Haudenosaunee’s Legendary Founding | Native America | Sacred Stories | PBS

Main Ideas, Concepts, and Lessons

• Sacred history preserved through wampum belts

  • The video centers on a story recorded in a wampum belt, emphasizing how Haudenosaunee history and teachings are carried through ceremonial objects.

• Hiawatha and the Peacemaker as central figures

  • A warrior named Hiawatha meets a prophet called the Peacemaker.
  • Together, they work to end conflict and build the foundation for political and spiritual unity among nations.

• Healing grief through the Condolence Ceremony

  • The story describes a practice intended to help someone in grief by using wampum to “clear” a person in key ways:
    • clear their eyes
    • open their ears
    • clear their throat so they can speak clearly
  • This practice is identified as the Condolence Ceremony.
  • It is attributed to Hiawatha and said to be still practiced today by the Haudenosaunee.

• Tadodaho as an obstacle to peace

  • Tadodaho is portrayed as having supernatural powers, including the ability to communicate with animals (birds, rattlesnakes, wolves).
  • He is characterized as violent or dangerous (“mean, mean man”).
  • His acceptance is necessary to convince him to join the new confederacy.

• Jigonsaseh (the first clan mother) as a peace-bringing force

  • To convince Tadodaho, Hiawatha and the Peacemaker seek an ally: Jigonsaseh.
  • Jigonsaseh is described as the first clan mother and someone who helped bring peace to the Iroquois / Haudenosaunee.

• Transforming war into peace

  • A deal is made with Jigonsaseh:
    • If she can stop the war, she can choose the chiefs.
  • Jigonsaseh is said to transform Tadodaho’s mind, leading him to abandon war.

• Formation of the confederacy through ritual and law

  • After the final obstacle is removed, the Peacemaker gathers representatives from each nation.
  • Under a total eclipse of the sun, the Peacemaker holds the newly woven Hiawatha belt.
  • With the nations gathered beneath the Tree of Peace, the Peacemaker speaks the law of peace for the first time.

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Instruction/Methodology Details (as Presented)

Condolence Ceremony (Grief-Healing Method)

• Purpose: help a person dealing with grief reach a clearer state of mind.
• Tool/medium: wampum (using the purity of shells).
• Steps described (functional “clearing” outcomes):
  • Clear the person’s eyes
  • Open the person’s ears
  • Clear the person’s throat
  • Enable the person to speak clearly
• Attribution: invented by Hiawatha
• Continuity: Haudenosaunee continue to practice it today.

Peace-Making Strategy to End War and Form a Confederacy

• Goal: convince a powerful war figure (Tadodaho) to join a new political unity (confederacy).
• Process described:
  • Hiawatha and the Peacemaker seek the ally Jigonsaseh
  • Negotiate a condition:
    • If Jigonsaseh can stop the war → she can choose the chiefs
  • Jigonsaseh transforms Tadodaho’s mind
  • With Tadodaho neutralized, representatives of each nation are assembled
  • Ritual timing and symbolism (total eclipse, Hiawatha belt, Tree of Peace) accompany the first proclamation of the law of peace

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Speakers or Sources Featured (as Named in the Subtitles)

• NARRATOR (unidentified speaker)
• G. Peter Jemison (speaker/source)
• TOM PORTER (speaker/source)
• Virginia L. Abrams (speaker/source)
• MAN (speaking native language) (unidentified speaker)