and conduct in the private, the > "Living Words and Cartoon Translations," implic- public, and the foreign relations of the peoples so > itly takes a jaundiced view of this variation (or leagued by these six principles, the reformers > outright alteration of the original message), but maintained, are the establishment and the conservation of what is reverently called Ne'´´ > stops short of outright criticism (i.e., "I cite this Gayane˘ñ'sä'gō´na > Gayanĕñ'sä'go > ˘ñ'sä'go¯ ´na˘ '—, i.e. the Great Common- > ´nă'— > modern exegesis not in order to criticize its ac- wealth, the great Law of Equity and Righteousness > curacy ! but to demonstrate how deeply a tradi- and Well-being, of all known men. It is thus seen > tion in translation may draw from very different that the mental grasp and outlook of these prophetrealms of discourse in the process of recontextu- statesman and states-women of the Iroquois looked > alizing itself in the target language" [pp. 225– out beyond the limits of tribal boundaries to a vast > sisterhood and brotherhood of all the tribes of men, > 226]). Invoking the Mohawk terms of art, Jocks dwelling in harmony and happiness. This indeed > notes that the first two terms in "the phrase, skén- was a notable vision for the Stone Age of America. > :nen, ka'shatsténhsera, karihríio, or its equiva- ("A Constitutional League of Peace," p. 541) > lent" are "easily glossed as 'peace,' and either > 'power' or 'strength,' respectively." "'Good Thus, it would appear that Paul Wallace's > message,'" Jocks hastens to add as to the third elaboration of the Peacemaker's message depends > term, "is the most direct rendering of the word's on Hewitt, who reflects the central Iroquois view > composition" (p. 225). These key words are of a twinned cosmos. > transmogrified, if not mutated, in their transposition from source language to target language in > CONCLUSION > translation, in a process that Jocks calls "the > 'cartooning' of culture" where "the link with the The Deganawida epic, in its sundry versions, > living tradition based on enactment is seriously belongs to world literature. It can be regarded as > > a foundational American text, both in the pre- Europeans into a symbiotic union called > contact and post-contact periods. Its authenticity America." The Deganawida epic is formative in > is unimpeached, and its magical realism granted that it is the founding "document" of the Iroquois > as edifying embellishment. Few would doubt its League. It is performative in that it remains in > historical core, much less its cultural significance. practice to this day. It is transformative in that it > The influence of the Peacemaker—and that of decolonizes and revisions our conception of > the Confederacy founded on its principles, America's origins. > organization, and laws he expounded—is a matter of debate. The foremost proponents of the > Iroquois influence thesis are Donald A. Grinde, > Jr., and Bruce E. Johansen in their book Exemplar > of Liberty: Native America and the Evolution of Selected Bibliography > Democracy, with a foreword by Vine Deloria, Jr. > On October 4, 1988, during the 100th Congress, the U.S. House of Representatives passed DEGANAWIDA EPIC > House Concurrent Resolution 331 (H.Con.Res. > 331) by a vote of 408–8. Then, on October 21, NATIVE-AUTHORED ENGLISH VERSIONS > 1988, the Senate approved Senate Concurrent "The Legend of the Peacemaker, Part 1." Ohsweken, Ont.: > Resolution 76 (S.Con.Res.76, identical to H.Con. Jake Thomas Learning Centre, 1991. > Res. 331), by unanimous voice vote. The joint Newhouse, Seth (Da-yo-de-ka-ne). The Original Literal > resolution reads, in part: Historical Narratives of the Iroquois Confederacy; or, > The Birch Bark Canoe. American Philosophical Society, > Microfilm No. 348, 1885. (Also titled Cosmogony of the > Whereas the original framers of the Constitution, > Iroquois Confederacy.) > including, most notably, George Washington and > Benjamin Franklin, are known to have greatly Parker, Arthur C. "The Constitution of the Five Nations or > admired the concepts of the Six Nations of the The Iroquois Book of the Great Law." New York State > Iroquois Confederacy; Museum Bulletin 184:7–118 (April 1, 1916). > ———. "The Origin of the Long House." In Seneca Myths > Whereas the confederation of the original Thirteen and Folk Tales. Buffalo, N.Y.: Buffalo Historical Society, > Colonies into one republic was influenced by the 1923. Pp. 403–406. (As told by Delos B. Kittle, or "Chief > political system developed by the Iroquois Confed- Big Kittle," Cattaraugus Reservation, January 1905. > eracy as were many of the democratic principles Another "Native-English" version, as it does not appear > which were incorporated into the Constitution itself to be translated directly from a Seneca text.) > ! Scott, Duncan C., presenter. Prepared by a Committee of the > Chiefs. Traditional History of the Confederacy of the Six > RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTA- Nations. Ottawa: Royal Society of Canada, 1912. > TIVES (THE SENATE CONCURRING), That— (Proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of > Canada, 3rd ser., 5:195–246 [1911]). > (1) the Congress, on the occasion of the two Thomas, Chief