The Mohawk peoples inhabited what now is New York State. They a warlike tribe destroying everything in their path. When they got close to another tribe they attacked. But Deka
…winda the great peacemaker was against war. He was so angry at his peoples his requested he leaves. So he journeyed to the west to ignore all the fighting. He stopped to rest at one of the great lakes. When he started again he met a canoeist. The canoeist happened to be Hiawatha a legend to come.Dekawinda was asking what the wampum shells were for. Hiawatha said the are the rules of life and good. The white shells signify truth, peace, and good will, he explained, while the black shells stand for hatred, war, and an evil heart. Hiawatha went on to explain that the string in which black shells alternate with white indicates that peace should exist between tribes, while the string with white on the end and black in the middle means that wars must end and peace should be declared. Dekanawida asked Hiawatha to return with him to his Mohawk village, and the two traveled east. After reaching his village, Dekanawida called a tribal council to listen to Hiawatha. The Mohawks were impressed with Hiawatha's philosophy and readily agreed to live by them. Dekanawida and Hiawatha next traveled to the neighboring Oneida and Cayuga tribes, and they too agreed to be bound by Hiawatha's guiding rules. Finally the two men journeyed to the Onondaga and confronted Chief Tadadaho. Upon learning that three of the Iroquois nations had already agreed to abide by Hiawatha's philosophy Tadadaho fled into the woods. Although the evil spirits possessing Tadadaho hung from his head as serpents, Dekanawida and Hiawatha bravely followed. Hiawatha assured Tadadaho he would be allowed to be the head chief of the Iroquois Confederacy if he promised to govern in accord with their philosophy of peace, at which Tadadaho relented and joined the confederacy. Dekanawida and Hiawatha also visited the Seneca and other tribes to the west, but only the Seneca agreed to join the Iroquois Confederacy Unfortunately, the Confederacy did not bring peace to the Iroquois and their neighbors. The Algonquian and other hostile tribes to the south, after being repeatedly repulsed and then attacked by the five united Iroquois nations, were eventually forced to ally themselves with European colonists. The Confederacy meanwhile sought to bring other tribes within its structure CORRECTION: Hiawatha is a culture hero figure whose story has reached mythical proportions. Iroquois Indian tradition makes Hiawatha a historical sage who was instrumental in bringing about the confederation of the five Iroquois tribes known as 'the five nations'. Recent archeological find now dates the confederacy to August 19, 909 A D, as related to a total eclipse of the sun on that date, which was instrumental in converting the Seneca to accept the Great Laws. This is only the most recent excavation, and future ones may be able to prove even an earlier date as many faithkeepers believe the Confederacy to be ancient. The Confederacy, at its height, had as many as 70 nations who joined, making it the first United Nations. It created a lasting peace until the Boat People of Europe brought their ways of war, dissention, lies and deception which cause them to break the Sacred Hoop and fight against one another. The Delaware, Cherokee, and many nations who were once part of this confederacy are structured under the same guidance of the Peacemaker. Heyenwatha, a Mohawk Chief, did join with Dekaniwida who was born in the Northern country, in the Wendot settlement of Takahaanaye on the north shore of Lake Ontario at a settlement of the Bay of Quinte. It said there was Kahelo?klha? (End of Field), a destitute woman living alone with her virgin daughter Kahetehsuk (She walks ahead) who was his mother. There was no apparent father, except a dream that Creator gave to the Grandmother End of Field, that the child was to bring Peace to the Earth. This makes the Peacemaker a Huron not a Mohawk as the above paragraph states. The epic story also tells of a woman, a yagowaneh, Jikohnsaseh, The Great Peace Woman, a Huron also, from the Antiwandaronks, a chieftess of her people, who was sought out by the Peacemaker and asked to join with the men in the quest for Peace, and was the resource for establishing the balance of genders within the confederacies governing hierarchies, earning her the name of Mother of Nations. The Iroquois Great Law gauranteed to women, respect, and dominion over issues such as children, home, economics, and war as well as voting. It took the United States of American an additional 150 years to grant even a portion of these rights to American women after the establishment of their democratic republic. Hiawatha was also the hero of Longfellow's poem by that name. In it he was an Algonquin chief. Visit related link ( Full Answer )