jacob needleman, a contemporary american writer on religion, notes that in iroquoian history, "through the mediation of a woman"..., "the mission of peace takes form in the world." in addition, "it is women's power of judgement that will ultimately determine the leadership of the iroquois confederacy." because the great peacemaker gave women the power to choose the chiefs who would represent their people at council. according to oral tradition, the great peacemaker, who brought hiawatha and this woman together to create the iroquois confederacy, gave her a new name of jigonhsaseh, saying that it meant new face: "it is in your countenance that a new mind is manifest." needleman writes further that "out of the womb of the new mind the nations will be born anew."