Iroquois League

The Iroquois League, also known as the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, was a union of six Indigenous nations in northeastern North America—Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora. Established around the late 1500s or early 1600s, it served as a sophisticated political organization promoting peace, diplomacy, and collective decision-making among member nations. The League used a constitution called the Gaënö̀:weh, emphasizing consensus and shared governance. It played a key role in maintaining stability and balancing power in the region well before European contact, influencing ideas of governance and democracy in later history.