Handsome Lake (c. 1735-1815) was a Seneca religious leader and half-brother of the Seneca chief Cornplanter, who in the early 19th century founded a religious and moral revitalization movement among the Haudenosaunee known as the Longhouse Religion or the Code of Handsome Lake. After a period of personal crisis and illness, he reported a series of visions beginning in 1799 that called for abandoning alcohol and witchcraft accusations while blending traditional Haudenosaunee ceremony with elements adapted from Quaker teaching, including settled agriculture and monogamous nuclear family structure. His teachings, preserved and transmitted orally by successive 'keepers' of his code, remain practiced today among some Haudenosaunee communities and are credited with helping the Seneca and other Iroquois nations adapt culturally in the aftermath of colonial dispossession.
Facts
RoleSeneca religious leader and prophet; founder of the Gaiwiio (Code of Handsome Lake), a revival of traditional Haudenosaunee religion. 1 BirthplaceCanawaugus, a Seneca village on the Genesee River near present-day Avon, New York 1 Role
Role (category) FAQs
What changes to Seneca daily life did Handsome Lake preach?
Per Encyclopedia.com, he urged single-family houses on the Quaker model, farming by men in place of hunting and war, and cooperative rather than private enterprise.
According to the Encyclopedia.com entry on Handsome Lake, he called for a breakup of the longhouse dwelling and the building of single-family houses following the Quaker model. He preached that men must give up their rapidly declining occupations of hunting and waging war and instead take up farming, the traditional domain of women. The same entry says he warned against the private ownership of property as destructive of traditional Iroquois values and encouraged cooperative farming and other communal activities.
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Source Wikipedia: Handsome Lake
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Source Wikidata: Handsome Lake
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Handsome Lake
WikipediaLead sentence
Handsome Lake (Seneca: Sganyodaiyoʼ or Ganio'dai'io', 1735 - 10 August 1815) was a Seneca religious leader and Hoyaneh of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people.
Early life section
Handsome Lake was born as Hadawako ("Shaking Snow") around 1735 in the Seneca village of Canawaugus, on the Genesee River near present-day Avon, New York.
Handsome Lake: Gender
After a period of personal crisis and illness, he reported a series of visions beginning in 1799 that called for abandoning alcohol and witchcraft accusations while blending traditional Haudenosaunee ceremony with elements adapted from Quaker teaching, including settled agriculture and monogamous nuclear family structure.
- Wikipedia biography, role/occupation stated in lead section (w-bbfill-history3-0927)
In Era: The Early Modern Period, lead paragraph, lifespan
Handsome Lake (Seneca: Sganyodaiyoʼ or Ganio'dai'io', 1735 - 10 August 1815) was a Seneca religious leader and Hoyaneh of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) people.
View the Source Wikidata: Handsome Lake
Wikidata Q320426, class allow-list match (w-wdresolver-0926)View the Source Reader Challenges (0)
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