Part of the Great Law of Peace
The condolence ceremony or condolence council[1] is a part of the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace. It governs succession to political offices after a leader dies.[2]
The ceremony is held in the community whose leader has died.[2] Attendees are divided into two moieties: the clear-minded and the downcast or bereaved.[2] The ceremony progresses through several stages, including a recitation of the Great Law.[6] Through the ceremony, new leaders are appointed to replace those who have died.[6] It was typically the first item on the agenda when a Haudenosaunee council met.[8]
Among other things, the ceremony recalls the Great Peacemaker's condolence of Hiawatha and the "transformation" of Tadodaho from a state of confusion and disorder to a state of peace.
Notes
- ^ Snyderman, George S. (1954). "The Functions of Wampum". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 98 (6): 478–479. ISSN 0003-049X. JSTOR 3143870.
- ^ a b c Hirschfelder, Arlene B.; Molin, Paulette Fairbanks, eds. (2000). "Condolence ceremony". Encyclopedia of Native American religions : an introduction. Facts on File. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-8160-3949-6. OCLC 40848662.
- ^ a b Snow, Dean R. (1994). The Iroquois. Blackwell. p. 65–66. ISBN 1-55786-225-7. OCLC 30812121.
- ^ Tooker, Elisabeth (1990). "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League". In Clifton, James A. (ed.). The Invented Indian : cultural fictions and government policies. Transaction Publishers. pp. 124–125n9. ISBN 0-88738-341-6. OCLC 20853601.
Sources
Further reading
- Beauchamp, William Martin (1907). Civil, religious and mourning councils and ceremonies of adoption of the New York Indians. Albany: New York State Education Department. OCLC 1042135902.
- Deserontyon, John (1928). A Mohawk form of ritual of condolence, 1782. Translated by Hewitt, J. N. B. Museum of the American Indian; Heye Foundation. doi:10.5479/sil.782541.39088011863040.
- Fenton, William N. (1946). "An Iroquois Condolence Council for installing Cayuga chiefs in 1945". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 36 (4): 110–127. ISSN 0043-0439. JSTOR 24531757.