KALIHWISAKS
THE SIX NATION TERRITORY CIRCA 1720 AFTER THE ADOPTION OF THE TUSCARORA BY THE ONEIDA.
The Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) or “People of the Longhouse” are a historically powerful northeast Native American confederacy located in North
America, traditionally in what is now the state of New York. The Confederacy is the longest Democratic society in existence and was formed under
the oral constitution called “The Great Law of Peace.”
They were known during the colonial years to the French as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy, and to the English as the
Five Nations, comprising of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. In 1722, the Oneidas adopted the Tuscarora, an Iroquoian
speaking people, from the Southeast (Carolinas) into the confederacy. After their inclusion, the Five Nations became the Six Nations.
The economy of the Haudenosaunee (Haudenosaunee) historically was based on communal production and combined elements of both horticulture
and hunter-gatherer systems. The Haudenosaunee developed a system very different from the now-dominant Western society. This system was
based on components as common ownership of land, division of labor by gender, and trade mostly based on gift economy.
THE HAUDENOSANUEE HARVESTED MANY VARIETIES OF BEANS, SEVERAL TYPES AND CORN, AND SQUASH. AT THE MID-WINTER FESTIVAL AND GREEN CORN CEREMONY THE THREE SISTERS ARE GIVEN GRATITUDE FOR PROVIDING THE HUMAN RACE HEALTH AND WELLNESS AND PRAY THAT THEY MAY CONTINUE FOR MANY DAYS IN THE FUTURE.
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Planted crops were very important to the Haudenosaunee diet. They were known as “The Three Sisters” as they were also grown together. The women grew many crops. The most important crops were the Three Sisters; corn, beans and squash. The corn was used in many different ways. They had cornmeal, corncakes, soups and puddings. The Haudenosaunee ate many different kinds of beans like kidney and lima beans. They also ate sunflower seeds. The Haudenosaunee enjoyed eating the crops they planted.
THE HAUDENOSAUNEE USED THE BOW AND A RROW TO HUNT GAME. IN THIS PAINTING, A MAN IS LAYING DOWN ON THE GROUND OVERLOOKING A RUNNING DEER. THE MAN IS DRAWING BACK A BOW IN PREPARATION TO DROP THE FLEEING ANIMAL. A QUIVER THAT HOLDS THE ARROWS CAN BE SEEN ON THE MAN’S BACK.
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Haudenosaunee people hunted deer, rabbit, and bear. They also fished using spears and nets. Snowshoes made winter hunting easier for the Haudenosaunee. They traveled up to 50 miles a day wearing the snowshoes in deep snow. A banner stone was used as a weight to produce thrust when throwing a spear. It is believed to have been a prized possession of the chief of the tribe. A soapstone net sinker, with a complete groove, was used as a weight for either fish nets or a hand line. Arrow points and spear points were carved from flint stone and attached to the shaft for arrows or spears as needed by the men using them.
Two women wearing buckskin clothing are seen digging artichokes.
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Berries, nuts, and wild plants were important forms of food. Many of these tribes were considered to be excellent farmers. They had berries, such as wild cherries, strawberries, currents and huckleberries. They also collected many types of nuts. For instance, chestnuts, beechnuts, hickory nuts, butternuts, acorns and black walnuts were eaten by the Haudenosaunee. Also, maple sap was one of the few sweeteners that the Indians had. The sap was collected from maple trees in the forest the maple sap was used for making maple sugar to put in breads. They also boiled the sap and made syrup and even made a type of snow cone candy treat for the children. A very important part of the forest was the plants used for medicine. The medicines were used to cure sicknesses that could cause deaths. Foods from the forest were an important part of the Haudenosaunee diet.
The painting depicts the trading of panther skins between two individuals. Panther skins were traded by the Seneca with the Eries. The Eries wore them on their heads.
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Oneidas practice slash-burn horticulture, and had a very complex trade network with other native groups. Clay pipes were an important trade piece that stretched along the east coast Native Americans. During the fur trade era, the Haudenosaunee people were very hostile to their neighboring tribes in order to shield and develop their middleman position. Though, others believe their belligerence came from the scarcity of furs in their own territory, making it difficult to obtain European trade goods. Haudenosaunee hostile relations were to obtain the trade goods of their neighbors who were in closer contact with Europeans. After fur trading dealings had moved farther west, the Haudenosaunee continued to take part in an important role as explorers and trappers.
