The Great Peacemaker (Deganawida / Skennenrahawi)
The Great Peacemaker, known as Deganawida in the sacred language and Skennenrahawi in Mohawk, was a legendary leader who founded the Iroquois Confederacy, the oldest living democracy in North America. Born among the Huron, he crossed Lake Ontario in a stone canoe to bring peace to the warring Iroquois nations. With the orator Hiawatha and the Seneca chief Jigonsaseh (the Peace Queen), he converted the cannibal warrior Hiawatha and confronted the evil wizard Tadodaho at Onondaga, whose twisted hair was filled with snakes. They transformed Tadodaho and made him the first fire-keeper of the Confe