Hiawatha - The Great Law of Peace - Extra History - Part 1

📜 Hiawatha, The Great Law of Peace, Part 1 - Extra History
Long before Europeans arrived in North America, five nations formed a confederacy guided by a Constitution called the Great Law of Peace. Though they are often called Iroquois, their name for themselves is Haudenosaunee, People of the Long House. One of the founders of their confederacy was Hiawatha, an Onondaga chief who lived under the thumb of a brutal war chief named Tadodaho. Hiawatha attempted to convince all the other Onondaga that they should embrace peace, the way their neighbors the Mohawks recently had, but Tadodaho thwarted his efforts. Hiawatha left his home to travel to Mohawk territory and meet a man called the Peacemaker, who had brought peace to the Mohawk. He gave the Peacemaker a string of wampum beads to symbolize his desire for peace, and it soon became clear that they were kindred spirits. The Peacemaker wanted to bring the Five Nations, who had once been brothers, together in peace, and he joined forces with Hiawatha to make it happen. Their first goal: to recrut Jigonsaseh, a Seneca woman already famed for her efforts to establish small, local peace agreements between the warriors who frequented her longhouse. The Peacemaker described to her his plans for a government where women like her, as clan mothers, played an important role, and she embraced his message. Together they traveled to the Oneida to recruit their first ally. The Oneida debated the wisdom of accepting peace for a full year, but the Peacemaker's passion convinced them and at last, they joined. Hiawatha hoped that this alliance would impress Tadodaho enough to get him to join the peace as well, but when they returned to Onondaga territory, Tadodaho made it clear that he still had no interest in their peace. The Peacemaker encouraged Hiawatha to keep thinking about this problem, and meanwhile, they traveled to recruit the Cayuga nation. As "little brothers" of the Onondaga, they had suffered greatly from Tadodaho's demands, and an alliance with two other nations struck them as the perfect way to free themselves from him and create a new path for their people. Now only two tribes remained to recruit: the Seneca and the Onondaga.
CORRECTION: Art for this series was incorrectly credited. This art was done by Lilienne Chan.

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[TheNetherlandDwarf]

"he wanted all people to live in peace"

It was at that moment I could tell something bad is gonna happen to that guy

[JackgarPrime]

I'd love to hear more stories of Native American historical figures. That's an aspect of history we really don't get exposed to enough of.

[Bedroom_Punk]

Nya:weh [Thank You] to Extra Credits for this great episode. I gotta admit; I was very nervous going into this one. Never would I think that Extra Credits would purposefully disrespect a people's history, but our people's history is undervalued even in our home country. However, I was impressed by the candor, accuracy, and respect given to the story of Hiawatha and the Great Peacemaker and Jikonhsaseh.

[patronofdragons]

Whoa whoa. I live in that part of NY and we (barely) learn about the Iroquois (once) in elementary school but we were never told this. Hell, we even have a (shitty outskirt) street called "Hiawatha" but we were never told it was named after someone.

[ElBandito]

Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, Mohawk. Long ago, the five nations lived together in harmony. Then everything changed, when the pale faces arrived.

[SultanOfAwesomeness]

Holy shit. I've never been very interested in Native American history.
I might have to take a 180 on that now.

[extrahistory]

Your regularly scheduled Gracchi Brothers series on Extra History will continue as normal this Saturday!

[connemignonne]

I cried almost the whole way through this, Jigonsaseh and Hiawatha are too pure for this world, bless.

[KennethSee]

As a Native American I am ecstatic that this is being covered! Thank you guys!

[extrahistory]

Hiawatha wanted peace for his nation, but a powerful war chief stood in his way. He needed allies.

[Armaprimid]

I have to admit I was very surprised to see this upload, but I'm also extremely grateful to see my local history being shared and given attention by a larger outlet. Thank you very much for sharing this story, E.C. <3

[ad]

The best estimate I’ve heard for the dating of these events is sometime around 1150. that was arrived at by looking at how many leaders the Haudenosaunee are supposed to have had and working out the average amount of time prestigious public offices held for life (popes, kings, supreme court Judges, etc) typically last.

Working back like that you get to somewhere around the mid-12th century

[flashfirerobloxlegosand]

I am in awe of what you guys are doing with this history series. Everything is perfect. Everything down to the filtered voice on the narration is amazing. I especially love that you guys pick stories that not a lot of people are terribly familiar with. Keep up the good work!

[StepBackHistory]

YES! This is the kind of video I wanted to see Extra history tackle!

[Horesmi]

Meanwhile Iroquois in EU4...
"CASUS BELI? THERE WILL BE NO CASUS BELI! THERE CAN BE ONLY WAR, ENDLESS WAR!!!"

[FuzzyPanda]

Thank you so much for these episodes. It can be tricky finding these kinds of stories of the First Nations online and especially challenging to find them told by people of European descent with respect. I appreciate your disclaimers at the beginning of this video as well, that this is one interpretation of the story, and the way you treat this particular episode like a storyteller and use the correct names and words for all involved. It is easy as a white man to feel nothing but sadness and guilt when discussing Native American history but this really warms my heart, thank you for telling this story and being so respectful.

[djmegnin]

As someone from this region of New York (Onondaga), the story of Hiawatha and the Iroquois is a huge part of our history classes. Love seeing this recognition of the great Iroquois people

[gokce]

tadodaho seems awfuly like me when im plaing EU 4 as a tribal nation

[Gonboo]

Hiawatha wanted peace, Gandhi had other plans.

[alexandervornoff]

When I still worked at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History, I always liked to tell people in the Hall of American Indians about the Haudenosaunee. I loved working the cultural halls in general, but it was something fresh and interesting for the visitors considering how little Native American history is taught in US schools.