Iroquois Nation: The Iroquois Mourning War

The Iroquois Nation was made up of five nations, all of whom believed that the Earth began with “one of the Ancient Ones.” The creation story continues to explain the existence of land, humans, and food. The Iroquois were a deeply spiritual people, and this spurned Mourning Wars. Their spirituality supported their belief that any member of their tribe that died a violent death, such as a warrior, could not be buried with their family, as their spirit was destined to wander the Earth in search of revenge. Their kinsman, however, sought vengeance for their fallen family members among their enemy tribes. An Iroquois Mourning War could be set into motion by a woman of the dead tribe member’s family who demanded reparations for them. Members of …show more content…
A “requickening” ceremony would be performed and the captor would effectively become a functioning replacement, regardless of race, age, or gender. The ceremony held great symbolic and spiritual significance. The Iroquois believed that death left a spiritual gap in a familial lineage and the only way to fill it and renew the line was through capture and subsequent adoption. Adoption was far more popular among the Iroquois for multiple reasons. The Iroquois avoided the loss of life at all cost, additionally, adoption served the purpose of diminishing mourning as well as maintaining population levels within the tribe. The arrival of the Europeans, however, changed the Mourning Wars. The Iroquois’ form of violence was misunderstood by the emigrants who saw them as nothing but savages who could not stop fighting amongst each other. The Europeans rarely fought unless there was the promise of land, power, or goods on the horizon of their victory, so they had trouble grasping the deeply spiritual meaning beneath the Iroquois Mourning Wars. European presence in Iroquois territory was yet another unexpected variable in the continually evolving Indian …show more content…
While previously, Iroquois Mourning Wars were highly practical and spiritual endeavors, the arrival of Europeans channeled the wars to mean symbolize much more, including, revenge, death, territory, and power. The aforementioned traits that the Mourning Wars took on are highly indicative of European warfare traits. It can be argued that violence was already a present aspect of American life prior to the arrival of the Europeans, however, violence was present in wars for the vengeance of lost loved ones and through spiritual war raids. The Europeans evolved the originally sensible violence of the Native Americans into a tool to advantage their colonialization of North America. The violence that continued throughout American history can be seen through reflection of how American began. The United States began through manipulation of the indigenous people and ended with the seizure of their land. Violence has been a theme since the introduction of human beings on this Earth; however, violence for the gain of power and influence was introduced by the arrival of the Europeans and has been constant ever