Longhouse Religion
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The Longhouse Religion, also known as the Handsome Lake cult, or Gai'wiio (Good Message in Seneca) is a religious movement started by the Seneca Chief Handsome Lake (Ganioda'yo). Founded in 1799, it is the oldest active prophet movement in North America.
Ganioda'yo received his revelations while in a trance, after which he formed the movement. At the time, the Seneca's religion had elements from both Quaker Christianity and traditional Seneca beliefs.
Ganioda'yo's teachings spread through the Iroquois, eventually being known as The Code of Handsome Lake. The movement is currently practiced by about 5,000 people.
There is also a separate branch of the Longhouse Religion formed by modern ultra-traditionalists who reject the The Code of Handsome Lake as Christian and who only follow the teachings of Deganawidah, The Great Peacemaker as laid down in the Great Law of Peace, which is the traditional constitution of the Six Nations or Haudenosaunee. This branch of the Longhouse movement tends to be associated with the Warrior Society.
[edit] External links
- Handsome Lake (1735-1815): Iroquois religious leader - From the Encyclopedia of North American Indians
- The Code Of Handsome Lake - An introduction
- The Code Of Handsome Lake, the Seneca Prophet - The foundation of the Longhouse Religion, translated by Arthur C. Parker in 1913. (FYI: Jesus is spoken about in section 94.)
- Thomas Jefferson's Letter to Brother Handsome Lake - Washington, November 3, 1802
