Immediately, there are sure signs that this excellent CD-ROM intends to place the viewer firmly within the mindset of the Haudenosaunee ("The People of the Longhouse," also known as the Six Nation Iroquois Confederacy). Of course the initial images and sounds reinforce this intent, but there is also a more subtle gesture. As the Main Menu displays a circle of five icons representing the CD-ROM’s primary topics, the narrator invites the viewer to proceed through these five main topics in a counterclockwise direction, counterclockwise being the ceremonial direction given to the Haudenosaunee by the Creator. While human goals have provided the framework for this project, there is a constant acknowledgement by the project’s creators that spiritual forces have always been at work in the Haudenosaunee past and present. Very appropriately, the entire project is dedicated to the memory of the late Jacob E. Thomas, one of the great leaders, teachers, and philosophers among the Haudenosaunee.

In the past, peoples of the world have often used labyrinths to represent the complex meditative paths that have constituted the options humans can choose to meet the challenges of life. Like reality, some of the choices within a labyrinth are paths to futility. Today’s labyrinth is the range of technological options provided by computers that begin with a CD-ROM on our personal computer to our explorations of the Internet. While some of the computer labyrinth today has a negative effect, The Great Peace CD-ROM is proof that the computer can have a positive impact. The Great Peace actually facilitates a whole range of computer technology. On the one hand, the CD-ROM contains a vast amount of information that makes it invaluable on its own merits. But the CD-ROM has also been programmed so that it can also link the viewer to still more options via the Internet, including First Nation Web sites. And most impressively, The Great Peace CD-ROM provides "Feedback" options, remarkable opportunities for the users to discuss their reactions to the information found in The Great Peace. All of this will be exciting for students of any age and for the general public as well.

However, an Internet connection is not necessary because the CD-ROM’s content is so wide-ranging. The CD-ROM takes the viewer through a vast, informative, and visually dramatic labyrinth of exploration, a labyrinth in which viewers choose their own paths along the myriad of options available. All these paths lead to various aspects of the rich culture, complex history, and spiritual philosophy of the Haudenosaunee. Viewers embark on journeys highlighted by dramatic art, vibrant music, instructive video clips, and the engaging personal observations of Haudenosaunee individuals.

The major topics of the Main Menu are (in counterclockwise direction, of course): 1) Creation; 2) Dark and Troubled Times; 3) Birth of the Great Law; 4) Great Peace Interactive Journey; and, at the center of the circle of icons, 5) "Peace." Within each topic there are three different age levels. But even a knowledgeable, older viewer should check out the "elementary" school level, because there are many insights that will be of interest. To introduce each major topic, the CD-ROM format provides an initial survey of major ideas and facts, to be followed up by the viewers’ choice of options that allow each viewer to explore areas that are of special interest to the user. The CD-ROM is extremely easy to use even for this reviewer whose lack of computer skills is legendary among his colleagues and who would rather make a phone call than send an e-mail.

Educators from elementary school through university will find The Great Peace extremely useful because the CD-ROM is packaged with a 240-page Resource Guide. The Guide is divided into eight sections. It is in a handsome three-ring binder whose pages lay flat for easy reference as the viewer navigates the CD-ROM. The Guide is a thorough supplement to the CD-ROM and will be indispensable to teachers planning to use the CD-ROM in the classroom. The Guide includes 96 pages of suggested units, themes, questions, and charts. Many of the pages are meant to be adapted or actually photocopied for class distribution, such as a series entitled "Using the Great Peace Teachings in My Life," sets of questions, each on its own page, which students can fill out. The guide also reprints or summarizes the significant philosophical components of Haudenosaunee philosophy and culture covered in the CD-ROM, including sections such as Sky Woman’s descent from the Sky World. The guide reprints many of the quotes presented in the CD-ROM, so that the words of many elders may be reviewed carefully. The guide also has an excellent appendix, in which there are references as well as a fine diagram setting out the format of a Six Nations Grand Council meeting. There are even activities, including this reviewer’s favorite, the "Iroquois Extreme Canoe Challenge," in which the viewer navigates a canoe through drifting logs and other dangers.

"The Great Peace" CD-ROM is a fine in-depth examination of Iroquois history, culture, and philosophy. Chronologies of history, excerpts from classic texts, and reprints of important articles written by both Haudenosaunee scholars and non-Indians provide the context in which Haudenosaunee culture and philosophy developed. The importance of women in Haudenosaunee history and culture is reflected both in the overall content of the CD-ROM and in the voices and video clips of women who discuss their points of view. In fact, a real joy of both this CD-ROM and of the Resource Guide is to see, hear, and read points of view that are overwhelmingly from various Haudenosaunee women, men, and communities. Viewpoints of non-Indian anthropologists, archaeologists, and historians have been considered in the making of this CD-ROM, but these viewpoints are supplementary.

The CD-ROM will be of interest to a general audience, especially those who have enjoyed CD-ROMS produced by organizations such as Scientific American or National Geographic. If you enjoyed exploring the CD-ROM 500 Nations, produced in 1995, you are sure to enjoy The Great Peace even as you marvel at the technological progress that has been made since 500 Nations was made. And certainly those who are already very familiar with Haudenosaunee studies should be sure to add this to their library.

All of the project’s creative staff also acknowledge the contributions of elders, artists, scholars, and other Haudenosaunee individuals, for no work of this scope can be successful without widespread cooperation. That said, those individuals who took on the major responsibility for coordinating all the knowledge necessary to make this project a success deserve thanks for the great efforts that they made to create the entire package. The art, format, and content were primarily created or compiled by Raymond R. Skye, a Tuscarora artist who served as project director. He had the able assistance of researcher Sheila Staats, a Mohawk. The accompanying Resource Guide was the responsibility of educator Brenda G. Davis, a Cayuga. The technical aspects of the project and its marketing were the responsibility of Jeff Burnham, an Oneida who founded "Working World Training Centre, Inc.," in Brantford, Ontario. Burnham and his colleagues Arnold Bomberry III, Ted Johnson, Mike Harris, Don J. Gibson, and Dan Plaskon successfully transferred the wide range of materials and art into its twenty-first century format.

The result of all of these efforts is that The Great Peace... The Gathering of Good Minds CD-ROM richly reflects the philosophy, culture, and history of all Haudenosaunee people and the thousands of years they have survived by following the Creator’s instructions.

I highly recommend this CD-ROM to all schools, libraries and individuals who desire to have an authoritative source of Iroquois history in their collection.