Iroquois - Indians of North America: number and range of the tribe

The history of the indigenous population of both Americas is full of mysteries and mysteries, but it is also very sad. This is particularly true of the Indians of North America, whose ancestral lands have been privatized for a long time by the US Federal Government. How many aboriginal inhabitants of the North American continent perished as a result of violent colonization, is not known to this day. Some researchers argue that by the beginning of the 15th century, the Indians in the present territories of the United States lived up to 15 million, and in 1900 there were not more than 237,000 left.

The history of those we know as the "Iroquois" is especially noteworthy. Indians of this tribe since ancient times were a big and strong people, but now they are few. On the one hand, Dutch and British aid initially allowed them to unbelievably strengthen their positions ... But when the need for the Iroquois fell away, they began to be exterminated mercilessly.

Basic information

The so-called Indians of North America, who currently live in the northern states of the United States and Canada. The word "iroqu" 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 of military tactics. It is not surprising that the Iroquois were constantly in very strained relations with all the neighbors who frankly disliked and feared them. Currently, up to 120,000 members of this tribe live in the US and Canada.

Originally the range of the tribe stretched from the St. Lawrence River to the Hudson Strait. Contrary to popular belief, the Iroquois - Indians are not only militant, but also very hardworking, since they have developed a very high level of crop production, there were rudiments of cattle breeding.

Most likely, this tribe was one of the first to come into contact with Europeans in the 16th century. By this time, many Indians of North America disappeared without a trace in the flames of permanent internal wars. Nevertheless, the memory of them has remained so far. So, the word "Canada" comes from the language of the Iroquois of the Iroquois.

Lifestyle of the Iroquois

The social organization of this tribe is a vivid example of an original generic matriarchy, but the genus was still headed by a man. The family lived in a long house, which served as a refuge for several generations. 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 occupation of the Iroquois was hunting and fishing. Today, members of the tribe are engaged in the production of souvenirs or are employed. Traditionally, traditional baskets and beads from beads 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 a few villages, in which there could be up to 20 "long houses". To put them tried compactly, choosing those parts of the land that were unsuitable for farming. Despite its militancy and frequent cruelty, the Iroquois often chose very picturesque and beautiful places for their villages.

Formation of the Confederation

Around 1570, on the territory near Lake Ontario, a stable formation of the Iroquois tribes emerged, which later became known as the Iroquois Union. However, representatives of the tribe say that the first prerequisites for the emergence of this kind of education arose in the 12th century. Initially, the Confederation included about seven Iroquois tribes. Each leader of the Indian tribe had equal rights during meetings, but in wartime the "king" was still elected.

During this period, all the settlements of the Iroquois were still forced to defend themselves against the attacks of neighbors, protecting the villages with a thick palisade. Often these were monumental walls erected from sharpened logs in two rows, the spaces between which were covered with earth. In the report of a French missionary, there is a mention of the real "megacity" of the Iroquois from 50 huge long houses, each of which was a real fortress. Iroquois-women raised children, men engaged in hunting and fought.

Population of settlements

In large villages could live up to four thousand people. By the end of the formation of the Confederacy, the need for protection had completely disappeared, since by that time the Iroquois practically completely exterminated all their neighbors. At the same time, the villages became more compact, so that if necessary, it would be possible to quickly assemble the soldiers of the entire tribe. Nevertheless, by the 17th century the Iroquois had to change the location of their villages often.

The fact is that the mismanagement of soils led to their rapid depletion, and it was not always possible to rely on the fruits of military companies.

Relations with the Dutch

Around the 17th century, many representatives of Dutch trading companies appeared in the region. Founding the first trading stations, they established trade relations with many tribes, but especially the Dutch communicated specifically with the Iroquois. Most of all European colonizers were interested in beaver fur. But here there was one problem: the production of beavers became so predatory that soon these animals practically disappeared throughout the territory controlled by the Iroquois.

Then the Dutch resorted to a fairly simple, but still sophisticated trick: they did their best to promote the Iroquois expansion in territories that they did not originally own.

From 1630 to 1700 years, for this reason, constant wars, called "beaver", rattled. How did this happen? It's simple. Representatives of the Netherlands, despite official prohibitions, in abundance supplied to their Indian allies firearms, gunpowder and lead.

