Longhouse Religion

Longhouse Religion is a religious movement of the Iroquois people. It is also called The Code of Handsome Lake or  Gaihwi:io (Good Message). The Seneca prophet Handsome Lake (Sganyodaiyoˀ) founded the movement. The movement combines traditional Iroquois religion and Christianity.^[1] There are ceremonies in Longhouses. Handsome Lake claims that spirits visited him. He recovered from an illness and stopped drinking alcohol. In the movement, he told Natives not to be drunk, be lazy or cheat on their spouses. Handsome Lake preached moral conduct. Natives supported the movement. They liked that the movement kept traditional Native values. Some opposed the new movement. They thought it went against traditional Native values and was too Christian.^[2][3][4][5]

Onondaga longhouse on the Six Nations Reservation in the early 1900s

Related pages

• Handsome Lake
• Iroquois
• Northeastern Woodlands

References

1. Wallace, Anthony F. C., 1923- (1972). The death and rebirth of the Seneca. Steen, Sheila C. New York: Vintage Books. ISBN 9780307760562. OCLC 795249676.
2. Parker, Arthur C. (Nov 1, 1912). "The Code of Handsome Lake, the Seneca Prophet". [NYS] Education Department Bulletin (163). Retrieved June 2, 2015.
3. Plane, Ann Marie; Tuttle, Leslie (2013). Dreams, Dreamers, and Visions: The Early Modern Atlantic World. University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 228. ISBN 9780812245042.
4. Manseau, Peter (2015). One Nation, Under Gods: A New American History. Little, Brown. ISBN 978-0316100038. Retrieved June 1, 2015.
5. Riess, Jana. "New theory connects a Native American prophet with Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon". Religion News Service. Retrieved June 2,2015.