Tuscarora Nation Joins Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Creating Six Nations

The Tuscarora Nation formally joins the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, transforming the Five Nations into the Six Nations. Following the Tuscarora War (1711-1715) in North Carolina, where European colonists and allied tribes devastated the Tuscarora, survivors migrated northward seeking protection. The Five Nations—Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca—admitted the Tuscarora as “younger brothers” under the Great Law of Peace (Gayanashagowa), the Haudenosaunee constitution established centuries earlier (scholars date it between 1142 and 1450 CE).

The Tuscarora’s admission demonstrates the Confederacy’s sophisticated diplomatic and governance structures, which featured consensus-based decision-making, checks on leadership power, and mechanisms for incorporating new members while maintaining balance among nations. The Great Law of Peace established separation of powers, representative government, and protection of individual rights centuries before similar concepts appeared in European political philosophy. Scholarly research by Donald A. Grinde and Bruce E. Johansen argues this system significantly influenced early American democratic principles, though academic debate continues about the precise extent of its impact on the U.S. Constitution. The 1988 Congressional resolution (H. Con. Res. 331) acknowledged the Haudenosaunee contribution to the formation of the United States government.