A longhouse was the traditional dwelling structure for the Haudenosaunee until the late 18th Century. They averaged about 65-70 feet long, roughly 20 feet wide and 20 feet tall. The frame would be constructed of any young sapling (typically elm) and the outside covering would usually be elm bark (from the frame). The walls were made with about five to six layers of mud, bark, and moss, which acted like insulation, keeping it about 65-70 degrees all year long. Tree sap or pine pitch was then used to make the structure waterproof.
When the women married, it was their husband who moved into their longhouse. Several families of the same clan lived inside each. A symbol above the enterance would represent the clan that resided inside. Lower benches that ran lengthwise of the longhouse were used as beds; higher shelves were used for storage. Cornhusk mats and different animal skins would be laid down on the sleeping benches to provide additional comfort. Poles on the inside of the longhouse marked off compartments. An immediate family would live in each compartment, while another family would be on the opposite side. The two families would share a common area and cooking fire. The number of smoke holes in the ceiling would indicate how many families lived inside. An Oneida village could become quite large with at least one longhouse for each of the different clans and their sub clans along with other communal longhouses designated for ceremonies. The longhouses were a home not only for a family, but a home for a community.
Storage pits were dug inside the longhouse and used to store food. When a pit was used for storing food, it is thought that it was lined with bark and grass and covered with bark mats for lids.
Pottery is a very important aspect in the Iroquoian culture. They used to make pottery to hold food and water and they made them thick and strong enough to cook food or boil water for soup. They also made the pottery strong enough to be buried in the ground for short and long periods of time. Pots were used to carry water from the lakes, rivers, and streams. They were used as storage devices for food or anything you would want put away for safekeeping. Pots were also given to people as gifts for celebrations like the birth of a child or for a wedding gift. Today we still have pottery artists who make their pots as decoration for there homes. Some potters sell their pottery or give it away to friends or family in the community. To this day, pottery is a form of artwork and a large aspect of Iroquoian culture.
Black Ash Baskets like pottery were a major aspect in the Iroquois culture. Baskets were used to carry anything from fruits and berries to dried corn and even water some times. The baskets are made from black ash trees. These trees are used because they were the easiest to shape and mold when they were wet. The way you would get the splints for the baskets was a long process. First you would let a log soak up water for a few days. Then you would take a hatchet or a mallet and hammer the side of the log so the bark fell off. After that you would peel strips of wood and get your splints. They would keep the splints wet so they could keep the basket in a shape that they wanted. Baskets were sometimes used as gift-wrap. People would place a gift in the basket and pass it on to a person. Then that person would use it as a gift-wrap and pass it along. Some times the same basket would be used all of the time. Other times people would keep it to show they appreciate the time that person took in making the basket. Most basketry today is for decoration and show. The baskets I see around are usually being sold by vendors or are still being handed out as gifts. Iroquois basketry is a major aspect of their art and culture.
A WOMAN SITS AND SHAPES CLAY THAT WAS COLLECTED FROM ALONG THE BANKS OF THE RIVER INTO CONTAINERS NEEDED FOR COOKING AND OTHER HOUSEHOLD ESSENTIALS.
BEFORE THE INTRODUCTION OF COPPER AND CAST IRON, THE HAUDENOSAUNEE MADE THEIR POTS AND OTHER CONTAINERS FROM CLAY. THE CLAY WAS HARVESTED FROM THE RIVERBANKS AND THEN TEMPERED AND PROCESSED BY HAND.
The Haudenosaunee used various plants to create dyes to dye fibers, quills, and other items used to decorate their clothing and household goods. Yellow dye was made from, Sunflower, Gold thread, Cone flower petals with decayed oak bark or cattail root, black willow roots, fox moss, yellow or curled dock root, cottonwood, lichen, Oregon grape, and Osage orange wood. Red dye was made with, Choke cherry or wild plum, tamarack bark, spruce cones, sumac berries, alder, and hemlock inner bark; poke berry, bloodroot, sassafras, red bedstraw, buffalo-berry, squaw current, red osier dogwood, red cedar. Black dye was made with, wild grape maples, burr oak, elderberries, hazel nut bark combined with powdered brown stone. Brown dye was made with hickory or walnuts gathered green and turned black, and rushes. Purple dye was made from blueberries, blackberries, elderberries, Northern dog whelk, and white maple. Blue dye Larkspur, beech, wire birch, and indigo. Green dyes was made from prince’s pine, moosewood, evergreen, copper mixed with ammonia (urine).
