Abstract
The Haudenosaunee people, otherwise known as the Five Nations of Iroquois, negotiated separate treaties with the English and French in 1701. Scholars asserted Haudenosaunee desires to "sit on their mats and smoke in peace," was to maintain their political sovereignty, repress internal factionalism, and "play off' the European powers for their own economic gain. Nonetheless, their implicit assumptions of the cultural and political structures of the Great League of Peace and Power and Iroquois Confederacy, particularly that all Five Nations were centralized under one "policy of neutrality," is inconsistent with the reciprocal and decentralized posture of the Haudenosaunee. By understanding the specific consequences of the Beaver Wars for each of the Five Nations, this essay argues that the Grand Settlement in Montreal and Albany was not a policy of neutrality, but rather a case of unity through division.
Recommended Citation
O'Shaughnessy, Haley
(2016)
"Unity Through Division: A Revision of the Haudenosaunee's Policy of Neutrality,"
Augsburg Honors Review: Vol. 9, Article 8.
Available at:
https://idun.augsburg.edu/honors_review/vol9/iss1/8