The Haudenosaunee, more commonly known as the Iroquois or Six Nations, have been one of the most widely written-about Indigenous groups in the United States and Canada. But seldom have the voices emerging from this community been drawn on in order to understand its enduring intellectual traditions. Rick Monture’s We Share Our Matters offers the first comprehensive portrait of how the Haudenosaunee of the Grand River region have expressed their long struggle for sovereignty in Canada. Drawing from individualsas diverse as Joseph Brant, Pauline Johnson and Robbie Robertson, Monture illuminates a unique Haudenosaunee world view comprised of three distinct features: a spiritual belief about their role and responsibility to the earth; a firm understanding of their sovereign status as a confederacy of independant nations; and their responsibility to maintain those relations for future generations. After more than two centuries of political struggle Haudenosaunee thought has avoided stagnant conservatism and continues to inspire ways to address current social and political realities.
This volume traces the history of the Indians in the Grand River Valley from the first written record in 1627 until the middle of the nineteenth century. Much of the book is devoted to the Six Nations Indians who, dispossessed of their homes in the Mohawk River Valley because of their allegiance to the British cause during the American War of Independence, were granted lands on the Grand River in Ontario after the war. From this grant arose many problems—the Indians' right to sell their land, the difficulties of such sales, their transition from a fur to an agricultural economy, the position of the Six Nations in the War of 1812 and the Rebellion of 1837, and the adjustment of the Indians to a European way of life, religion, and education. All of this is told in the words of the missionaries, travellers, army officers, government officials and settlers, as well as in the vigorous letters and speeches of the Indians themselves. (Ontario Series of the Champlain Society, Volume 7)
In Seven Generations of Iroquois Leadership, Laurence M. Hauptman traces the past 200 years of the Six Nations’ history through the lens of the remarkable leaders who shaped it. Focusing on the distinct qualities of Iroquois leadership, Hauptman reveals how the Six Nations have survived in the face of overwhelming pressure. Celebrated figures such as Governor Blacksnake, Cornelius Cusick, and Deskaheh are juxtaposed with less well-known but nonetheless influential champions of Iroquoian culture and sovereignty such as Dinah John. Hauptman’s survey includes over thirty contemporary women, highlighting the important role female leaders have played in Iroquois survival throughout history to the present day. The book offers historical and contemporary portraits of leaders from all six Iroquois nations and all regions of modern-day Iroquoia.