The condolence ceremony or condolence council is a part of the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace. It governs succession to political offices after a leader dies.
The ceremony is held in the community whose leader has died. Attendees are divided into two moieties: the clear-minded and the downcast or bereaved. The ceremony progresses through several stages, including a recitation of the Great Law. Through the ceremony, new leaders are appointed to replace those who have died. It was typically the first item on the agenda when a Haudenosaunee council met.
Among other things, the ceremony recalls the Great Peacemaker's condolence of Hiawatha and the "transformation" of Tadodaho from a state of confusion and disorder to a state of peace.
Notes
- Snyderman, George S. (1954). "The Functions of Wampum". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 98 (6): 478–479. ISSN 0003-049X. JSTOR 3143870.
- ^ Hirschfelder, Arlene B.; Molin, Paulette Fairbanks, eds. (2000). "Condolence ceremony". Encyclopedia of Native American religions : an introduction. Facts on File. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-8160-3949-6. OCLC 40848662.
- Hertzberg 1966, p. 105.
- Williams 2018, p. 367.
- Hertzberg 1966, p. 104.
- ^ Snow, Dean R. (1994). The Iroquois. Blackwell. p. 65–66. ISBN 1-55786-225-7. OCLC 30812121.
- Wiget 2013, pp. 95–96.
- Tooker, Elisabeth (1990). "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League". In Clifton, James A. (ed.). The Invented Indian : cultural fictions and government policies. Transaction Publishers. pp. 124–125n9. ISBN 0-88738-341-6. OCLC 20853601.
- Williams 2018, pp. 85, 255, 367.
Sources
- Hertzberg, Hazel W. (1966). The great tree and the longhouse : the culture of the Iroquois. Macmillan Publishers. OCLC 1149214578.
- Williams, Kayanesenh Paul (2018). Kayanerenkó:wa : the Great Law of Peace. University of Manitoba Press. ISBN 978-0-88755-556-5. OCLC 1061095159.
- Wiget, Andrew, ed. (17 June 2013) . Handbook of Native American literature. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315051697. ISBN 978-1-315-05169-7.
Further reading
- Beauchamp, William Martin (1907). Civil, religious and mourning councils and ceremonies of adoption of the New York Indians. Albany: New York State Education Department. OCLC 1042135902.
- Deserontyon, John (1928). A Mohawk form of ritual of condolence, 1782. Translated by Hewitt, J. N. B. Museum of the American Indian; Heye Foundation. doi:10.5479/sil.782541.39088011863040.
- Fenton, William N. (1946). "An Iroquois Condolence Council for installing Cayuga chiefs in 1945". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 36 (4): 110–127. ISSN 0043-0439. JSTOR 24531757.
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