THE IROQUOIS NATIONS

The five original Iroquois/Haudenosaunee tribes are: the Seneca, the keepers of the Western Door; the Cayugas, the “people of the marsh” and “keepers of the Great Pipe”; the Onondaga, who were the “name bearers,” “keepers of the central fire” who kept the wampum belt that contained the history of the Iroquois; the Oneida, the “stone people” symbolized by the Great Tree; and lastly the Mohawk, the “keepers of the eastern door”.