Native American Literature

"Every part of this country is sacred to my people...The very dust responds more lovingly to our footsteps than to yours, because it is the ashes of our ancestors…”

(Chief Seattle, Nez Perce 1855)

The Iroquois Confederation

Iroquois Background They were known during the colonial

years to the French as the "Iroquois League" and later as the "Iroquois Confederacy", and to the English as the "Five Nations" (before 1722) and later as the "Six Nations", comprising the Mohawk, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations.

Iroquois…Northeastern United StatesVery powerful tribe – five tribes

united by Dekaniwidah, an Iroquois prophet. The Iroquois Constitution was written by him, and was the basis for our own U.S. Constitution.

The Five Nations of IroquoisMohawkOneidaOnandagaCayugaSeneca

Later, became Six Nations…Tuscarora

The Iroquois ConfederationCrucial in the struggle between

England and France.They were expert politicians

and diplomats.They played both England and

France, and finally sided with England in the French and Indian War.

English Allies In 1710, four chiefs traveled to London to

meet with Queen Anne in an effort to seal an alliance with the British. She commissioned their portraits by court painter John Verelst. The portraits are believed to be the earliest surviving oil portraits of Aboriginal peoples taken from life.

1914The Iroquois in Buffalo, NY 1914

Today… In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six

Nations people lived in Canada, and about 80,000 in the United States.

Traditional Iroquois Longhouse

The Oral TraditionThe process of passing down sayings, songs, tales, and myths from one generation to the next by word of mouth.

No written language….Most tribes had no written

language, though occasionally myths and occurrences were recorded in the form of pictographs.

Pictograph on rock facing…

Remembering history…All tribal history and

literature was memorized and some tribes had a designated “keeper” of memories.

The World on the Turtle’s BackCreation Myth – explains

how the universe, earth, and life began.

Myth - traditional story passed on through generations that explains why the world is the way it is.

Functions of Myths – Joseph Campbell

To instill a sense of awe toward the mystery of the universe

To explain the workings of the natural world

To support and validate social customs

To guide people through the trials of living

Creation MythsCreation myths often share a number of

features. They often are considered sacred accounts and

can be found in nearly all known religious traditions.

They are all stories with a plot and characters who are either deities, human-like figures, or animals, who often speak and transform easily.

They are often set in a dim and nonspecific past.

ThemeThis selection shows the

Native American ideal of man living in harmony with nature.