According to sixnations.org , the term "Iroquois" is not the correct word for the group of six Native American nations who have traditionally been working together in order to keep peace since before the white man arrived on the American continent. The proper term is Haudenosaunee and it means "People Building a Long House". This term represents a way of life where these nations live and work together under one common law.

The Nations represented by the term Haudenosaunee are:

Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk, and Tuscarora (who joined the league in about 1714).

There is no particular date which one can apply to the formation of this league - time is counted differently among these tribes than it is for most of us today. We do know that they were living under their form of government sometime between 1000 and 1400 A.D. based upon oral traditions (story telling and ancestral stories).

The building of the Five (later Six) Nations stems from the desire for peace among these tribes who were almost constantly in a state of warfare with one another. The idea of joining as one was introduced by Deganawidah, a Huron who at that time was living in eastern Ontario, Canada. Since he was not of any of the five nations, it would have been inappropiate for him to suggest this union, so a man named Hiawatha agreed to speak to the tribes of Deganawidah's ideas.

As the tribes came together as one, they created the Kaianerekowa or Great Law of Peace . This Law (and thus the unity of the tribes) was represented by a great white pine tree, the Tree of Great Peace which was located in the center of the lands inhabited by the five nations. Most of the population still living under these laws are found in the Northeastern US (historically in New York state) and in Canada.