| |
THE FLAG
The five devices represent the five original tribes. From left to right
they represent 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" 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".
THE HISTORY
The Huron and Iroquois tribes–-typically allies–-settled around Lake
Ontario. The Huron tribe settled north of Lake Ontario. An allied tribe
(Attawandaronk or Neutral) took possession of the region south and east
of the Huron holdings. Long before the European invasion began in 1619,
other Iroquois bands had moved southward. In history they became known
as Onondaga, Mohawk and Oneida. It may have been about 1300 A.D. when they
first crossed the St. Lawrence to seek new homes among the hills east of
Lake Ontario.
The Iroquois Confederacy, or League, consisted of five tribes living in upper New York State: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca tribes. The Iroquois War (1642-53) was a territorial expansion carried out by these tribes to displace the Hurons, the Tabacco Indians, Neutral Nations, the Eries, Conestogas and Illinois. The Tuscarora tribe joined with the Confederacy in 1722 to become known as the Six Nations.
The Native Peoples around Lake Erie were among the tribes that fell victim to the Iroquois Confederacy. The neutral nations of the Niagaras, living north of Lake Erie, and the Eries, whose country was predominantly south of the lake, were completely destroyed before European explorers ever visited Lake Erie.
The Buffalo, N.Y., area (far east end of Lake Erie) was once dominated by Seneca, Onondaga and Cayuga, all members of the Five Nations. Treaties were attempted among the various tribes in that area but usually ended violently. During the 1700s the Lake Erie frontier became known by many as a region of terror, with many violent confrontations between Native Peoples and European visitors.
SOURCES:
http://users.aol.com/Donh523/navapage/iroquois.htm
http://www.great-lakes.net/teach/history/native/native_4.html