Compare And Contrast Deganawida And The Iroquois

Before Europeans even knew of the Americas there were Indians. The Indians had diverse cultures and conflicts with each other. There were hundreds of different groups of Indians. Most hated each other and killed each other. Some sought to get beyond murder and cannibalism. Deganawida was one such man. He sought for peace among Indians. He helped found the Iroquois confederacy through his desire for peace. He did this with the help of a Onandaga who was living among Mohawk Indians named Hiawatha. The Iroquois were also known as the Five Nations. It became known as the six nations after the Tuscarora joined in 1722. The Iroquois Confederacy was in New York closer to the Great Lakes. Deganawida and the Iroquois had an significant impact on tribal relations in

He created the Iroquois Confederacy. This was driven largely for his desire for peace. “Together, Deganawida and Hiawatha convinced the five tribes to make peace and join together in an alliance of friendship, rather than persist with their attempts to destroy each other.”(Deganawida 460) He was more of a pacifist than anything else and believed in the unity of mankind. “Deganawida’s message to the Iroquois was that all men are brothers; therefore, they should cease their practices of killing, scalping, and cannibalism.”(Deganawida 460) “The Peacemaker proposed that the leaders of the communities organize for the purpose of creating a forum at which ‘thinking will replace violence.’”(Encyclopedia of North American Indians 299) Deganawida spent his life seeking peace among Indians. He left his home tribe of Hurons to seek peace. “When Deganawida was grown, he journeyed south to carry out his mission of peace among the Iroquois.”(Deganawida 460) He succeeded in this when the Iroquois Confederacy was founded. He continued to try to get other tribes to join the Confederacy but no other tribes joined in his lifetime. A couple more joined after he died