The history of the indigenous population of both Americas is full of mysteries and secrets, but it is also very sad. This is especially true for the Indians of North America, whose tribal lands have been privatized by the US Federal Government for a very long time. How many indigenous people of the North American continent died as a result of forced colonization is still unknown. Some researchers claim that by the beginning of the 15th century, up to 15 million Indians lived in the current territories of the United States, and in 1900 there were no more than 237 thousand of them left.
Particularly noteworthy is the story of those we know under the name "Iroquois". From ancient times, the Indians of this tribe were a large and strong people, but now there are not many of them left. On the one hand, Dutch and English help initially allowed them to incredibly strengthen their positions ... But when the need for the Iroquois disappeared, they began to be destroyed mercilessly.
Basic information
This is the name of the Indians of North America, who currently reside in the northern states of the United States and Canada. The word "Iroku" in the vocabulary of neighboring tribes means "real vipers", which indicates the initial militancy of the Iroquois, their predisposition to military tricks and deep knowledge in the field of military tactics. It is not surprising that the Iroquois were constantly in very strained relations with all the neighbors, who openly disliked and feared them. Currently, up to 120 thousand representatives of this tribe live in the United States and Canada.
Initially, the range of the tribe extended from
the St. Lawrence River to the Hudson Strait. Contrary to popular belief, the Iroquois - Indians are not only warlike, but also very hardworking, since they had a fairly high level of crop production, were the beginnings of cattle breeding.
Most likely, this particular tribe was one of the first to come into contact with Europeans in the 16th century. By this time, many Indians of North America disappeared without a trace in the flames of constant internal wars. Nevertheless, the memory of them remains to this day. So, the word "Canada" comes from the language of the Laurentian Iroquois.
Iroquois lifestyle
The social organization of this tribe is a vivid example of an original generic matriarchy, but at the same time, the man was still headed by a man. The family lived in a long house, which served as a refuge for several generations at once. In some cases, similar dwellings were used by family for several decades, but it happened that the Iroquois lived in the same house for a hundred years or more.
The main occupations of the Iroquois were hunting and fishing. Today, tribal representatives produce souvenirs or work for hire. The traditional bead baskets and beads found on sale are extremely beautiful, and therefore popular (especially among tourists).
When the Iroquois tribe was at the peak of its power, its members lived in quite numerous villages, which could have up to 20 “long houses”. They tried to put them compactly, choosing those plots of land that were unsuitable for farming. Despite their militancy and frequent cruelty, the Iroquois often chose very picturesque and beautiful places for their villages.
Confederation Education
Around the year 1570, a stable formation from the Iroquois tribes emerged on the territory near
Lake Ontario , which later became known as the "Union of the Iroquois." However, representatives of the tribe themselves say that the first prerequisites for the emergence of this kind of education appeared in the 12th century. Initially, the Confederation included about seven Iroquois tribes. Each leader of the
Indian tribe had equal rights during the meetings, but the “king” was still elected for wartime.
During this period, all the Iroquois settlements were still forced to defend themselves from attacks by neighbors, fencing the villages with a dense picket fence. Often these were monumental walls erected from pointed logs in two rows, the gaps between which were covered with earth. In the report of one French missionary, there is a mention of the real “metropolis” of Iroquois from 50 huge long houses, each of which was a real fortress. Iroquois women raised children, men hunted and fought.
The population of villages
In large villages, up to four thousand people could live. By the end of the formation of the Confederation, the need for protection had completely disappeared, since by that time the Iroquois had almost completely exterminated all their neighbors. At the same time, villages began to settle down more compactly, so that, if necessary, it was possible to quickly assemble the soldiers of the entire tribe. Nevertheless, by the 17th century, the Iroquois were often forced to change the location of their villages.
The fact is that the mismanagement of soils led to their rapid depletion, and it was not always possible to rely on the benefits of military companies.
Relations with the Dutch
Around the 17th century, many representatives of Dutch trading companies appeared in the region. Establishing the first trading posts, they established trade relations with many tribes, but the Dutch communicated especially closely with the Iroquois. Most European colonizers were interested in beaver fur. But there was one problem: beaver prey became so predatory that soon these animals almost disappeared throughout the territory controlled by the Iroquois.
Then the Dutch resorted to a rather simple, but nevertheless sophisticated trick: they began to contribute in every way to the Iroquois expansion into territories that they did not originally own.
From 1630 to 1700, for this reason, constant wars erupted, called the "beavers." How did you manage to achieve this? Everything is simple. Representatives of the Netherlands, despite official bans, supplied firearms, gunpowder and lead in abundance to their Native American allies.
