He preached against drunkenness and other evil practices. His message outlined a moral code that was eventually referred to as the Code of Handsome Lake. The Code outlawed drunkenness, witchcraft, sexual promiscuity, wife beating, quarreling, and gambling.

“How America Was Discovered” is just one prophecy from this code, published in 1923 in Parker’s Seneca Myths and Folk Tales. As Wiget explains in his introduction in the Heath Anthology, the narrative exposes the “Columbian consequences” of European exploration and colonization of the Americas.

It’s an annual holiday that commemorates the day on October 12, 1492, when the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus officially set foot in the Americas, and claimed the land for Spain. It has been a national holiday in the United States since 1937.

Handsome Lake or Longhouse Religion, a movement embracing some 5,000 Iroquois on Indian reservations in New York state, Ontario, and Quebec. It is probably the oldest continuing tribal prophet movement in the world. It was founded by Ganiodaʾyo (Seneca, ‘Handsome lake’) (1735–1815).

1799

Handsome Lake Religion is the religion practised by some Haudenosaunee communities in Canada and the US. Its beliefs and practices are a blend of ancient Aboriginal traditions and innovations introduced by the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake who preached from 1799 until his death in 1815.

This movement combines and reinterprets elements of traditional Iroquois religious beliefs with elements adopted from Christianity, primarily from the Quakers. Anthropologist Anthony F. C. Wallace reported that the Gaihwi:io had about 5,000 practicing members as of 1969.

Gai’wiio, (Seneca: “Good Message”) also called Longhouse Religion, new religious movement that emerged among the Seneca Indians of the northeastern United States, one of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy, in the early 19th century.

In the Iroquois community, women were the keepers of culture. They were responsible for defining the political, social, spiritual and economic norms of the tribe. While Iroquois sachems (chiefs-leaders) were men, women nominated them for their leadership positions and made sure they fulfilled their responsibilities.

Leaders from five Iroquois nations (Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca) assembled around Dekanawidah c. 1570, French engraving, early 18th century.

Haudenosaunee

The Iroquois believed the world to be full of supernatural creatures, including gods, spirits, and demons. Many religions have a god who is strongest or most important, and in the Iroquois religion that central god was the Great Spirit (also called the Great Chief or Great Mystery, depending on the tribe).

5th Grade Social Studies Chapt 2

Each Iroquois longhouse was designed so as many as twenty families or more could live in it. A family would occupy a booth on either side of the hallway. The booth had a wooden platform for sleeping.

In 2010, more than 45,000 enrolled Six Nations people lived in Canada, and about 80,000 in the United States….Iroquois.

When the original five tribes became the Five Nations, they all had their own distinct culture consisting of language, function and territory. The Iroquois originally called themselves the Kanonsionni, which means ‘people of the Longhouse’. This eventually changed to Haudenosaunee, which is the name they use today.

The Iroquois lived in longhouses. These were long rectangular buildings made with wood frames and covered with bark. Many families would live in a single long house. Each family would have its own compartment that could be separated from the others for privacy using a partition made of bark or animal skin.