World on the Turtle's Back

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The Native American Experience The World on the Turtle’s Back RL 1 Cite textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain. RL 2 Determine two or more themes or central ideas of a text and analyze their development over the course of the text, including how they interact and build on one another to produce a complex account; provide an objective summary of the text. Iroquois Creation Myth Background a confederacy empowered to negotiate treaties with foreign nations and to resolve conflicts among the five nations. In 1722, the Tuscarora, from North Carolina, joined the league. For the next 175 to 200 years, the Iroquois managed to dominate other Native American groups and to remain free of both British and French rule. did you know? • Both the U.S. Constitution and the founding charter of the United Nations are based on ideas found in the Iroquois constitution, known as “The Great Binding Law.” • Iroquois women had many more rights than colonial American women. • More than 50,000 Iroquois live in the United States today. The Iroquois Way of Life The league’s The totem, or tribal symbol, of the Iroquois “The World on the Turtle’s Back” is an Iroquois (GrPE-kwoiQ) creation story filled with conflict and compelling characters. The Iroquois passed down this story from one generation to the next by telling it in elaborate performances. In the 1800s, David Cusick, an Iroquois author, recorded one version of the story in print. Today, more than 25 written versions of the story exist. The Power of Unity The term Iroquois refers to six separate Native American groups—the Seneca, Cayuga, Oneida, Onondaga, Mohawk, and Tuscarora. Five of these groups—all but the Tuscarora— once resided in what is now New York State. They continually waged war with one
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