Database: Iroquois
The term Iroquois refers to a group of Indigenous Peoples who inhabited the Eastern Woodlands of North America (Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River Valley areas). made up of Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora, Huron, Susquehannock (Northern Iroquoian), and Cherokee (Southern Iroquoian) peoples. The Iroquois share a common ancestry, social organization, spiritual beliefs, and dialects deriving from a proto-Iroquoian language.
The term Iroquois is often synonymous with the Haudenosaunee or "Iroquois Confederacy", a political league made up of the Kanien'kehá:ka (Mohawk), Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and later the Tuscarora.
Kaianere'kó:wa - Great Law of Peace
Often translated as the Great Law of Peace, the Kaianere'kó:wa is the constitution of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. These teachings outline the basic principles that unified the original five Iroquois nations into a powerful league, based upon the good tidings of peace and strength. The Kaianere'kó:wa also provides a complex decision making methodology that is achieved through consensus-building.
In 1987, a Sub-Committee of the United States Congress officially acknowledged the influence of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy and the Great Law of Peace upon the US Constitution.