Abstract

An historical analysis of the oral tradition concerning the formation of the League of the Iroquois is discussed, focussing on the limitations of using ritual oral discourse for interpreting the circumstances that influenced the formation of the League. This analysis differs from previous work on this topic by emphasizing oral tradition as a dynamic system utilized within a changing social context. The bounds within which information flow, modification, and manipulation occur imply the roles and origins of consistent verbal motif types that appear throughout the tradition. Implications for the interpretation of settlement patterns, exchange, and symbolic attributes are examined in reference to assemblages in the Mohawk River drainage.