Bloody expansion
By the middle of the 17th century, the number of Iroquois tribe was about 25 thousand people. This is significantly less than the number of neighboring tribes. The constant wars and epidemics brought by the European colonialists reduced their number even faster. However, representatives of the tribes they conquered immediately joined the Federation, so that the decline was partially compensated. Missionaries from France wrote that by the 18th century, among the "Iroquois" it was foolish to try to preach using the main language of the tribe, since only a third (at best) Indians understood it. This indicates that in just a hundred years the Iroquois were practically destroyed, and officially Holland remained absolutely “clean”.
Since the Iroquois are very belligerent Indians, they were probably the first to realize how powerful a firearm is in themselves. They preferred to use it in a "partisan" style, operating in small mobile units. Enemies said that such groups "pass through the forest, like snakes or foxes, remaining invisible and inaudible, vilely hitting in the back."
In the forest, the Iroquois felt great, and competent tactics and the use of powerful firearms led to the fact that even small units of this tribe achieved outstanding military success.
Long hikes
Soon the “beaver fever” finally turned the heads of the Iroquois leaders, and they began to send soldiers even to very distant lands, where the Iroquois simply could not have any physical interests. But they were at their Dutch patrons. As a result of the ever-increasing expansion of the land, the Iroquois expanded to the vicinity of the Great Lakes. It is these tribes that are largely responsible for the fact that in those parts conflicts began to erupt on the basis of strong overpopulation. The latter arose because the Indians who fled the Iroquois tribes destroyed in fear fled to any land free of them.
In fact, at that time many tribes were destroyed, most of which did not preserve any information at all. Many Indian scholars believe that only the Hurons survived at that time. All this time, the Dutch feed the Iroquois with money, weapons and gunpowder did not stop.
Pay
In the 17th century, the British came to these parts, quickly crowding out their European competitors. They began to act somewhat "more tactfully." The English organized the so-called Conquered League, which included all the remaining tribes, previously conquered by the Iroquois. The task of the League was in the constant supply of beaver fur. The belligerent Iroquois Indians themselves, whose culture had been very degraded by that time, quickly turned into ordinary overseers and tribute collectors.
In the 17-18th century, the power of their tribe was greatly weakened because of this, but still they continued to represent a formidable military force throughout the region. Great Britain, using the rich experience of intrigue, managed to pit the Iroquois and the French. The former were able to carry out almost all the work on the final expulsion of competitors from British trading companies from the New World.
With this, the Iroquois signed a death sentence, since they became unnecessary. They were simply thrown out of previously occupied territories, leaving only their original territory near the St. Lawrence River to live. In addition, in the 18th century, the Mingo tribe broke away from them, further weakening the Iroquois.
Last hit
The British diplomats were still not idle, and during the war with the newly formed USA they persuaded their former "partners" to take their side again. This was the last but most terrible mistake of the Iroquois. General Sullivan walked through their land with fire and sword. The remains of the once mighty tribe were scattered on reserves in the United States and Canada. Only towards the very end of the 19th century did the last representatives of this people cease to die en masse from hunger and constant epidemics.
Today, the Iroquois - Indians are not so belligerent, but very "savvy" in legal matters. They constantly defend their interests in all courts, seeking recognition of the illegality of the seizure of the federal government by their land. However, the success of their lawsuits remains in great doubt.
Why does the tribe have such a bad reputation?
The aforementioned Fenimore Cooper represented the Iroquois Indians as extremely unprincipled and cruel people, contrasting them with “noble Delaware”. Such an assessment is a model of bias, and it is explained simply. The fact is that the Delaware participated in the war against Great Britain on the side of the United States, and the Iroquois fought on the side of the British. But Cooper was right in many ways.
It was the Iroquois who often practiced the practice of completely exterminating their opponents, including killing babies. The warriors of the tribe were “carried away” by the brutal torture that they practiced long before the Europeans arrived. In addition, their poor reputation is largely deserved, since the Iroquois did not know the concept of any honesty with respect to potential opponents.
Treachery as a lifestyle
There are cases when they concluded peace treaties with a neighboring tribe, and then completely cut it out under cover of night. Often poisons were used for this. In the understanding of neighboring tribes, such a practice is a monstrous violation of traditions and lawlessness.
The historian Francis Parkman, who was well-disposed towards the Indians in principle, has collected a lot of data indicating the widespread use of not only ritual cannibalism (which was characteristic of almost all Indian tribes in general), but also cases of “ordinary” eating of people. It is not surprising that the confederation of the Iroquois, to put it mildly, was not particularly popular among neighbors.