On July 22nd 1996, Tadodaho Leon Shenandoah, Eel Clan, died at the age of 81. The Tadodaho is the spiritual and political leader of the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy which consists of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora nations. Shenandoah served as the spiritual and political leader of the six nations since 1969. Runners left the Onondaga Nation to deliver the news in the traditional way by carrying strings of wampum to Haudenosaunee communities as far west as Oklahoma. He was succeeded in the position by Sidney Hill, also of the Eel Clan, who still holds the position today.