LEGENDARY TADADAHO TITLE IS RAISED FOR THE HAUDENOSAUNEE

The Confederacy of Six Nations (Grand Council) Condole Sid Hill of the Onondaga Nation

The famous Grand Council of the Haudenosaunee met on Saturday morning, April 13 to condole the title of Tadadaho on Sid Hill of the Onondaga Nation. Marking this historic occasion on the Onondaga Nation Territory (near Syracuse NY ), the rain never let up during an eight hour ceremony. Most people would think the rain may have been a deterrent to the ceremony, but one should think otherwise.

When the Kaianerekowa (the Great Law of Peace) was accepted by all Five Nations, a protocol was established to confer a Chief’s title upon a predecessor in a matrilineal line. Among the 49 of the 50 Chiefs for the Haudenosaunee titles are passed along the matrilineal line through a system of clan names. The Mohawk Nation holds nine titles, the Oneida Nation holds nine titles, Onondaga holds thirteen titles, Cayuga have ten titles and the Seneca Nation holds eight titles. As well, these 49 titles, there exists an additional seven titles within the Tuscarora Nation.

It is only the 50 title for Tadadaho that is picked among all the Six Nations. This title sits with the Onondaga Nation on the Roll Call of the Fifty Chiefs.

In accordance to cultural practices and protocols, Haudenosaunee Chiefs, Clanmothers, Faithkeepers and People gather to mourn the person who once held the title. The Longhouse is split into two sides. One side is for the Elder Brothers: Mohawk, Onondaga and Seneca. The other side is for the Younger Brothers: Oneida , Cayuga and Tuscarora. When a condolence takes place, one side will condole the other side. With the title of Tadadaho, which is a title that sits among the Onondaga Nation, the Younger Brothers condole the Elder Brothers.

Strings of condolence are passed over a sacred fire at the wood’s edge of the Longhouse. The strings are accepted and the procession of the Younger Brothers are led by two Elder Brother warriors into the longhouse. Thus is the beginning of a six hour long ceremony that is recited according to ancient times from when the Peacemaker came and installed the first Grand Council around 1100 A.D.

During the Wood’s Edge Ceremony, the sacred fire never went out. The birds continued to chirp during the entire condolence ceremony. The rain continued to fall. It was a sign that all was appropriate. Rain is the Creator’s way of beginning a renewal to Creation and appropriately, a blessing that raised the title of Tadadaho on Sid Hill, of the Onondaga Nation.

The Onondaga Longhouse was not able to hold all the Haudenosaunee, but the overflow stayed and listened to the ceremony in tents outside. One would think the rain was a deterrent to the Condolence ceremony, but it wasn’t. As Sidney Laffin of the Mohawk Nation explained, “Only the true believers are here.” From Wisconsin to New York and from Ontario to Quebec , Haudenosaunee gathered at the Onondaga Longhouse as the true believers in our ancestors and in the Kaianerekowa.