The history of the indigenous population of the Americas is full of mysteries and secrets, but it is also very sad. This is especially true of the Indians of North America, whose ancestral lands have long been privatized by the US Federal Government. How many indigenous people of the North American continent died as a result of forced colonization is not known to this day. 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 people left.
Especially noteworthy is the history of those whom we know as the "Iroquois". The Indians of this tribe from ancient times were a large and strong people, but now there are not many of them left. On the one hand, Dutch and British aid initially allowed them to incredibly strengthen their positions … But when the need for the Iroquois disappeared, they began to be exterminated mercilessly.
Basic information
This is the name of the Indians of North America, who currently live in the northern states of the United States and Canada. The word "iroku" in the lexicon of neighboring tribes means"real vipers", which indicates the original 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 their neighbors, who openly disliked and feared them. Currently, up to 120 thousand representatives of this tribe live in the United States and Canada.
The original range of the tribe stretched 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, there were the beginnings of cattle breeding.
Most likely, it was this tribe that was one of the first to come into contact with Europeans in the 16th century. By this time, many Indians of North America had disappeared without a trace in the flames of constant internal wars. However, their memory 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 tribal matriarchy, but at the same time, the clan was still headed by a man. The family lived in a longhouse that served as a refuge for several generations at once. In some cases, such dwellings were used by the 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, representatives of the tribe are engagedproduction of souvenirs or are employed. Traditional 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 agriculture. Despite their militancy and frequent cruelty, the Iroquois often chose very picturesque and beautiful places for their villages.
Formation of the Confederation
Approximately in 1570, in the territory near Lake Ontario, a stable formation of the Iroquois tribes arose, which later became known as the "Union of the Iroquois". However, representatives of the tribe itself say that the first prerequisites for the emergence of this kind of education arose as early as the 12th century. Initially, the Confederacy included about seven tribes of the Iroquois. Each chief of the Indian tribe had equal rights during the meetings, but the "king" was still elected for wartime.
During this period, all the settlements of the Iroquois still had to defend themselves from the attacks of their neighbors, enclosing the villages with a dense palisade. 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 a real "megalopolis" of the Iroquois from 50 huge long houses, each of which was a real fortress. Iroquois womenraised children, men hunted and fought.
Population of villages
Up to four thousand people could live in large villages. By the end of the formation of the Confederation, the need for protection completely disappeared, since by that time the Iroquois had almost completely exterminated all their neighbors. At the same time, the villages began to be located more compactly, so that, if necessary, it was possible to quickly assemble the warriors of the entire tribe. Nevertheless, by the 17th century, the Iroquois were forced to change the location of their settlements frequently.
The fact is that the mismanagement of soils led to their rapid depletion, and it was not always possible to hope for the fruits of military campaigns.
Relations with the Dutch
About the 17th century, many representatives of Dutch trading companies appeared in the region. Founding the first trading posts, they established trade relations with many tribes, but the Dutch communicated especially closely with the Iroquois. Most of all, European colonialists were interested in beaver fur. But there was one problem: the prey of beavers became so predatory that soon these animals practically disappeared throughout the territory controlled by the Iroquois.
Then the Dutch resorted to a rather simple, but still sophisticated trick: they in every possible way began to promote the Iroquois expansion into territories that did not originally belong to them.
From 1630 to 1700, for this reason, constant wars thundered, called "beaver wars". How was this achieved? Everything is simple. RepresentativesThe Netherlands, despite official prohibitions, supplied their Indian allies in abundance with firearms, gunpowder and lead.
Bloody expansion
By the middle of the 17th century, the number of the Iroquois tribe was about 25 thousand people. This is much 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 loss 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) of the 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 warlike Indians, they were perhaps the first to realize what power a firearm conceals in itself. They preferred to use it in a "guerrilla" style, operating in small mobile units. Enemies said that such groups “pass through the forest like snakes or foxes, remaining invisible and inaudible, vilely stabbing in the back.”
The Iroquois felt great in the forest, and competent tactics and the use of powerful firearms led to the fact that even small detachments of this tribe achieved outstanding military successes.
Long hikes
Soon the heads of the leaders of the Iroquois finally turned the beaverfever,”and they began to send warriors even to very distant lands, where the Iroquois simply physically could not have any interests. But they were with their Dutch patrons. As a result of ever-increasing expansion, the lands of the Iroquois expanded up to the vicinity of the Great Lakes. It is these tribes that are largely responsible for the fact that conflicts began to flare up en masse in those parts on the basis of strong overpopulation. The latter arose due to the fact that the fleeing Indians of the tribes destroyed by the Iroquois fled in fear to any lands free from them.
In fact, at that time, many tribes were destroyed, most of which did not survive at all no information. Many Indian researchers believe that only the Hurons survived at that time. All this time, the Dutch feeding of the Iroquois with money, weapons and gunpowder did not stop.
Payback
In the 17th century, the British came to these parts, quickly ousting their European competitors. They began to act a little more "tactfully". The British 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 militant Iroquois-Indians themselves, whose culture had greatly degraded by that time, quickly turned into ordinary overseers and tribute collectors.
In the 17th-18th century, the power of their tribe was greatly weakened because of this, but nevertheless they continued to represent a formidable military force in the entire region. Great Britain, benefiting from a we alth of experienceintrigue, managed to pit the Iroquois and the French. The first were able to do almost all the work on the final expulsion of competitors of British trading companies from the New World.
With this, the Iroquois signed their own death warrant, as they were no longer needed. They were simply thrown out of the previously occupied territories, leaving only their original territory near the St. Lawrence River to live. In addition, the Mingo tribe broke away from them in the 18th century, further weakening the Iroquois.
Final blow
British diplomats still did not sit idly by, and during the war with the newly formed United States, they persuaded their former "partners" to take their side again. This was the last, but the most terrible mistake of the Iroquois. General Sullivan walked their land with fire and sword. The remnants of the once mighty tribe were scattered across reservations in the United States and Canada. Only by the very end of the 19th century did the last representatives of this people stop dying en masse from hunger and constant epidemics.
Today, the Iroquois - the Indians are no longer so warlike, 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 of their land. However, the success of their claims remains in great doubt.
Why does the tribe have such a bad reputation?
Fenimore Cooper, mentioned above, presented the Iroquois Indians as exceptionally unprincipled and cruel people, opposing them to the "noble Delaware". Such an assessment is an example of bias, and it is easily explained. The fact is that the Delawares 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 still, Cooper was right in many ways.
It was the Iroquois who often practiced the practice of complete destruction of their opponents, including the killing of babies. The warriors of the tribe were "carried away" by the most severe tortures, which were practiced long before the arrival of the Europeans. In addition, their bad reputation is largely deserved, as the Iroquois were ignorant of the concept of any honesty towards potential opponents.
Treachery as a way of life
There are cases when they concluded peace treaties with a neighboring tribe, and then completely cut it out under the cover of night. Often poisons were used for this. In the understanding of neighboring tribes, this practice is a monstrous violation of tradition and lawlessness.
Historian Francis Parkman, who had a good attitude towards the Indians in principle, collected a lot of data indicating the widespread not only ritual cannibalism (which was typical of almost all Indian tribes in general), but also cases of "ordinary" eating people. It is not surprising that the Iroquois confederation, to put it mildly, was not very popular among the neighbors.
