Tuscarora By: Unique, Tyler, and Emma

Culture A ceremony the Tuscarora celebrates is Thanksgiving. The Tuscarora believed all objects had a soul. They believed creators or great spirits made the world. They have a creation story much like the Judeo Christian story of Adam and Eve in the garden. They also believed that all natural resources had a soul.

The Tuscarora’s clothing traditional The Tuscarora’s clothing traditional. Everybody’s clothing was hand made. They would wear deerskins, that women tanned, cut, and sewed. Like most Native Americans, the Tuscarora used what nature provided, and fashioned it for there needs. Women wore long skirts that almost reached almost to there ankles. The skirts were decorated with beads or porcupine quills dyed red, blue or yellow. Women sometimes wore leggings under their skirt. For a top (shirt) the women wore a deerskin vest or blouse. The men wore kilt-like skirts almost down to their knees over leggings. They also wore blouses or a vest made of decorated deerskins. Children also wore the same clothing as their parents. Clothing

Shelter The Tuscarora lived in longhouses. The longhouse is 30-60 ft. long. It was made out of saplings and elm bark. They took the saplings, then tied it , then they took another sapling and put side ways on the first one. Then they covered the frame with elm bark. The inside of the long house had fireplaces for warmth and cooking. There were holes in the ceiling of the longhouse to allow smoke to escape. There were 24 families in one single longhouse. An Iroquois village was made up of ten to eighty longhouses.

Food The Tuscarora gather and eat wild foods like game and fish. They also eat corn, beans and squash. The women plant, weed, and pick the food after the land is cleared by the men. The girls help dig the holes for the seeds. The men hunt for wild game and fish.

Contribution The first people walked from place to place, and carried what they could. Dogs were used to pull loads. The dogs were hitched to an A- made of two long poles with hide stretched between the two poles. Food, clothing, tipis and household belongings were carried on these poles. This method of transportation was called the travois (pronounced trav wah). Sometimes children and old people were carried by travois.

Bibliography Northern Indians Packet If You Lived with The Iroquois By Ellen Levine Scholastic Inc. 1998 The Iroquois by Stefanie Takacs Children’s Press 2003