The Great Peacemaker

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The Great Peacemaker, sometimes referred to as Deganawida or "Dekanawida" (although as a mark of respect the Iroquois avoid referring to him by this name except in special circumstances), was the traditional founder, with Hiawatha, of the Haudenosaunee (commonly called the Iroquois) confederacy, a political and cultural union of Native American tribes. Although the formal inheritor of this confederacy includes only lands in what is now New York State, the impact of the union was far-reaching and certainly includes the related people in Ontario, Quebec, Pennsylvania, Ohio and other places.

The Haudenosaunee name for The Great Peacemaker (Mohawk, Skennenrahawi) means “Two River Currents Flowing Together.”

The legends about The Peacemaker are conflicting. It is reported that he was born a Huron. By some accounts it was a virgin birth. Others say he was born an Onondaga and later adopted by the Mohawks. By all accounts he was a prophet who counseled peace among the warring tribes. He also called for an end to cannibalism. His disciple Hiawatha, a Mohawk renowned for his oratory, helped him achieve his vision.

According to Professor Dean R. Snow, historian, The Peacemaker first converted Hiawatha in the territory of the Onondagas, then he made a solo journey to visit the Mohawk tribe who lived in the region near what is now Cohoes, New York. Initially, the Mohawks rejected the Peacemaker's message, so he decided to perform a feat that would demonstrate his purity and strength. After climbing into a tree high above the Ga-ha-oose, the cataract that is now known as the Cohoes Falls, the Peacemaker told the Mohawk braves to chop the tree down. They were happy to comply and many onlookers watched as The Peacemaker disappeared into the swirling rapids of the Mohawk river. It was assumed that the Peacemaker had perished until he was found sitting near a campfire the next day. The Mohawks were greatly impressed by his miraculous survival and immediately became the founding tribe in the Iroquois League of Nations, circa 1450.

This vision, from the Great Maker, that peace would come to all nations, led him to spend his life working to bring this to fruition for the Haudenosaunee. In his shamanic prophecy, he referred to a white serpent who would come to their lands and make friends with his people, only to later deceive them. According to the prophecy, at the end times, a red serpent would make war on the white one and after a season, a black serpent would come and defeat them both. He said that his nation would accept those of other origins into their safekeeping. Because of their worship of, and obedience to, the Great Maker, the Haudenosaunee would be protected from the disasters to come.

The Great Peacemaker established a council of clan and village chiefs to govern the confederacy. The tribes each had an equal voice and all decisions were made by consensus. Led by The Great Peacemaker, and Hiawatha, the Haudenosaunee became the dominant Native American group in the northeast woodlands. The Gayanashagowa, their law, became the constitution of the Iroquois confederacy.