ART on view 68 ON THE TRAILS OF THE IROQUOIS By Christian Feest Over the last four centuries, the Iroquois have made a lasting impression upon the Western imagination as dreaded warriors; skillful orators and politicians; precursors of American democracy and Freudian psychoanalysis; and inventors of feminism, the peace movement, and even the Mohawk haircut. Irrespective of the exaggerations inherent in such conventional wisdom, the Iroquois have a story to be told, both by themselves and by others. It is a story of political innovation, of military glory during the Colonial Period of northeastern North America, and of stunning defeat in the American Revolution, followed by depression, land loss, and dissension. Ultimately it is also a story of survival and cultural revitalization in two modern nationstates, the United States and Canada. Given this depth and significance, it may seem strange that no attempt has ever been made until now to present the story of this Native American culture in the context of FIG. 2: Memorial about nine Iroquois families and their family totems (drawings after pictographs incised into trees). Seneca(?). 1666. Ink on paper, 36 x 49 cm. Archives nationales d’outre-mer, Aix-en-Provence, cat. no. C11A 2 fol. 263. FIG. 1: Solomon Williams, John Norton (Teyoninhokarawen). C. 1805. Oil on canvas. 59.8 x 43.8 cm. Canadian War Museum, Ottawa, ON, cat. no. 19950096-001 (Beaverbrook Collection).
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