Haudenosaunee

"Iroquois" redirects here. For the ethnolinguistic group in general, see Iroquoian peoples. For other uses, see Iroquois (disambiguation).

Haudenosaunee Confederacy (in constituent languages) Cayuga Hodinǫ̱hsǫ́꞉nih Mohawk Rotinonshón꞉ni Oneida Lotinuhsyu·niʼ or Lotinosho꞉ni Onondaga Ganųhcyų́·nih Seneca Hodínöhšö꞉ni꞉h Tuscarora Akunęhsyę̀·niˀ
Flag
Map showing historical (in purple) and currently recognized (in pink) Haudenosaunee territorial claims
Status	Recognized confederation, later became an unrecognized government
Capital	Onondaga (at various modern locations: Before 1609: Cazenovia, New York 1609–1615: Pompey, New York 1615–1640: Delphi Falls, New York 1640 onwards: Manlius, New York)
Common languages	Iroquoian languages, English
Government	Confederation with consensus government
Legislature	Grand Council of the Six Nations
History
• Established	Between 1142 and 1660 (estimate)

The Haudenosaunee Confederacy (/ˌhoʊdɪnoʊˈʃoʊni/ HOH-din-oh-SHOH-nee; lit. 'those who build the longhouse'), also known as the Iroquois (/ˈɪrəkwɔɪ, -kwɑː/ IRR-ə-kwoy, -⁠kwah), is a confederacy of Iroquoian-speaking indigenous peoples in northeast North America. They were known by the French during the colonial years as the Iroquois League, and later as the Iroquois Confederacy. They have also been called the Six Nations (Five Nations before 1722).

Their country has been called Iroquoia and Haudenosauneega in English, and Iroquoisie in French. The Haudenosaunee originally comprised (from east to west) the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. After 1722, the Iroquoian-speaking Tuscarora people migrated from the southeast and were accepted into the confederacy, henceforth known as "Six Nations".

Haudenosaunee oral history describes the formation of the Confederacy by the Great Peacemaker, Hiawatha, and Jigonhsasee under a constitution known as the Great Law of Peace, likely between 1142 and 1660, although there is little agreement on the date. Contact with Europeans began with the arrival of Dutch colonists to North America, which the Haudenosaunee describe as the origin of the Two Row Wampum Treaty. The acquisition of muskets through the fur trade led to a rapid expansion in Haudenosaunee strength during the Beaver Wars, during which time they dispersed or assimilated most neighboring tribes. At its peak around 1700, Haudenosaunee power extended from what is today New York State, north into present-day Ontario and Quebec along the lower Great Lakes–upper St. Lawrence, and south on both sides of the Allegheny Mountains into present-day Virginia, Kentucky, and the Ohio Valley.

For nearly 200 years, the Haudenosaunee were a powerful factor in North American colonial policy. Alliance with the Haudenosaunee offered political and strategic advantages to the European powers, with the Haudenosaunee often holding the balance of power between the French and British colonies. By the 1700s, the Haudenosaunee increasingly aligned with the British under the Covenant Chain, backing the British during the French and Indian War and securing protection from westward colonial expansion through the Royal Proclamation of 1763. During the American Revolution, Haudenosaunee unity collapsed, with the Oneida and Tuscarora fighting alongside the Patriots and the other nations of the confederacy allying with the British. In the wake of American independence and the devastating Sullivan Expedition, many Haudenosaunee fled to British Canada, establishing the Six Nations of the Grand River reserve. Haudenosaunee territory in the United States was further reduced by a series of land cessations and sales. Nonetheless, the Haudenosaunee continue to consider themselves sovereign and independent, attempting to join the League of Nations in 1923 and issuing their own passports.

In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people lived in Canada, and over 81,000 in the United States. They retain sovereignty over seven reserves in Canada and eleven reservations in the United States, divided between seventeen First Nations and nine Tribal nations.