So I’ve been trying to learn some more about the Iroquois and Mohawk in particular because my grandfather was from a Quebec Mohawk tribe but we had no contact with him in my family since 1969, so I’ve been doing a lot of reading in my personal time.
I had always heard that The Great Peacemaker and Hiawatha had teamed up to unify the nations. But I saw that The Great Peacemaker supposedly lived and died during the 15th century, and that Hiawatha was alive solely in the 16th century. Did I misread something? Are the dates that I came across wrong?
Did I misread something? Are the dates that I came across wrong?
You likely didn't misread anything, but either you or whatever you happen to be reading are pulling from multiple sources belonging to different schools of thought on when the Haudenosaunee - the Iroquois Confederacy - was founded. Exactly how old the Haudenosaunee is is a matter of some debate. There are currently three schools of thought on this.
The 16th Century dates are largely out of fashion these days but had been popular with some 19th and early 20th Century historians.
A mid-15th century founding was popularized by Dean Snow, an archaeologist working in the region. Part of his reasoning is based on archaeological work; there's a decrease in evidence for warfare in the area around this time. He also utilized a key incident in the oral history of the founding, which describes a solar eclipse being the final portent to sway the Seneca delegation into joining the Haudenosaunee. In the mid-1500s, a partial solar eclipse would have been visible in the region.
The third camp pushes the date back to August 31st, 1142. This one has such specificity due to aforementioned solar eclipse. On this date, a total solar eclipse would have passed directly over the Seneca homeland in western New York. Additional arguments for this date are derived from the number of Tadodahos that have presided for the Grand Council. The Tadodaho is a lifetime appointment, and there have been 50 so far. Comparing the average tenure of popes and Supreme Court Justices (both lifetime positions that require a sort of "elder" status to obtain, much like the position of the Tadodaho), the estimated tenure of the 1st Tadodaho would be in the 12th Century. The final bit of evidence this side uses is that this time frame coincides with the rise of maize as the dominant crop in the region. This echoes Jigonsaseh - the oft overlooked third founder of the Haudenosaunee - promoting maize as a means to increase food security and diminish inter-tribal raiding.