The Iroquois or Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) are a Confederation of Native American nations based primarily in New York State. Before 1722, they were known as the Five Nations and were comprised of the Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Oneida. After a series of wars with American colonists, the Tuscarora emigrated from North Carolina to New York, joined the league and the Iroquois became the Six Nations.

The Iroquois were a powerful and military political entity. Located along a prime trading route in the Mohawk Valley, their union enabled them to easily vanquish their rivals. For example, during the Beaver Wars in the mid 17th century, despite being outnumbered, they crushed their rivals. Allied with the British Empire, the Iroquois consolidated their gains and remained powerful until the American Revolution..

As the colonists warred on each other as Patriots and Tories, so too the Iroquois nations fought each other in a civil war as they took opposing sides to further their position. Their unity destroyed, the Iroquois lost their hegemony in the northeast US. Despite this tumultuous time, the Iroquois Confederacy lives on today in both the United States and Canada.

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