or League of the Iroquois
Confederation of five (later six) Indian tribes across upper New York that in the 17th–18th century played a strategic role in the struggle between the French and British for supremacy in North America.
The five original nations were the Mohawk , Oneida , Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca ; the Tuscarora, a non-voting member, joined in 1722. According to tradition, the confederacy was founded between 1570 and 1600 by Dekanawidah, born a Huron (see Wyandot ), carrying out the earlier ideas of Hiawatha , an Onondaga. Cemented mainly by their desire to stand together against invasion, the tribes united in a common council composed of 50 sachems; each original tribe had one vote, and unanimity was the rule. At first the confederacy barely withstood attacks from the Huron and American Revolution , the Oneida and Tuscarora sided with the American colonists while the rest of the league, led by {{link=Brant, Joseph">Joseph Brant , fought for the British. The loyalist Iroquois were defeated in 1779 near Elmira, N.Y., and the confederacy came to an end.