The Iroquois People of the Longhouse

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The Iroquois People of the Longhouse

• Mr. Davison

Flag of the Iroquois Confederacy http//hometown.a
ol.com/Donh523/navapage/iroquois.htm
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People of the Longhouse
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People of Turtle Island
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Early Inhabitants of Western New York

• Several cultures lived in Western NY
• Clovis people (10,000 B.C.)
• Lamokas (3,500 2,500 B.C.)
• Hopewell Indians (300 A.D.) mound builders,
• Wenros and Neutrals
• Iroquoian people (next 1,000 years)

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Whats in a Name

• Iroquois means real adder a kind of snake.
  Name given as a backhanded compliment by their
  rivals the Algonquians
• Iroquois name given by the French
• Six Nations name given by the British
• Hau de no sau nee meaning people building a
  long house sometimes translated as people of
  the long house

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League of the Five Nations

• Seneca
• Cayuga
• Onondaga
• Oneida
• Mohawk

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Remember the Tribes SCOOM

• S Seneca people of the Great Hill
  (Onodowaga)
• C Cayuga people of the Great Swamp or the
  Great Pipe
• O Onondaga people of the Hills
• O Oneida People of the Standing Stone
• M Mohawk People of the Flint
• T Tuscarora shirt wearing people added
  to the confederacy later

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Iroquoian Life

• Great Abundance
• Survived on fish, game, cultivated food
• Large population, perhaps greater than present
  day population of WNY
• Most natives lived south of present day Routs 5
  20 (Broadway) offered families protection away
  from warpaths along the Great Lakes

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The Five Nations Their Position in the Iroquois
Confederacy

• Seneca the Elder Brother and Keepers of the
  Western Door
• Cayuga Younger Brother
• Onondaga Fire Keepers the council fire
• Oneida Younger Brother
• Mohawk Elder Brother and Keepers of the Eastern
  Door

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Location In Western New York

• Known Indian Villages existed at
• Oakfield
• Elma
• Buffalo
• Big Tree
• Two Villages in Akron one at Falkirk (upper
  East Ave.) and a second at todays Brooklyn St

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Where Would You Live?

• Village surrounded by oval shaped stockade (20
  ft. tall fence)
• Farm fields surrounds village
• Inside stockade, rows of buildings-LONGHOUSES

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The Iroquois Village
Longhouse Village Image From Bridgeman Art
Library, London/New York, http//encarta.msn.com/e
ncnet/refpages/RefMedia.aspx?refid701508371artre
fid761552484sec-1pn1
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Iroquois Shelter

• Iroquois Homes were called longhouses
• Longhouses were built in groups or villages for
  protection.
• Made of logs- covered with elm bark
• Curved roof made of saplings
• No windows
• Fire holes in roof to let out smoke from cooking
  fires
• 15 - 20 feet tall, 20 feet wide and
  50 150 feet long

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Picture of the Longhouse
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Inside the Longhouse

• Center aisle from one end to the other
• Near doors- food storage barrels and stacks of
  firewood
• On the sides of the aisle, compartments 13
  feet by 16 feet (half of your classroom)
• Wooden platforms for sleeping and storage
• Fire shared with family across the aisle
• Each family has their own clothing, blankets,
  tools and cooking utensils

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Inside the longhouse contd.
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Family Structure

• Fireside Family your parents, brothers and
  sisters Matriarchal structure
• Longhouse Family
• oldest woman in the longhouse is the head of
  family and everyone in the longhouse is related
  to her
• You always belong to your mothers longhouse
  family
• Clan Family
• two or more longhouse families make up a clan
• You belong to your mothers clan
• Clans named after animals (wolf, bear, turtle)
• Head of clan was the oldest most respected woman

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Clans of the Iroquois
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Clans

• Bear taught us gentleness and strength. It
  takes more strength not to raise your hand to
  strike someone than it does to strike them.
• Turtle taught us patience, never to give up.
  Seen as strength and solidarity, old and wise,
  and well respected.
• Wolf taught us to use our ears and be
  watchful.Strong sense of family.
• Deer
• Hawk
• Snipe

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Iroquoian Food

• Lots of vegetables, fruit, nuts and different
  kinds of meat and fish
• Women grew corn, beans and squash (The Three
  Sisters) in fields surrounding village
• Hunters brought home deer, bear, beaver, rabbit,
  and wild turkey
• Iroquois men and boys were skilled fishermen
• Youd eat breakfast together with your family,
  but other meals on your own-mother would have a
  pot cooking all day

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The three Sisters
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Iroquoian Economy

• The Iroquois money is called wampum when
  trading with white men.
• They have very little money barter economy.
• They go great distances to trade with other
  tribes.
• The wampum was made of beads and clamshells.