IN A HAUDENOSAUNEE VILLAGE THERE WERE ALWAYS CERTAIN PEOPLE, CALLED HEALERS, WHO HELD VAST KNOWLEDGE OF MEDICINAL AND HERBAL PLANTS. ONCE THE PLANTS WERE IN BLOOM, THESE HEALERS WOULD GO ABOUT THE FORESTS IN SEARCH OF THE DESIRED PLANTS NEEDED TO CURE DISEASE. THESE HEALERS WERE AVAILABLE AS HELP TO THE PEOPLE FOR CURING DISEASE AND SICKNESSES.
The Haudenosaunee people have passed on stories generations about how the Bear Clan people came to receive the gift of medicines from an elder woman who had the knowledge of healing with the medicines from the earth.
The legend says that a Haudenosaunee village was visited by a strange man seeking food and shelter. This stranger was turned away by every longhouse he came to, until he came to the house of the Bear Clan. The elder woman of the house welcomed him in and shared her food with him.
The next morning the stranger became sick and told the woman to go gather a certain plant. He then told her to make a medicine from it, and when he took the medicine he was better.
The next day the stranger became sick again, with a different sickness. Again he sent the woman to gather a plant and instructed her how to make a medicine from it.
This cycle repeated as the man came down with many different sicknesses, sent the woman to gather many different plants and instructed her how to prepare them to cure the sickness.
This stranger was the Creator. He taught her the cures for all the sicknesses of His People. He told her that from that day on members of the Bear Clan were Keepers of the Medicine, and Medicine Men and Women were to always belong to the Bear Clan.
Huron Smith conducted ethnobotanical fieldwork among the Oneida in 1929. He began his trip to Oneida, Wisconsin on July 11. Upon arrival the next day, he set up his field station in the yard of Mrs. Electra Powless. Mrs. Powless’ 89 year old father, Solomon Skenadore, spent much time helping him learn the Oneida language. Smith collected plants between August 10th and September 23rd in and around the town of Oneida. He gathered material from nearby woods, a tamarack swamp, along the nearby Duck Creek, and at Big Hill on the Oneida reservation
Long ago, the Oneidas lived off the land, grateful to the Creator who provided for their needs. There were many gifts given by the Creator, but the best treasure of all was the gift of corn. When the corn came into harvest, there was a celebration as they gathered the crop to prepare for the winter to come. Although the harvest celebration was a joyous time, not everyone was happy. There was a family with two girls who had just lost their father and were sad that their mother had to leave them alone to harvest the corn. “Be glad,” their mother said, “you have each other to play with.” But the sisters could not get along, no matter how many times they tried to play together.
The Creator saw how the girls always fought and was displeased. But instead of punishing them, the Creator sent a beautiful maiden to play with the girls and be their companion when their mother was away. From sun rise to sun set the girls spent the day laughing, playing, and singing. They danced everywhere they went – never again would they fight.
The maiden’s face had a beauty no one had ever seen. Although this fascinated all who saw her no one spoke of it, and the maiden did not know, for she had never seen her own face. As seasons passed, the sorrow of the girls passed as well and all was peaceful with the Oneida.
One day while playing in the forest, the maiden took a different way and was separated from the two girls. Away from them she came upon a clear stream that made its way to a crystal pool. The maiden looked into the pool and saw her reflection for the very first time. As she stared, she saw her face was indeed beautiful, and could not look away. The longer she looked into the pool her lovely, sweet disposition began to fade, and was replaced by terrible, vain thoughts. She was now convinced that her beauty made her better than anyone else.
The maiden treated everyone she came upon with disdain and disrespect. When the girls came to her to play, she called them names and told them they were ugly. The children spent their afternoons away, crying from her harsh words and names. Sadness filled the Oneida people and they cried out to the Creator for help.
The Creator heard the cries of the Oneida people. He told her it was wrong to place herself above others because of vanity, because of how she looked. In return for her lies and meanness he made the maiden as though she had no face at all.
Shamed and overcome by her own actions, the maiden disappeared from the Oneida people. Peace returned to the village. Then, after the Great Harvest, the girls were sent one more gift from the Creator – a corn husk Doll with no face. This reminded the people of the story of the maiden and the consequences of vain actions. And that is why the corn husk doll has no face.
