Note 70 — WITCHCRAFT LORE
Charles Godfrey Leland translation
According to Indian tradition, six Iroquoian tribes united in a confederation in the interests of peace. This was the famous league of the six nations: Onondagas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Senecas, Cayugas and Tuscaroras. The first five of these completed their league as early as the middle of the fifteenth century under the Onondaga chief Hiawatha. The object of the federation was to abolish war altogether (see Brinton, “The American Race,” pp. 82, 83). It is evident that the Passamaquoddy tradition embodied in this part of the Wampum Records refers to these proposals made by their Iroquois neighbors.