Religion of the Iroquois Indian

There are six different nations to the Iroquois. All six of the nations have a very similar view as to the religious make-up and practices before the European settlers came into their area. After the settlers came, the religious values shifted to incorporate some of the values the Europeans brought over. This paper will be over the different changes to the religion as well as how the Iroquois tried to bring their religion back to its original standing.

The Iroquois original creation myth is very similar in all six of the nations; it does have some slight variations in the story. The main belief is that there were people that lived in the sky before the whole of the earth was created. Below the sky people were oceans and creatures who lived in them. One day, one of the “sky chiefs” tricked one of his wives into going near the hole in the sky. Once she was standing close enough to the hole, the sky chief kicked or pushed her out of the hole (that is one of the variations that occurs throughout the six nations). As she was plummeting to her death, the sea animals saw this and began to scoop up the dirt from the ocean floor and pile it onto the turtle’s back; the turtle was the one use because of its broad and strong back. While the sea animals piled the dirt, birds in the sky caught hold of the woman and lowered her down safely once the dirt was finished being placed. The woman, after being safely placed on the ground, gave birth to two children. Depending on which myth you go by, the woman had either two sons or she had a son and a daughter, either way, the children where the ones who built everything on the earth (Wolf 26-29).

Because of all of the new people on the earth, the Iroquois had many different spirits or gods and two different levels to them. The greater spirits include Atahentsic who was the woman lowered to the earth and is called the ruler of the angry/sad spirits in the west, Tarenyawagon who is considered the holder of the heavens, Jouskeka who is the ruler of the happy spirits in the west, and Agreskoue who is known as the God of war. The lesser spirits are Heno who is the God of storms and Gaoh who is the spirit of the winds.