The annual Mother’s Day tradition in the U.S. is less than a century old – President Woodrow Wilson declared the second Sunday in May a national holiday for celebrating mothers in 1914 – but honoring women has been an integral part of Oneida and Haudenosaunee culture since time immemorial.

Like many ancient societies around the world, the Haudenosaunee revered women for their ability to create and nurture new life. But while other societies worshipped a mix of gods and goddesses, the Haudenosaunee is one of the few Native American cultures whose Creation Story features a woman creating the earth’s abundance.

According to some versions of the Haudenosaunee creation story, Sky Woman brought strawberries, tobacco, and other plants to this world when she fell from the sky and planted them on the earth that the water animals packed on Turtle’s back. When Sky Woman’s daughter died after giving birth to twins, Sky Woman buried her in the earth. The Three Sisters – corn, beans and squash, the sustainers of life – grew from the head of the daughter’s grave; sacred tobacco grew over her heart; and strawberries and other medicinal plants grew at her feet.

No one knows the origins of the Creation Story, but the tale itself speaks of the Oneidas’ reverence for the miracle of life – not just childbirth, but all life, from one’s family to the plants and animals that provided so much of what ancient Oneidas needed for a full and prosperous life.

The Peacemaker, in bringing together the Five Nations – from east to west, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca – under the Great Law of Peace, reinforced women’s roles for Haudenosaunee culture. Women are the keepers of each nation’s culture; they are responsible for passing down their knowledge and heritage to their children, and, as such, they were entrusted under the Great Law with responsibility for the nation’s lands and political future. They tended the crops and appointed the political leaders; they were the central figures in every longhouse.

To this day, Oneida heritage is passed down through the mother – not just on Mother’s Day, but every day.