Part 40

Learn about the Iroquois Confederacy's history in Civilization V, their unique abilities, and leaders like Hiawatha.

The Iroquois Confederacy has a history marked by conflict and shifting alliances with European powers. Initially, they faced attacks from New France and were cut off from European trade when the English captured New Netherland. Despite making peace with the French due to mounting pressure and lack of weapons, they continued westward and southern expansion against tribes with fewer European arms. The English resumed trading weapons with the Iroquois, leading to renewed war with the French by the 1680s. In 1687, the French launched a massive invasion using scorched earth tactics, burning villages and crops, leading to Iroquois starvation. The Iroquois responded with reprisal raids.

In 1688, England and France went to war (known as King William's War or the War of the English Succession), and the Iroquois allied with the English colonies against the Canadian Indians allied with the French. This conflict involved brutal raids and counter-raids, resulting in indiscriminate slaughter until both sides ran out of money.

By the early 18th century, the Iroquois' attitudes shifted as English settlers encroached on their territory. They played European powers against each other to buy time for their tribes to recover. During the French and Indian War (1754-1763), the Iroquois sided with the British, who were victorious and pushed the French out of North America, increasing British power over the Iroquois who depended on them for weapons.

At the start of the American Revolution in the 1770s, the Iroquois initially remained neutral but joined the British by 1777. This war also saw bloody hit-and-run raids. The American Revolution ended in 1783 with the treaty ceding all Iroquois territory to the United States, disregarding their sovereignty.

The Iroquois Confederacy effectively ended with the American Revolution. Some moved to Canada, receiving land from Britain, while others remained in upstate New York, facing American colonial and cultural imperialism. Many survive today despite centuries of hardship.

In Civilization V, the Iroquois' unique ability allows them to move quickly through forest tiles, which is particularly useful on heavily forested maps, enabling faster responses to threats compared to normal unit movement in forests.

The unique building, the Longhouse, increases production by 1 for each forest tile that is worked. The unique unit, the Mohawk Warrior, is identical in stats and manual description to the Swordsman, offering no apparent superiority.

Hiawatha

Hiawatha (or Ayonwentah) is a legendary chief of the Onondaga Indians who, with Chief Dekanawidah, formed the Iroquois Confederacy. According to Iroquois tradition, he taught agriculture, navigation, medicine, and the arts, using magic to overcome enemies. He is also believed to have been a skilled orator who persuaded the five tribes (Cayugas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Senecas, and Mohawks) to form the Five Nations. Western knowledge of Hiawatha is often viewed through Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's epic poem, "Song of Hiawatha." The alliance of the Five Nations proved remarkably sturdy, even under pressure from Europeans.