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Handsome Lake: The Life and Legacy of the Iroquois Prophet
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Despite their own cultural differences, the nations that comprised the Iroquois Confederacy established their political dominance across much of America's East Coast and Midwest through conquest, and it is that aspect which has perhaps best endured among Americans in terms of the Iroquois' legacy. European settlers who came into contact with the Mohawks in the Northeast certainly learned to respect their combat skills, to the point that there were literally bounties on the Mohawks' heads, with scalps fetching money for colonists who succeeded in slaying them and carrying away the "battle prize". In addition to the constant state of conflict between the Iroquois and different nations, including the French and the colonists, the Six Nations are perhaps best known for their political structure, and their influence on American democracy is well documented if not well known by most Americans. Far from being relics of history, they are living communities who maintain political relationships with United States and Canada, as they have occupied their territories long before international borders were drawn. Their histories have left an indelible mark on the formation of the United States and Canada. Handsome Lake (1735-1815) lived through the confederacy's most turbulent time. His long life started when the Iroquois were powerful and widely feared and respected by all the tribal peoples in the region, and also by the French and the British. He lived through wars, some victories and some defeats, as well as the disunity and the collapse of traditional ways. Handsome Lake experienced his visions late in his life, at a time when the Six Nations, and his own life, were at their nadir.
Despite their own cultural differences, the nations that comprised the Iroquois Confederacy established their political dominance across much of America's East Coast and Midwest through conquest, and it is that aspect which has perhaps best endured among Americans in terms of the Iroquois' legacy. European settlers who came into contact with the Mohawks in the Northeast certainly learned to respect their combat skills, to the point that there were literally bounties on the Mohawks' heads, with scalps fetching money for colonists who succeeded in slaying them and carrying away the "battle prize". In addition to the constant state of conflict between the Iroquois and different nations, including the French and the colonists, the Six Nations are perhaps best known for their political structure, and their influence on American democracy is well documented if not well known by most Americans. Far from being relics of history, they are living communities who maintain political relationships with United States and Canada, as they have occupied their territories long before international borders were drawn. Their histories have left an indelible mark on the formation of the United States and Canada. Handsome Lake (1735-1815) lived through the confederacy's most turbulent time. His long life started when the Iroquois were powerful and widely feared and respected by all the tribal peoples in the region, and also by the French and the British. He lived through wars, some victories and some defeats, as well as the disunity and the collapse of traditional ways. Handsome Lake experienced his visions late in his life, at a time when the Six Nations, and his own life, were at their nadir.
Paperback
$10.14