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Iroquois Economy

• Wampum belts were used as a form of communication
  between Indian tribes. Wampum belts would be made
  into pictures showing the reason it was made. All
  Indian messengers carry wampum when going to
  other tribes.

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Hiawatha Wampum Belt
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Iroquoian Clothing

• Deerskins that the women tanned, cut and sewed by
  hand
• Women long skirts decorated with beads,
  porcupine quills dyed red, blue or yellow
  (sometimes leggings under their skirts), vest or
  blouse on top
• Men kilt-like skirts over leggings and vests or
  blouses made of decorated deerskins
• Everyone wore moccasins-made of one piece of
  deerskin sewn together with a deer-bone needle
  and using sinew from the deer for thread

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Iroquois Clothing

• Women prepared the hides by removing the hair and
  flesh with stone scrapers. Men in the winter wore
  robes or cloaks made from bear, deer, buffalos,
  or beaver skins.
• Women soaked the hides in dilution of boiled deer
  brain to soften them.
• Men's summer clothing were made from buckskin and
  men's winter outfits were leggings, breechclouts,
  kilts, and moccasins.

Image of Traditional Dress from
http//www.u.arizona.edu/ic/kmartin/School/iroqclo
th.htm
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Clothing
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What about work?

• Work was a part of everyday life
• Every job was respected
• Work depended on the season
• Spring peel bark for longhouses and canoes, tap
  trees for syrup, pick strawberries, and fish
• When the ground was ready, you would plant seeds
  for all the vegetables
• Late summer and fall harvest crops and prepare
  them for storage
• Fall begin hunting
• Winter make and repair clothing, tools, bowls,
  baskets and instruments

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Who did which jobs?

• Men
• made tools for hunting, sports equipment and
  musical instruments
• Made wampum and carved bowls, cups, pipes
• Cleared farmland
• Hunted for animals
• Women
• Made clay pots, baskets, cradleboards, clothing
  and moccasins
• Farmed the fields
• Cooked the food

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Woven Baskets
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Education

• You would not go any formal school
• You learned by watching adults do their jobs
• You learned history when the elders told stories
  at the festivals and during the long winter
  months
• You also learned from your own experiences

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Iroquoian Games

• Everyone loved sports and games
• Games were played at festivals and celebrations
• Sometimes one village or clan challenged another
• Lacrosse (called the ball game) was the most
  popular
• Running was also an important sport
• Snow-snake was popular in the winter

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Iroquois Games
The Bowl Game is played by putting peach pits in
a bowl and two teams take turns thumping the
bowl to make the object fly upward. The Snow
Snake game is played by throwing a spear into the
snow. The of the game is to see how far the
spears could be thrown across the snow. The
Double Ball Game is played with buckskin bags
filled with sand, then connecting the buckskin
bags with a cord you try to throw it three feet
in the air. Shinny is played with a flattened
buckskin ball, then each player had a long stick
and tried to hit the flattened buckskin ball.
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Iroquoian Games contd.

• Running games and mock battles were enjoyed as
  well.
• Survival lessons were often taught through the
  games.
• Men played against men and women played against
  women. Children were left to amuse themselves
  with their running and jumping contests.The
  children often copied adult games.

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Lacrosse
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What if you got sick?

• Iroquois believed that you could get sick from
  bad food or water or air or by catching someone
  elses disease
• They also believed that you could become sick
  because of witchcraft of bad people or by the
  work of evil spirits
• There were different kinds of healers to treat
  you depending on your illness

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False Face Society

• A medicine society like the False Face Society
  would try to heal you by performing special
  rituals.
• You never paid the healers. You just gave them
  sacred tobacco or kinds of food they liked
• If you were cured, you became a member of the
  society and helped to treat others
• If you broke an arm or leg, then you were treated
  by a surgeon.
• The Iroquois were excellent surgeons who not only
  set broken bones, but also understood the
  importance of cleanliness
• If you had a cold or snakebite, you were probably
  treated by an herbalist who would use plants to
  heal you

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False Face Masks
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Some Religious Beliefs

• The Iroquois believed the Creator, or Great
  Spirit made the world
• Almost all natural things were under the care of
  spirits (there were spirits of the wind, rain,
  trees)
• Keepers of the Faith were in charge of religious
  festivals (these were ordinary people with
  special responsibilities- they would organize the
  festivals and perform some of the rituals)
• Religious ceremonies could last for hours and
  some festivals lasted for days.

