The Great Peace of 1670 and the Forgotten Corner of the Iroquois Confederacy's Eastern Door

In a little known treaty conference, the Iroquois made peace with the Hudson Valley tribes who had been allied with the southern New England Algonquians in a war with the Confederacy that for the New Englanders was not concluded until after King Philip’s War. The 1670 treaty is important for several reasons: it not only kept the New York Algonquians neutral during King Philip’s War, and thus abandoned their former allies, but it is the origin of the designation of the “Delaware” Indians (who did not yet exist as such) as “women” (a problematic term) that became so notorious in 18th century Pennsylvania. This project examines the origins of the treaty in the war against the Iroquois and the previously overlooked alliance between the Hudson Valley and New England Algonquians in the 1660s.