Ranging from west to east, five tribes or nations of upstate New York—Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk—came together to form the League of the Iroquois. This league influenced American colonial history for some two hundred years and was the most famous native government in North America. The origins and development of the league has long been in dispute among scholars, and this volume seeks to cut through the controversy and establish a time line and narrative that everyone can accept.
The two authors approach the problems differently in separate chapters. Wonderley is the former curator of collections and interpretations at the Oneida Community Mansion House. Sempowski is an archaeologist at the Rochester Museum and Science Center. Wonderley concentrates primarily on the oral and written history of the Iroquois. Semposki focuses on the archaeological record of material culture. Together they paint a convincing story of the development of the league and its impact on the various nations.
They reject a well-established hypothesis that the league was formed around 1600 to gain access to European trade goods being brought into New York by the Dutch. Instead, they present evidence of an alliance that formed much earlier in the sixteenth century. The merging of elements in the material culture, like ceramic pipes, portends increased trade among the five nations. Peacekeeping practices like reciprocal mortuary practices give evidence of a coming together in the early 1500s, perhaps being influenced by the Mississippians to the south. Throughout the sixteenth century, there is a steady rise in exotic grave goods like native copper, marine shell beads, and other items. Later, goods of European origin like glass beads join this assemblage.
This volume is an important addition to the study of one of Native America’s greatest institutions. It breaks new ground in an area fraught with controversy and misunderstanding, and presents a convincing narrative of league formation. —Mark Michel
