Collection search - Jake Thomas' Recital of the Great Law of the Iroquois [multiple media (some electronic)]

Record information – Brief
1
Jake Thomas' Recital of the Great Law of the Iroquois [multiple media (some electronic)]

Hierarchical level:

Fonds

Date:

1992-1996.

Reference:

R15476-0-9-E

Type of material:

Art, Photographs, Textual material, Moving images

Found in:

Archives / Collections and Fonds

Item ID number:

4740944

Context of this record:

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Jake Thomas' Recital of the Great Law of the Iroquois
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Record information – Details
Fonds includes:

2 lower level description(s)
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Date(s):

1992-1996.

Place:

Brantford, Ontario (Six Nations):

Place of creation:

Ontario

Publisher:

Rooney Productions,

Extent:

100 hours of recording on 137 original Betacam or VHS videocassettes
29 cm of textual records
0.4 MB of textual records.
8 photographs : col ; 9 x 12 cm.
1 print : col. poster ; 23 x 48 cm.

Language of material:

English

Accession:

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Jake Thomas' Recital of the Great Law of the Iroquois [multiple media (some electronic)]

Scope and content:

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The fonds consists of over 100 hours of the recording of the recital of the Great Law of the Iroquois. The Great Law of Peace of the Iroquois Confederacy is the foundation of Iroquoian ethics, government and social relations; it is what forms the Constitution of one of North America's first democracy - The League of the Five Nations (aka the Haudenosaunee).

For nine days, from September 19 to the 27th 1992, Jake Thomas recited the Great Law in English and in full. It took place on the grounds of the Iroquoian Institute at Six Nations reserve, near Brantford, in front of an audience of 2000 people. The recital was recorded by three cameras with a live mix on 150 original Betacam videocassettes. The Rooneys were invited to film the recital by Jake Thomas and the Board of the Iroquoian Institute. A 20 part series of one hour programs was produced and aired as a talking book on Vision TV in 1996. As the documents in the fonds are the non-edited versions, they include much more information: the whole recital as well as 8-hours interviews with people in the audience.

Provenance:

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Rooney, Brenda and Robert

Additional name(s):

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Associated name: Thomas, Jacob Ezra, 1922-1998

Biography/Administrative history:

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Rooney, Brenda and Robert : The producers of these videos are Brenda Rooney and Robert Rooney, independent documentary filmmakers and partners in Rooney Productions. Robert Rooney began his career as a journalist and has since made many documentaries. Robert has also directed over 40 stage plays in theatres across Canada and the United States, as well as concerts and special events. Brenda wrote the 1986 Job Readiness Training Program for the Canadian Centre for Victims of Torture and Co-ordinated two Ontario Provincial Government Consultations. They also offer skills in the following areas: Writing, Directing, Producing and Production Management.

Thomas, Jacob Ezra, 1922-1998 : Six Nations Cayuga Chief, Jacob Ezra (Jake) Thomas (1922-1998) worked throughout his life to promote and teach the cultural and historical foundations of the Haudenosaunee Iroquois Confederacy Multilingual speaking the languages of the five Iroquois nations, in addition to English, he is known as a craftsman, a speaker, a representative of the Long-house, a master of ceremonies, a preacher of Handsome Lake Code, a keeper of traditions, a curator, a teacher and a cultural advisor.

Considered as a leading authority on Iroquoian culture and history, Jake Thomas was a resource person often consulted by Aboriginal citizens, specialized researchers and cultural institutions Holder of traditional knowledge he inherited from his ancestors and aware of the urgent need to pass it on to the younger generation, Jake Thomas has worked most of his life to make sure it is better known to researchers in indigenous studies, but also by ensuring its transmission to future generations, including recording on tape and on paper this knowledge once transmitted through the oral tradition.

Jake Thomas was particularly recognized for being the only individual able to recite in its entirety the story of the Great Law of Peace in five different languages, an event that could last from five to twelve days. Conveying a centuries old system of values and worldviews, the Great Law is the ethical, governmental foundation and relational of one of the first democracies of North America, the League of Five Nations. Diplomatic and political Iroquoian culture is recognized for having had an undeniable influence on the history and development of Canadian and American nations.

Additional information:

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Custodial history:

The records were kept at the home of the producers, Robert and Brenda Rooney, until they were acquired by LAC in 2011.

Associated material note:

Similar recitals were performed at Onondaga (NY) in 1982, 1987 and 1988 (in Onondaga language), in Kanesatake in 1986 and at Oneida (NY) in 1987 (Mohawk language). Audio recordings of these performances are available at Jake Thomas Learning Centre. In January 1992, the story of the Great Law was pronounced in English for 5 days in Ohsweken, Ontario, in front of about 200 people. In 1993, a short two hours version was presented to the Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (transcript available in 53 pages) as well as a version of a few days in 1994. No video recording seems to have been produced.

Related material:

LAC, the Canadian Museum of History, the Jake Thomas Learning Centre and Trent University preserve versions that have been shortened, edited and published by the Rooneys, before they were aired in twenty television programs in 1996 (Amicus no. 25235175; 24 videos of about 2 hours each)., Also see the Seth Newhouse "Cosmogony of De-Ka-na-wi-das' Government of the Iroquois Confederacy. The Original Literal Historical Narratives of the Iroquois Confederacy" (R7954 / MG19-F26).
Subject heading:

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Iroquois Indians

Iroquois (Indiens)
Source:

Private

Related control no.:

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2014-01874-X
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Conditions of access:

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Graphic (art)

[Consultation99 Closed pending processing]

Graphic (photo)

[Consultation99 Closed pending processing]

Textual records

[Consultation99 Closed pending processing]

Textual records: electronic

[Consultation99 Closed pending processing]

Moving images (video)

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Date modified:: 2024-05-10