Jacob E. "Appendix: Gayanashagowa." In > hundredth anniversary of the signing of the United "The Formation of the League of the Haudenosaunee > States Constitution, acknowledges the contribution (Iroquois): Interpreting the Archaeological Record > made by the Iroquois Confederacy and other Indian Through the Oral Narrative Gayanashagowa," by Sandra > Nations to the formation and development of the Erin Atkins. Master's thesis, Trent University, Peterbor- > United States; ! ough, Ontario, 2002. Pp. 146–212. (A detailed description of Chief Jacob Thomas' version of Gayanashagowa > And so LeAnne Howe may be right after all, presented September 19–27, 1992, in Ohsweken, Ontario.) > when she states: "America is a tribal creation > story, a tribalography.! When the European > ONONDAGA VERSIONS > Founding Fathers heard the stories of how the > The Gibson-Goldenweiser Version: John Arthur Gibson, > Haudenosaunee unified six individual tribes into Concerning the League: The Iroquois League Tradition > an Indian confederacy, they created a document, as Dictated in Onondaga by John Arthur Gibson. Newly > the U.S. Constitution, that united immigrant Elicited, Edited and Translated by Hanni Woodbury in > > Collaboration with Reg Henry and Harry Webster on the CAYUGA VERSION > Basis of A. A. Goldenweiser's Manuscript. Memoir 9. Hewitt, J. N. B. "Cayuga Version of the Deganawida Legend > Winnipeg, Man.: Algonquian and Iroquoian Linguistics, 1890." MS 1582, National Anthropological Archives, > 1992. (Based on "Original text of the Gibson- Smithsonian Institution. 17 pages. Digital scans online at > Goldenweiser version of the Deganawidah epic compris- http://collections.si.edu/search/results.htm?q=record_ID > ing 20 of Goldenweiser's notebooks." 529 pages original %3Asiris_arc_83486&repo=DPLA > text. Control no. III-I-116M R. Accession no. 77/130 > [formerly cataloged as MS 1252.5], Canadian Ethnology NON-NATIVE ENGLISH VERSION > Service Archives, Canadian Museum of Civilization, Hull, Wallace, Paul A. W. White Roots of Peace: Iroquois Book of > Québec.) Life. Santa Fe, N.M.: Clear Light, 1998. (Originally > The Gibson-Hewitt Version: John Arthur Gibson, Original published Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, > Pencil Texts of the Deganawida Legend (1899). MS 2316, 1946.) > National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian > Institution. Digital scans available online at http://siris ACKNOWLEDGMENTS > -archives.si.edu/ipac20/ipac.jsp?&profile=all&source=Àú!si The author acknowledges the ideas, edits, corrections and > archives&uri=full=3100001Àú!83496Àú!0#focus For typed encouragement of the following individuals, whose astute > transcript (also in Onondaga) see MS 1517(a), National input has greatly enhanced the quality of this article: (1) > Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution. Barbara Alice Mann, Ph.D. (Native American, Ohio Bear > Clan Seneca), associate professor, Honors Department, > Hewitt, J. N. B. "Legend of the Founding of the Iroquois > University of Toledo, author of Iroquoian Women: The > League." American Anthropologist 5, no. 2:131–148 > Gantowisas (New York: Peter Lang, 2000, 3rd printing, > (April 1892). (Translation of Chief John Buck's 1888 > 2006); (2) Donald A. Grinde, Jr., Ph.D. (Native > Onondaga version.) > American), professor, Department of Transnational Studies, University at Buffalo, the State University of New > York, editor and author, A Political History of Native > ONEIDA VERSION > Americans (Thousand Oaks, Calif.: CQ Press/Sage, 2002 > Elm, Demus. The Story of Deganawida. Recited in Oneida, > [Choice Outstanding Academic Title 2003]); (3) Bruce E. > 1971. Floyd Glenn Lounsbury Papers. Mss.Ms.Coll.95. > Johansen, Ph.D., Jacob J. Isaacson University Research > Box 42–43. c. 925 pages; 8 folders. Philadelphia: > Professor, Communication and Native American Studies, > American Philosophical Society. http://amphilsoc.org/ > University of Nebraska at Omaha, author of Encyclopedia > mole/view?docId=ead/Mss.Ms.Coll.95-ead.xml (Includes > of the American Indian Movement (Santa Barbara, Calif.: > Lounsbury's transcripts of the recording, some transla- > ABC-CLIO/Greenwood, 2013); (4) Clifford F. Abbott > tion, text in interlinear form [Oneida and English]). > (linguist), professor of information and computing science at the University of Wisconsin–Green Bay, author of > MOHAWK VERSIONS Oneida Teaching Grammar (University of Wisconsin– > Green Bay, 2006); and (5) Steven Kolins, M.S., technical > Brown, Chief Robert (a.k.a. Anahalihs ["Great Vines"]), > support specialist in the University Library, University of > Bear Clan chief of the Oneida tribe; cultural advisor, > North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published writer of > Sovereign Oneida Nation of Wisconsin. The Great Law > encyclopedic articles. > of Peace. Interlinear Oneida transcription and English > translation. Translated by Chief Brown and Clifford F. > Abbott (University of Wisconsin–Green Bay) and edited > by Randy Cornelius (Tehahuko'tha). Available online at CRITICAL STUDIES > http://www.oneidanation.org/uploadedFiles/Kayantlako-1 Bernier, Jonathan. 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