The Great Spirit of the Iroquois

by David Klein, Ph.D.

T he Iroquois (a French appellation, pronounced “EER-

uh-kwoy”) were a league of five indigenous tribal na-
tions formed some time around the 1100s: the Mohawk,
bers to as low as 10,000.
In response to the European incursion, the Iroquois formed
a powerful centralized political entity known as the “Six
Cayuga, Oneida, Seneca and Onondaga. A sixth nation,
Nation Confederacy” around 1715. Its constitution, the
the Tuscarora, joined early in the 18th century. They called
Book of the Great Law, framed a remarkably sophisticated,
themselves the Haudenosaunee (“hoo-dee-no-SHAW-
democratically-fashioned, libertarian government with
nee”), meaning “People of the Longhouse.” A highly intel-
Executive, Legislative and Judiciary branches. Some found-
ligent, handsome, sturdy, spiritual, health-oriented people
ing fathers of the United States of America, most notably
who nurtured close family and community relations, they
Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and John Adams,
were agrarians inhabiting farming villages in what we now
were highly impressed with the Iroquois’ governmental
refer to as the Finger Lake region of upper New York State.
structure, leading many scholars to believe that much of
Their society was presided over by a cultural authority the Book of the Great Law served as a model for the fram-
known as the Council of the League. Operating under The ing of the U.S. Constitution.
Great Law of Peace, the Council upheld libertarian ideals
Iroquois chiefs were formally invited to the Continental
and sociopolitical equality. Legend holds that the League
Congress convention in 1776. In a speech on the eve of
was formed by two men: Deganawida, known as The Great
American independence, the chiefs were addressed as
Peacemaker, and Hiawatha, a charismatic peacemaker, ora-
“Brothers” and told of the delegates’ wish that the “friend-
tor and shaman known as The Great Unifier. They brought
ship” between them would “continue as long as the sun
the Great Law of Peace to the squabbling nations. Hiawatha’s
shall shine” and the “waters run.” The speech also expressed
story is told in romanticized fashion in Henry Wadsworth
the hope that the new Americans and the Iroquois act “as
Longfellow’s epic poem, “Song of Hiawatha” (1855).
one people and have but one heart.”
In the 17th century, the Iroquois population was roughly
Yet, despite their highly-admired, advanced, peaceful civil-
20,000 to 25,000. By the 18th century, wars and disease
ization the Iroquois (and, or course, other indigenous peo-
brought on by the European incursion reduced their num-
ples) were considered “in the way”; they were denigrated

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as “savages” and pushed to the brink of extinction as the
burgeoning European transplants expanded westward.
President George Washington, originally an ally of the no-
ble Iroquois, ordered their extermination and the burning
of their land and longhouses to make way for the swelling
numbers of colonists. Showing no remorse, the colonists
pillaged, plundered and corrupted the few surviving in-
digenous people with disease-inducing foods, alcohol and
new religion and acculturation.
Let’s fully face it: the “homeland” we call the United States
of America, ”the land of the free” where “all men are created
equal” and endowed “with certain unalienable rights,” was
pilfered in a rampage of shameless genocide. Beautiful in-
digenous eco-spiritual cultures were virtually extinguished,
and the ravaging of a plentiful, nearly pristine continent
proceeded in yet another mindless “advance” of “Western
civilization.”
Today, with their great culture reduced to meager rem-
nants of the past, as many as 75,000 of the Iroquois tribal
people survive in scattered Westernized reservations and
communities in Quebec, Ontario, New York, Wisconsin and
Oklahoma. Meanwhile, undaunted by over 200 years of dis-
enfranchisement and shamefully skimpy reparations, their
attorneys still pursue their land claim quests in the U.S. and
Canadian legal courts.
While the indigenous peo-
ple’s story is profoundly
sad, the spirit of their cul-
ture remains alive among
a few keepers of their heri-
tage. Their writings, verbal
narratives, documentaries
and rituals offer kernels of wisdom which are sorely need-
ed today. It’s my hope that Westerners explore and emulate
the best of indigenous people’s eco-spiritual ways to help
guide us in our quest to re-create a harmonious, sustain-
able world. We can each start with the ritual of daily—not
just annual!—thanksgiving; this is where all cultural and
planetary healing begins.
p
The Iroquois believed in the Great Spirit (“Ha-wen-né-
yu”)—the creator of all things and guiding spirit of the
people. Most of the material elements of Nature were un-
der the watchful care of a subordinate protective Spirit (the
“Ho-no-che-no-keh”): the Spirit of different tree species,
corn, beans, squash, fruit-bearing shrubs, herbs and so on.
It was the custom of the Iroquois to honor and return
constant gratitude and prayers to the Great Spirit for the
privilege of their own existence, their prosperity and pro-
tection, the changing of the seasons, and the trees, shrubs,
plants, fruits of the earth, springs, streams, rivers, animals,
fire, sun, moon, stars and all other things which figured in
their livelihood.
Each year they observed six thanksgiving festivals to hon-
or and celebrate the seasonal gifts of the Great Spirit. The
Maple Festival celebrat-
ed the returning flow of
sweet maple sap near the
end of each winter. The
Planting Festival invoked
the Great Spirit to bless
the seeds. The Strawberry
Festival celebrated the first
www.vibrancemagazine.com • Issue No. 4 83
fruits of spring. The Green Corn Festival celebrated the
ripening of the Three Sisters: corn, beans and squash.
The Harvest Festival was a thanksgiving celebration af-
ter the autumnal harvest. And the New Year’s Festival
was a great seven-day midwinter jubilee for celebrat-
ing and giving thanks for all their gifts and asking the
Great Spirit for its continuing care.
On the fifth day of the New Year’s Festival, several
thanksgiving songs were sung or chanted, followed by
an address to the Great Spirit. Below is part of the tra-
ditional thanksgiving address which has been handed
down by many generations of the Senecas. It lives on
to this day.
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Thanksgiving Address to the Great Spirit