The turtle’s back is a significant symbol used in Iroquoian media. It represents the creation of Turtle Island also known as the continent of North America, on turtle’s back or more accurately the “Earth Grasper”, from our Creation Story. A closer look will reveal a pattern of thirteen individual segments on his back which represent each moon of the Iroquoian cycle of seasons. These segments are named according to seasonal practices and natural environmental occurrences e.g. Green Corn, Harvest etc. Further to this there are twenty-eight platelets which form an edging around the shell. This is the number of days in the moon cycle. This “calendar” can be used to guide curriculum development across all subjects in education; and is a good organizational management tool as well. Oneida knowledge and traditions do have application in contemporary times, building these funds of knowledge into the structures of daily life makes ways of doing things more relevant to Oneida learners.
Long ago, a young woman was taken from her parents and brought up into the sky during a storm. A little man, one of the Thunder People, had seen her working in the field and had fallen instantly in love with her. His father, the chief, was angry his son brought the girl to their country since the ways of the Thunder People and those of the Earth People differed greatly.
The little man assumed responsibility for the girl and made her his wife. Daily he would return to earth to bring her back food. The wife was happy with her husband. One day the chief came and told her she would soon have a son. He told her:
“You must return to your island home, as your son should not be born in this land. Before you go, there is one thing I must warn you. After the boy is born, you must guard him well, warning everyone never to strike him. If someone should strike the boy, you will lose him forever.”
The girl was immediately returned to earth and her parents. She told them her extraordinary story and soon after the baby was born. The boy was smaller than an earth child and had many different habits from an ordinary child. When a thunderstorm approached, the boy became excited and would run outdoors to laugh and play in the rain. As he played, the thunder roared louder and more frequently.
The boy’s grandmother did not approve of this behavior and locked him in the house and forbade him to go outside. This made the boy angry, and he broke things in the house in his wrath. When he was angry, faint sounds of distant thunder came from his body. The angrier he became, the louder the sound and the more havoc he wreaked upon the house.
The grandmother was enraged and struck the boy with a stick. Instantly there was a blinding flash of lightning followed by deafening thunder. Mist filled the room. When the mist was gone, so was the boy.
When his mother returned and saw her son was gone, she knew what had happened. “You struck my son and now his father has taken him to live with the Thunder People. We shall never see him again.”
The Thunder Boy stayed with his father’s people, but he never forgot his mother and the fact that he was half- Haudenosaunee. The Thunder People also remember this and remain friends with the Haudenosaunee and do not bother them.
In the early spring at the arrival of the first thunder, it is believed to please the Thunder People if tobacco, sacred to the Haudenosaunee, is thrown upon the fire.
Their clothing was made mostly from hides of animals. In the winter, the men wore shirts, leggings, and moccasins made of buckskin. Buckskin is clothing made from the skins of animals, mainly deer. The woman wore skirts they had woven from the wild grasses, covered with furs, with leggings underneath. In the summer, the men wore a breechcloth, a short piece of buckskin that hung from the front to the back of the person. The woman wore their grass dresses, and the children wore nothing at all. A bone awl was the Indian woman’s needle for sewing clothing and pulling strands apart when weaving.
The sacred bowl game was played the last day of the “Ceremonial of Midwinter” which marked the end of the year. The wooden bowl was decorated with clan symbols. To play the game a player placed the six nuts, which were colored on one side, inside the bowl and hit the bowl against the ground. If five of the six pits turned up the same color, the player scored and took another turn. The first player to reach 10 points wins the game. The Haudenosaunee enjoyed playing games to improve their strength and agility. A game played in the winter by the Haudenosaunee was called snowsnake. They started out by digging a path or grove in the snow and sprinkling it with water which made a smooth surface. Then they made a long wooden stick and slid it across the path dug in the snow. The person who slid the snowsnake the farthest won. A game often played in the summer was called darts. The game started out with two teams. Each player within the two teams had six darts or spears. Each team had a hoop rolled in front of them. The players then had to try to throw the darts though the hoop. The team with the best accuracy won.
Haudenosaunee games were very important in their every day lives because they learned skills that helped them in their adult lives. They played many sports and games, but lacrosse was their favorite. They did not have much equipment. They had a stick with a net at one end, a ball made out of wood or animal skin, a goal post at each end on the field and no other protective equipment. The purpose of the game was to pass the ball around and try to score goals. Whoever scored the most goals, was the winner. The game was played for fun, but that’s not the only reason. They also played to improve their skills including aim, speed and strength. Lacrosse was played by boys and men mainly. The games sometimes went on for two or three days. One game even ended up in a war. Thanks to the Haudenosaunee, lacrosse is still played today by people of all ages. Children had fun playing for entertainment in their spare time.
