Condolence ceremony

The condolence ceremony or condolence council^[1] is a part of the Haudenosaunee Great Law of Peace. It governs succession to political offices after a leader dies.^[2]^[3]

The ceremony is held in the community whose leader has died.^[2]^[4] Attendees are divided into two moieties: the clear-minded and the downcast or bereaved.^[2]^[5] The ceremony progresses through several stages, including a recitation of the Great Law.^[6]^[7] Through the ceremony, new leaders are appointed to replace those who have died.^[6] It was typically the first item on the agenda when a Haudenosaunee council met.^[8]

Among other things, the ceremony recalls the Great Peacemaker's condolence of Hiawatha and the "transformation" of Tadodaho from a state of confusion and disorder to a state of peace.^[9]

[1]
Snyderman, George S. (1954). "The Functions of Wampum". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 98 (6): 478–479. ISSN 0003-049X. JSTOR 3143870.
[2]
Hirschfelder, Arlene B.; Molin, Paulette Fairbanks, eds. (2000). "Condolence ceremony". Encyclopedia of Native American religions : an introduction. Facts on File. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-8160-3949-6. OCLC 40848662.
[3]
Hertzberg 1966, p. 105.
[4]
Williams 2018, p. 367.
[5]
Hertzberg 1966, p. 104.
[6]
Snow, Dean R. (1994). The Iroquois. Blackwell. p. 65–66. ISBN 1-55786-225-7. OCLC 30812121.
[7]
Wiget 2013, pp. 95–96.
[8]
Tooker, Elisabeth (1990). "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League". In Clifton, James A. (ed.). The Invented Indian : cultural fictions and government policies. Transaction Publishers. pp. 124–125n9. ISBN 0-88738-341-6. OCLC 20853601.
[9]
Williams 2018, pp. 85, 255, 367.

Hertzberg, Hazel W. (1966). The great tree and the longhouse : the culture of the Iroquois. Macmillan Publishers. OCLC 1149214578.
Williams, Kayanesenh Paul (2018). Kayanerenkó:wa : the Great Law of Peace. University of Manitoba Press. ISBN 978-0-88755-556-5. OCLC 1061095159.
Wiget, Andrew, ed. (17 June 2013) [1996]. Handbook of Native American literature. Routledge. doi:10.4324/9781315051697. ISBN 978-1-315-05169-7.

Beauchamp, William Martin (1907). Civil, religious and mourning councils and ceremonies of adoption of the New York Indians. Albany: New York State Education Department. OCLC 1042135902.
Deserontyon, John (1928). A Mohawk form of ritual of condolence, 1782. Translated by Hewitt, J. N. B. Museum of the American Indian; Heye Foundation. doi:10.5479/sil.782541.39088011863040.
Fenton, William N. (1946). "An Iroquois Condolence Council for installing Cayuga chiefs in 1945". Journal of the Washington Academy of Sciences. 36 (4): 110–127. ISSN 0043-0439. JSTOR 24531757.

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[1] [1]
Snyderman, George S. (1954). "The Functions of Wampum". Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 98 (6): 478–479. ISSN 0003-049X. JSTOR 3143870.

[encnativeamrel-2] [2]
Hirschfelder, Arlene B.; Molin, Paulette Fairbanks, eds. (2000). "Condolence ceremony". Encyclopedia of Native American religions : an introduction. Facts on File. pp. 53–54. ISBN 0-8160-3949-6. OCLC 40848662.

[FOOTNOTEHertzberg1966105-3] [3]
Hertzberg 1966, p. 105.

[FOOTNOTEWilliams2018367-4] [4]
Williams 2018, p. 367.

[FOOTNOTEHertzberg1966104-5] [5]
Hertzberg 1966, p. 104.

[snow1994-6] [6]
Snow, Dean R. (1994). The Iroquois. Blackwell. p. 65–66. ISBN 1-55786-225-7. OCLC 30812121.

[FOOTNOTEWiget201395–96-7] [7]
Wiget 2013, pp. 95–96.

[8] [8]
Tooker, Elisabeth (1990). "The United States Constitution and the Iroquois League". In Clifton, James A. (ed.). The Invented Indian : cultural fictions and government policies. Transaction Publishers. pp. 124–125n9. ISBN 0-88738-341-6. OCLC 20853601.

[FOOTNOTEWilliams201885,_255,_367-9] [9]
Williams 2018, pp. 85, 255, 367.

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Condolence ceremony

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