We return thanks to our Mother, the Earth, which sustains us. We thank thee that thou hast caused her to yield so plen-
tifully of her fruits, and ask that in the season coming, she may not withhold of her fullness, nor leave any to suffer for
want.
We return thanks to the rivers and streams, which run their courses upon the bosom of our Mother, the Earth. We thank
thee that thou hast supplied them with life, for our comfort and support. Grant that this blessing may continue.
We return thanks to all the herbs and plants of the earth. We thank thee that in thy goodness thou hast blest them all,
and given them strength to preserve our bodies healthy, and to cure us of the diseases inflicted upon us by evil spirits.
We ask that thou shalt not withdraw from us these blessings.
We return thanks to the Three Sisters. We thank thee that thou hast provided them as the main supporters of our lives.
We thank thee for the abundant harvest gathered in during the past season. We ask that Our Supporters may never fail
us, nor cause our children to suffer from want.
We return thanks to the bushes and trees which provide us with fruit. We thank thee that thou hast blessed them
and made them to produce for the good of thy creatures. We ask that they shall continue to yield plentifully for our
enjoyment.
We return thanks to the winds, which, moving, have banished all diseases. We thank thee that thou hast thus ordered.
We ask the continuation of this great blessing.
We return thanks to our grandfather He’-no. We thank thee that thou hast so wisely provided for our happiness and com-
fort in ordering the rain to descend upon the Earth, giving us water, and causing all plants to grow. We thank thee that
thou hast given us He’-no, our grandfather, to do thy will in the projection of thy people. We ask that this great blessing
may be continued to us.
We return thanks to the moon and stars, which give us light when the sun has gone to his rest. We thank thee that thy
wisdom has so kindly provided, that light is never wanting to us. Continue unto us this goodness.
We return thanks to the sun, that he has looked upon the Earth with a beneficent eye. We thank thee that thou hast, in
thy unbounded wisdom, commanded the sun to regulate the return of the seasons, to dispense heat and cold, and to
watch over the comfort of thy people. Give unto us that wisdom which will guide us in the path of truth. Keep us from
all evil ways, that the sun may never hide his face from us for shame and leave us in darkness.
We return thanks to the Ho-no-che-no’-keh. We thank thee that thou hast provided so many agencies for our good and
happiness.
Lastly, we return thanks to thee, our Creator and Ruler. In thee are embodied all things. We believe thou canst do no evil;
that thou doest all things for our good and happiness. Should thy people disobey thy commands, deal not harshly with
them; but be kind to us, as thou hast been to our fathers in times long gone by. Hearken unto our words as they have
ascended, and may they be pleasing to thee our Creator, the Preserver and Ruler of all things, visible and invisible. Na-ho’.

84 www.vibrancemagazine.com • Issue No. 4