|
|
Article: Leon Shenandoah Dies at 81; Chief of Iroquois Federation
- Article from:
- The Washington Post
- Article date:
- July 23, 1996
CopyrightThis material is published under license from the Washington Post. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Washington Post. (Hide copyright information)
|
Leon Shenandoah, 81, leader of the Onondaga Indians and
spiritual steward of the Six Nations of the Iroquois Confederacy,
died July 22 at his home here, just south of Syracuse. The cause of
death was not reported.
In 1969, he was chosen as the chief of chiefs, or Tadadaho, of
the confederacy, which consists of the Onondagas, Cayugas, Oneidas,
Mohawks, Senecas and Tuscaroras. The confederacy, once the greatest
Indian power on the continent, influenced life from the Mississippi
River to the Atlantic Ocean.
The slight, white-haired Tadadaho spent most of his life on
the Onondaga reservation in an old house heated by a wood stove. He
believed fervently in a supreme being called "The ...