I figure "racial devolution" is not a good title for this branch of the
thread, but this is a continuation of that. The Hodenosaunee, like the
Sac and Fox, also distinguished between war chiefs and peace chiefs. It
was the responsibility of peace chiefs ('sachems', although that was not
an Iroquoian word) to maintain the smooth running of the confederacy, to
declare war, and to make peace. The war chiefs were the ones to raise
parties of wariors and lead the battles.
Traditional warfare here, as with the Sac and Fox (see Brett's
note), generally consisted of raids and bloodfeuds. Few people were
killed in battle, and the greatest honor came from capturing, not killing,
an opponent. Wars of conquest do not seem to come about until the rise
of the beaver trade with Europeans. Such warfare seems to be related to
state and (sometimes) chiefdom levels of political organization. Tribal
peoples rarely if ever warred for conquest.
I should say here that I disagree with the comment from the person
in the Netherlands (I don't have the name handy) that a group's past is
whatever they say it is. I take an objectivist position: the past is the
past, but everyone perceives it through their own cultural and individual
prism. One should not accept one view and reject another without question.
-Pat Crowe, SUNY at Buffalo