Literature

Historical fiction and the Great League of the Iroquois

13 July 2014

The after-story of the Great Peacemaker’s legend is not clear. Some versions refer to his disappearance briefly, off-handedly, stating that after bringing the Law of the Great Peace to the people, he went back to the Sky World. Other versions do not mention his departure... Read More

Atenaha, the Seed Game that even the deities played

15 June 2014

So, you are a man and had a busy day behind you. Not something as demanding as trailing along with your peers on a hunting expedition – such enterprise could take days – but just a regular daily activity, clearing a new field at the... Read More

The Maple Ceremony

2 June 2014

Haudenosaunee People (Iroquois nations) did not spare on festivals and thanksgiving events, ready to celebrate the beginning of each season or each new agricultural undertaking, ready to thank the Great Spirits for their generosity and their good will. The winters were harsh, difficult to endure,... Read More

The Rise of the Aztecs, Part XII, The New Emperor

7 April 2014

Ten years after the fall of the Tepanec Empire saw the Triple Alliance evolving rapidly, growing by leaps and bounds, with Tlacopan, the partners of the famous alliance, cooperating readily when needed, while maintaining their city-states’ independence, developing each into its own direction. Texcoco, the... Read More

The Rise of the Aztecs, Part XI, The Triple Alliance

13 March 2014

After Azcapotzalco, the Tepanec Capital, and other important Tepanecs towns fell, the Mexica-Aztecs and the Acolhua people found themselves with a new challenge to face, this time of creating and not destroying. Their independence achieved, or almost achieved, as the Acolhua were yet to re-conquer... Read More

Historical fiction and the true rise of Tenochtitlan

4 March 2014

The remnants of the 13 years of his reign, Itzcoatl, the fourth Mexica-Aztec emperor, spent on the attempts to inherit as many of the former Tepanec provinces as he could, making it clear to every neighboring town or city-state who the next rising power of... Read More

The Rise of the Iroquois Part III, Haudenosaunee, the People of the Longhouse

27 February 2014

With the People of the Flint (Mohawks) firmly behind him, the Great Peacemaker could now begin implementing his plans full time. First the National Council of his current hosts has to be organized, to be conducted in the way of the town councils, with its... Read More

Historical fiction and the trouble in the Acolhua Capital

13 February 2014

Re-conquest of Texcoco, the Acolhua Capital, did not happen right after the fall of Azcapotzalco. It took nearly two years for Nezahualcoyotl, the Acolhua Emperor, to install himself back upon the Texcoco throne. Reported as being a man of great learning and taste, he most... Read More

Lacrosse – the sacred game to please the creators

4 February 2014

Wandering around upstate New York early in the previous millennia, you might have enjoyed hospitality of many towns and settlements spread all over the land. Haudenosaunee people, whom we today know as various Iroquois nations, lived there for centuries, growing crops of maize, squash and... Read More

The Rise of the Iroquois, Part II – across the Great Sparkling Water

3 November 2013

It might be that somewhere around 1141 the man who would be known to us today as the Great Peacemaker crossed Lake Ontario, arriving at the lands of the Onondaga People. On the southern side of the Great Lake he had been greeted by a... Read More