Bloody expansion

By the middle of the 17th century, the Iroquois tribe had about 25,000 people. This is significantly less than the number of neighboring tribes. Constant wars and epidemics brought by European colonizers, even faster reduced their number. However, representatives of the conquered tribes 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 tribe's main language, as only a third (at best) of the Indians understood it. This shows that in just one hundred years the Iroquois were practically destroyed, and officially Holland remained absolutely "clean".

Since the Iroquois - Indians are very warlike, they are almost the first to realize what power the firearm has in itself. They preferred to use it in the "guerrilla" style, acting in small mobile units. Enemies said that such groups "pass through the forest like snakes or foxes, remaining invisible and inaudible, meanly hitting in the back."

In the forest, the Iroquois felt great, and competent tactics and the use of powerful firearms led to even small squads of this tribe achieving outstanding military successes.

Long trips

Soon, the head of the Iroquois leaders finally turned "beaver fever", and they began sending soldiers even to very distant lands where the Iroquois simply could not physically have any interests. But they were at their Dutch patrons. As a result of the increasing expansion of the land, the Iroquois expanded to the vicinity of the Great Lakes. It is these tribes that are responsible in many respects for the fact that in those parts conflicts began to flare up in large numbers on the basis of a strong overpopulation. The latter was due to the fact that the escaped Indians destroyed by the Iroquois tribes in fear fled to any vacant land.

In fact, at that time, many tribes were destroyed, most of which did not contain any information at all. Many researchers from among the Indians believe that at that time only the Hurons survived. All this time the Dutch replenishment of the Iroquois with money, weapons and gunpowder did not stop.

Pay

In the 17th century, the English came to these lands, quickly ousting their European competitors. They began to act somewhat "tactfully". The English 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 very aggressive Iroquois-Indians, whose culture had greatly degraded by then, quickly turned into ordinary overseers and collectors of tribute.

In the 17th and 18th century, the power of their tribe was greatly weakened by this, but they continued to represent a formidable military force throughout the region. Britain, using a rich experience of intrigue, managed to set off the Iroquois and the French. The first were able to perform almost all the work of the final expulsion of competitors of British trading companies from the New World.

These Iroquois have signed a death sentence, as they were not needed. They were simply thrown out of the previously occupied territories, leaving only their original territory near the St. Lawrence River for living. In addition, in the 18th century, the Mingo tribe broke away from them, further weakening the Iroquois.

The last blow

British diplomats did not sit idly by, and during the war with the newly formed US persuaded their former "partners" to take their side again. This was the last, but the most terrible mistake of the Iroquois. General Sullivan walked on their land with fire and sword. The remains of the once mighty tribe were scattered across reservations in the US and Canada. Only towards the very end of the 19th century, the last representatives of this people ceased to mass die of hunger and constant epidemics.

Today, the Iroquois - Indians are not so militant, but very "savvy" in legal matters. They are constantly defending their interests in all courts, seeking recognition of the illegality of the seizure of the Federal Government by their land. However, the success of their claims remains highly doubtful.

Why does the tribe have such a bad reputation?

The aforementioned Fenimore Cooper represented the Iroquois Indians as extremely unprincipled and cruel people, contrasting them with "noble Delawares". Such an assessment is a sample of bias, and it is explained simply. The matter 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 in many ways right.

It is the Iroquois often practiced the practice of completely destroying their opponents, including the killing of babies. "Fascinated" by the tribe's soldiers and cruel torture, which were practiced long before the arrival of Europeans. In addition, their bad reputation - is largely deserved, since the Iroquois knew the concept of any honesty with respect to potential adversaries.

Perfidy 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, for this, poisons were used. In the understanding of neighboring tribes, such practice is a monstrous trampling of traditions and lawlessness.

The historian Francis Parkman, who was good at the Indians in principle, gathered a lot of data, testifying to the wide spread of not only ritual cannibalism (which was characteristic of almost all Indian tribes in general), but also of cases of "ordinary" eating people. Not surprisingly, the Iroquois confederation, to put it mildly, was not very popular with neighbors.