Customer Reviews

The Iroquois Book of Rites

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This anthropological document, taken in part from the sacred texts of the Six Nations, gives wonderful insights into the religious, social, cultural and political life of the Six Nations of the Iroquois League. Written by a surprisingly open-minded antrhopologist in the late 1800s, it offers a snapshot to the ways of the Iroquois at the time. The book gives a brief overview of the Huron and the Iroquois (the Seneca, Mohawk, Onondoga, Oneida, Cayuga and Tuscarora) and the history, laws and social structure of the Iroquois League. There is also some information about the Ancient Rites of the Condoling Council; the religious text of the Iroquois. The first part of the book ends with some notes on the Iroquois languages.

The second, and in my opinion most interesting, part of the book covers the Ancient Rites of the Condoling Council. A direct translation of the ceremonies described in the text are given, with parallel text in the Iroquois languages, as well as commentary and footnotes concerning the text. This is an extremely valuable insight into the beliefs of the Iroquois Nations, coming from the Six Nations themselves, and as far as I know is unique in this respect. The book then closes out with a wealth of appendices, including the names of the Nations, place names derived from the Iroquois (like Ohio and Ontario), the time period of the Six Nations, Iroquois villages, Hiawatha myths, the peoples of pre-Columbian North America and a glossary of Iroquois terminology.

Overall, this is a superb book, especially considering the era during which it was written, and is a valuable book for understanding the religions and cultures not only of the Iroquois Nations, but of the Northeastern Indians in general. Anyone interested in history, religion or American Indian culture should definately get a copy of this book.

I was quite pleased to learn in this well written work of scholarship that Hiawatha was a real man who played a unique and valuable role in the pre-European American history. Longfellow borrowed his name and a few details from his life and applied them to his beautiful poem based on mythic legends from a different tribe, but here the original Hiawatha is introduced as a recognizable individual from pre-European history in what later became the United States and Canada. His genius in conceiving of the Iroquois Confederacy as a means to create and expand peace throughout the world is truly astounding, as is the example of his persistence in pursuing his goal. Also beautiful is the literal translation of the Condoling Rite of the Iroquois, which descends from the founding of the Confederacy. This is a piece of American history that should not be lost. Thank you to the first reviewer who attracted me to this book!

I found the book worthy of five stars for my tastes, but I marked it a four, since I am not sure that all readers will welcome the scholarly approach, as well as the gibberish with which my edition reproduced the original Iroquois.