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Festivals

• At all ceremonies, sacred tobacco was burned.
  There were day-long ceremonies of speeches,
  prayer, music, dances, games and always a feast.
• Six main festivals held throughout the year
• Maple Festival-(early spring) gave thanks for the
  return of spring and to the maple tree for its
  sweet waters There would be maple syrup and
  candies
• Planting Festival- (later in spring) gave thanks
  for the return of the planting season and ask for
  blessings on the seeds
• Strawberry Festival- (late may or early June)
  celebrated the return of the first fruits of the
  earth. After the long winter, it was a sweet
  beginning to a new year.

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Festivals contd.

• Green Corn Festival- usually held in
  August(lasted four days) gave thanks to the
  spirits of the Three Sisters when the corn, beans
  and squash were ready to eat. Children born since
  the Midwinter festival would be given names
• Harvest Festival-(early October) crops are all
  picked, cooked and stored for winter eating
  (lasted four days)
• Midwinter or New Years Festival (early February)
  The longest festival (seven days) Two elders
  visited every house to announce the new year.
  Children born since the Green Corn festival would
  be given names. The Thanksgiving address lasted
  for hours.

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European Wars Cause Problems

• Trade wars of France England (so called French
  Indian War in North America)
• Revolutionary War American War for Independence
  (1776 1783)
• Both wars caused the various tribes to choose
  sides.
• 1797 Big Tree Treaty -11 reservations created and
  Canandaigua Lake and Genesee River regions
  vacated

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Iroquois Government The Oldest Living
Participatory Government on Earth
Before the League existed the Five
nations were always at war with one another.
Village fought village Nation fought nation It
was called the time of great sorrow and
terror Deganawidah (the Peacemaker) brought the
message that by ending war among themselves, the
nations would be strong and the people would be
safe. The story tells that the people uprooted
the tallest pine tree and threw all their weapons
of war into the hole and then replanted this
Great Tree of Peace. Now the Five Nations live in
a Great Longhouse, keeping its own fire, but
living in peace under one roof

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League of Five Nations

• The longhouse and the Great Pine Tree are the
  symbols of the Iroquois League
• The Peacemaker took one arrow from each tribe and
  tied them together. You can break one arrow, but
  the bundle of five is too strong to destroy, he
  said.
• The Iroquois League is one of the worlds longest
  lasting unions

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The Great Law of Peace

• The unwritten Iroquois Constitution
• Some ideas of the Great Law
• All Iroquois land was open to members of Five
  nations. It was safe to travel and hunt that land
• Women as well as men participated in government.
  Women appointed the chiefs and removed them if
  necessary
• Freedom of religion was guaranteed to all
• No such thing as slavery- if you were taken
  prisoner by the Iroquois your were either killed
  or adopted an if adopted, you had all the
  freedoms as everyone else

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The Iroquois Government

• Each nation had its own government
• Each nation sent chiefs to League council
  meetings (chiefs could not be warriors)
• Council met once a year to discuss anything that
  concerned all the nations
• Everyone had to agree to all decisions (votes
  must be unanimous)
• If they did all agree then the chief conducting
  the meeting cloud say the League could now speak
  with one voice If someone disagreed, they would
  discuss it again until they came to an agreement

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Great Tree of Peace
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Iroquois Impact on American Government The
Albany Plan of Union
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We Learn from the Iroquois
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Iroquois Art
False-face mask, made from wood carved from a
tree. Photo from Charles Gatewood/Art Resource,
NY http//encarta.msn.com/encnet/refpages/RefMedia
.aspx?refid461530384artrefid761552484sec-1pn
1

Dream catchers made of willow and sinew are for
children and there not meant to last. Eventually
the willow dries out and the tension of the sinew
collapses the dream catcher.
http//www.rootsweb.com/nwa/dreamcatcher.jpg
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Iroquois Transportation

• Most movement by the Iroquois was done on foot.
  Messages were sent by runners.
• Iroquois used canoes, dogs carts, and cradle
  boards to carry infants.
• They built their transportation with wood, birch
  bark, elm bark, shag bark, hickory,white ash, and
  cedar.

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Tyandaneega Joseph Brandt
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Cornplanter - seneca
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Chief Red Jacket (Sagoyewatha) 1757- 1830
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Ely Parker - Seneca
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Chief Oren Lyons
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Naho
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Native American Internet Resources

• An excellent resource with many links can be
  found at
• http//www.dist126.k12.il.us/powwow/resources.htm

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Instructors Notes

• The Wenro

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Instructors Notes contd.

• The Seneca

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Instructors Notes contd.

• The Mohawk

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Instructors notes contd.

• The Cayuga