Pirtle, Pam. “Eastern Woodland Indians Tribes.” Woodland Indian Tribes, 26 Apr. 2006. Web. 13 Jul. 2009 http://www.elko.k12.nv.us/ecsdtc/ppp/Woodland%20Indians%20Tribes.ppt#256,1,Eastern Woodland Indians Tribes
Oneida Wampum Belts – Click Here
VIDEO BY CHRISTOPHER POWLESS, BIG BEAR MEDIA
The Oneida Tribal Belt readdresses the commitment of alliance between the Six Nations. This belt and seven original treaties were entrusted to the care of Elijah Skenandoah, a Turtle Clan Chief of the Oneida Nation, who brought it to Wisconsin in the 1830’s. Sometime after his death, the belt and treaties were found in a safe at the post office on the Oneida Reservation. Today the Oneida Tribal Belt is at the Field Museum in Chicago pending a repatriation claim for its return on behalf of the Oneida communities.
The six rectangles represent the territories of the Six Nations who are joined together as one nation. The diamond shape in the center of each rectangle represents their council fire. Reading the belt from right to left, the first rectangle represents the Mohawk Nation. The Mohawks are considered the Keepers of the Eastern Door, If nations to the East wish to address issues to the Confederacy, they must first bring their issues to the Mohawks, The next rectangle represents the Oneida Nation and their council fire followed by the Onondaga Nation and their council fie. The Onondaga Nation is known as the Central fire. All matters pertaining to the Six Nations are brought here. Next are the Cayuga Nation and its fire and the Seneca Nation who is known as the Keeper of the Western Door. All matters concerning the west are brought here before going to the Six Nations Confederacy. The final rectangle represents the Tuscarora Nation who was the last nation to join the Confederacy.
Photograph by Eric Doxtator, Sr. Graphic Designer
KALIHWISAKS
PUBLISHED JUNE 6, 2019 by Chris Johnson, Reporter
CHICAGO, IL – Several tribal Big Bear Media and Museum staff personnel had an opportunity to view the Oneida Nation’s Tribal Belt June 3 at Chicago’s Field Museum. Michelle Danforth, Christopher Powless, Eric Doxtator, Leah Stroobants, Christopher Johnson, Nate Gerhardt, and Louisa Mehojah made the journey to the Windy City to view and photograph the sacred relic.
According to Oneida condoled Bear Clan Chief Bob Brown, the belt dates back to the pre-Revolutionary War period and made the journey to Wisconsin (then Michigan Territory) with the first group of Oneidas from their ancestral homelands in the early 1820s. The belt was in the care of Chief Elijah Skenandoa who refused to sell the belt for any amount of money. After Skenandoa’s death, his grandson sold the belt to collector Walter C. Wyman who in turn sold the belt to the Field Museum.
The group from Oneida made the trip to the Field Museum to view the belt as part of a Big Bear Media project which will commemorate the 200-year anniversary of the arrival of the Oneidas from their homelands in present-day Upstate New York.
PHOTOGRAPH BY LUCY HEWETT
JAMIE KELLY – TEMPORARY CONTACT (Last updated 01/17/22)
FIELD MUSEUM
If possible, please submit your request 2 weeks in advance of your visit date so that the Field Museum staff can schedule availability. To view the belt, your group must comprise of enrolled Oneida Tribal members. Please inform any staff if you have special needs or requests; the Anthropology staff at the Field Museum are committed to providing visitors a safe and respectful visit.
Private spaces are available for ceremonial practices and quiet areas for reflection. Please let your tour leader or hosting staff member know if you would like time and space for private reflection. Photographs may be taken of the belt for personal use. You may bring tobacco or other small offerings to leave with the belt if you wish. Please bring tobacco in a bag so that it can be frozen for pest mitigation before it is placed with the belt in storage.
For personal safety, we encourage visitors to wear nitrile gloves when handling collections. However, descendant community members are not required to wear them so long as the following risks are understood. Chemicals such as arsenic, DDT, chlordane, and carbon tetrachloride may in the past have been applied to select objects for pest control or preservation purposes. Objects consisting, in whole or in part, of organic materials such as fur, hair, skin, feathers, and plant materials are more likely to have been treated with these chemicals. Visitors assume all risks and potential hazards associated with handling collections objects.