Culture

Until recently, Iroquoians had no written language and culture was transmitted orally from generation to generation. Wampum belts, woven with strings of white and purple cylindrical shells, served as mnemonic devices to assist recall. Numerous myths, epic tales, and stories comprised a rich folk tradition. Apart from the creation legends, one of the most important traditions – represented by many versions and known as the Deganawida epic – recalls the founding of the Five Nations Iroquois League. It also details the Great Law, which provides guidelines for the political organization of the confederacy and its standardized inventory of metaphors and rituals.

Singing, drumming, and dancing have always been important to the Iroquois. Each summer many Iroquois participate in the powwow circuit that brings aboriginal peoples from different communities together to socialize and take part in standardized, competitive dances involving spectacular costumes and prize money. Since most First Nations communities host pow-wows, several weekends are spent with friends or relatives throughout southern Ontario. The pow-wow is a modern, pan-Indian event and is not indigenous to the Iroquois, while the Peacemaker’s Drum, or Tyendinaga Mohawk Singing Society, has as its main objective the promotion of Iroquois culture through spiritual and social activities, including the performance of traditional songs and dances. The Six Nations Women Singers have similar goals. Some people of Iroquois ancestry have also become successful singers, musicians, and actors in western popular culture.

As interest in aboriginal peoples has grown in the western world, the demand for Iroquoian-related books, art-work, crafts (especially black ash splint baskets, beadwork, and stone carvings) has increased. Iroqrafts at the Six Nations territory, the Woodland Cultural Centre near Brantford, and the Akwesasne Notes Bookstore have served a vital role in promoting Iroquoian culture and history. Iroquois organizations such as Indian Art-I-Crafts of Ontario have helped sponsor numerous events, including the Toronto International Powwow held at the Skydome. Such events have attracted thousands of aboriginal and non-aboriginal people and have brought revenues to many Iroquois vendors.

Iroquoian culture has been documented in a voluminous literature covering a period of nearly four centuries. This information has had a feedback effect as anthropological and historical works have influenced the Iroquoian understanding of their own culture and history. At the same time, some traditionalists have rejected academic reconstructions whenever they conflict with their own oral traditions. In response to the social pathologies that have characterized twentieth-century life in aboriginal communities, some Iroquoian people have not only accelerated the process of revitalization but have also begun formulating a new past. Culture, history, and politics cannot be easily separated in recent Iroquoian representations of themselves.