Aquanishuonigy
From IBWiki
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| Motto: In our every deliberation we must consider the impact of our decisions on the next seven generations. | |
| Subdivision of: | NAL |
| Cities: | |
| Capital: | Onondaga City |
| Other: | Guyasuta, Otsiningo |
| Languages: | |
| Official: | Iroquois (dialects) |
| Others: | English |
| Established: | 15th century-17th century |
| Admission to NAL: | 1803 (5th) |
Aquanishuonigy (literally "Land of the Iroquois [1]") is the oldest of the non-European provinces of the North American League. Depending on one's point of view, it may be said that the NAL is an expansion of Aquanishuonigy. It is also known as the Six Nations.
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Administration
Government
Aquanishuonigy is governed by a Grand Council, consisting of 50 chiefs elected from each of the six nations. Historically, the number of chiefs from each tribe was set by law. In the late 19th century, a reform was made, redistributing the 50 chiefs among the nations by population, granting the Tuscarora a position on the Council in the process.
By custom, new provinces admitted to the NAL petition to the Grand Council as well as to the Parliament of the NAL. As a formality, largely, major decisions are often brought first to the Council Fire before they are taken to the Parliament in Philadelphia, as evidenced by East and West Florida visiting the Fire as they petitioned for re-admittance to the League and Covenant in 2004.
This elder governing body serves not only as the governing body of the province, but also serves as the means by which Natives and Newcommers -- the Europeans and now also Asians, Australasians, Africans, Indians, etc. -- are welded into one nation. The Grand Council is sometimes refered to, especially in the American press, as the Council Fire.
Administrative Divisions
Aquanishuonigy is divided into six nations:
- Seneca
- Ondondaga
- Oneida
- Cayuga
- Mohawks
- Tuscarora
History
This union of nations was established prior to major European contact, replete with a constitution recorded with special beads called wampum that have inherent spiritual value (wampum has been innacurately compared to money in other cultures). Most Western anthropologists speculate that this Constitution was created between the middle 1400s and early 1600s, but other scholars who account for Iroquois oral tradition argue that the event took place as early as 1100, with many arguing for August 31, 1142 based on a coinciding solar eclipse.
The two prophets, Hiawatha and "The Great Peacemaker", brought a message of peace to squabbling tribes. The tribes who joined the League were the Seneca, Onondaga, Oneida, Cayuga and Mohawks. Once they ceased (most) infighting, they rapidly became one of the strongest forces in 17th and 18th century northeastern North America.
The League engaged in a series of wars against the French and their Iroquoian-speaking Wyandot ("Huron") allies. They also put great pressure on the Algonquian peoples of the Atlantic coast and what is now subarctic Canada and not infrequently fought the English and Kemrese colonies as well. During the 17th Century they are also credited with having destroyed the Neutral Indians and Erie Tribe as a way of controlling the fur trade, even though other reasons are often given for these wars. Some survivors of these tribes were absorbed into the Iroquois tribes.
According to Francis Parkman, the Iroquois were at the height of their power in the 17th century with a population of around 12,000 people. League traditions allowed for the dead to be symbolically replaced through the "Mourning War", raids intended to seize captives and take vengeance on non-members. This tradition was common to native people of the northeast and was quite different from European settlers' notions of combat.
In 1720 the Tuscarora fled north from the European colonization of northern Carolina and petitioned to become the Sixth Nation. This was originally a non-voting position, but placed them under the protection of the Confederacy, eventually becoming a full member.
Geography
Borders
Aquanishuonigy is bordered by:
North: Ontario
West: Miami
South: Kentucky
East: Castreleon New, Pennsylvaania, Virginia
Religion
Their close contact with Europeans makes investigation of their original mythology and religion extremely difficult, but core beliefs included a conception of life as a struggle between the forces of good and evil. The "All-Father," and all embracing deity, had no form and little contact of the humans. Spirits animated all of nature and controlled the changing of the season. Key festivals coincided with the major events of the agricultural calendar.
Seventh Generation is a precept of the Great Law of the Haudenosaunee (Six Nations Iroquois Confederacy), which requires that chiefs consider the impact of their decisions on the seventh generation.
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| Provinces | |||
| Alba Nuadh / New Scotland | Aquanishuonigy | Bahamas | Carolina | Castreleon New / Nieuw Batavie | Cherokee Nation | Connecticut | East Florida / Florida Oriental | Illinoise | Jacobia | Jamaica | Kent | Kentucky | Les Plaines | Mascoutensi | Massachussets Bay | Miami | Mobile | Mueva Sefarad | New Hampshire | New Sweden | Nýja Ísland / New Iceland | Nunavik | Ontario | Ouisconsin | Oxbridge | Pennsylvaania | Rhode Island | Tenisi | Ter Mair / Maryland | Utawia | Virginia | West Florida / Florida Occidental | |||
| Territories | |||
| Unincorporated Territories |
