Iroquois Confederacy
https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=32543
General Information
Source:
NBC News
Resource Type:
Creator:
N/A
Copyright:
Event Date:
Air/Publish Date:
1600 - 1800
05/12/2008
Copyright Date:
Clip Length
Video MiniDocumentary
NBCUniversal Media,
LLC.
2007
00:02:27
Description
The Iroquois Confederacy is formed by five Indian nations in what is now New York State, in order to
protect themselves against European settlers. The confederacy is successful in maintaining its strength
through decades of colonization and warfare.
Keywords
Iroquois Confederacy, Native Americans, Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, Senecas, British
Colonies, Longhouses, New York, British, French, American Revolution, British Colonies, Evan Haefeli,
Columbia University
Citation
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 1 of 3
MLA
"Iroquois Confederacy." NBC News. NBCUniversal Media. 12 May 2008. NBC Learn. Web. 5 April 2015
APA
2008, May 12. Iroquois Confederacy. [Television series episode]. NBC News. Retrieved from
https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=32543
CHICAGO MANUAL OF STYLE
"Iroquois Confederacy" NBC News, New York, NY: NBC Universal, 05/12/2008. Accessed Sun Apr 5
2015 from NBC Learn: https://archives.nbclearn.com/portal/site/k-12/browse/?cuecard=32543
Transcript
Iroquois Confederacy
NARRATOR: By the time the English colonists came to America in the early 1600s, five Indian nations,
the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas and the Senecas, had joined together to create what came to
be called the Iroquois Confederacy.
Professor EVAN HAEFELI (Columbia University): The main goal of the Confederacy was to keep the
peace among its members and resolve conflicts.
NARRATOR: The building blocks of Iroquois society were longhouses, wooden cabins that stretched up
to 200 feet in length. Several nuclear families, all related on the mother’s side, shared a single longhouse.
Family members tended their own separate hearth, where they cooked, slept, and kept warm. As they
shared the longhouse, the Five Tribes of the Iroquois Confederacy also shared the hunting grounds of
what is now New York State, but they remained independent of one another.
HAEFELI: They ended up becoming a very powerful and dominant group by the end of the 17th century
in upstate New York.
NARRATOR: Though they were allies in times of war, the individual tribes had their own trading
partnerships with European settlers. Sometimes they sided with the British, sometimes with the French.
The Iroquois played one side against the other until they got the best deal. This strategy allowed the
Iroquois to remain powerful for most of the 18th century.
HAEFELI: It's really not until the American Revolution that the power of the Iroquois becomes seriously
diminished.
NARRATOR: The Iroquois’ decision to side with the British during the American Revolution proved a
disaster. It destroyed the powerful and prosperous Confederacy.
HAEFELI: A number of major campaigns were launched against the Iroquois during the American
Revolution. Destroying villages, destroying their crops. And one of our best records of how wealthy and
successful the Iroquois were at this point in time are the records from these American expeditions against
the Iroquois of just how much they destroyed.
NARRATOR: During the war, Iroquois lost their land and their lucrative trading networks. As a result,
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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once the Revolution ended, many Iroquois abandoned their longhouses and fled to British Canada. The
ones who stayed struggled to survive.
© 2008-2015 NBCUniversal Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Page 3 of 3