Life in a Journal: Iroquois Edition By, Tashroom Ahsan

About Myself My name is, which means, like me, talks a lot. I am part of the Iroquois Confederacy, which consists of 5 tribes, and is located in the Eastern Woodlands. I am a Mohawk Indian in the Iroquois Confederacy. THIS IS MY WONDERFUL LIFE… Dichali

Journal Entry 1- Clothing I had to get dressed to go to Kwahu’s (my friend) section in my home. I put on my leggings and my breechcloth, made of animal skin. This is the same thing my father wore. We left our shirt off, like men. My mother wore her short leggings and wraparound skirt, as well as her overdress. I put on my gustoweh, or feathered cap, with an insignia of three eagle feathers to show I am a Mohawk. Then I put on my moccasins and walked to Kwahu’s section in search of fun.

Journal Entry 1- Housing (Summer) After I got dressed, I went straight to Kwahu’s family’s section of the longhouse. My clan, containing 60 people, lives in the longhouse, and my friend, Kwahu, has his section next to mine. His family was having breakfast near their fireplace. I sat with them and looked out the window, to see several hundred people in the village, walking out of many different longhouses.

Journal Entry 1-Food Kwahu and I went with my father to go hunting today. We saw my mother harvest corn, bean, and squash near our house. Kwahu, my Dad and I went in search of anything we could eat, such as fox, moose, or deer. I spotted a deer, and we went in pursuit of it. Kwahu and I had a bow and many arrows, and my Dad had a spear. I fired several shots, and three of them showered the deer, and made it burst in blood. I’ll have to clean it. That is what we will eat with squash tonight.

Journal Entry 1:Characteristics Today, many things happened. First, my tribe and the other tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy sent their matriarchs to vote for our leaders. My Mohawk council also made some decisions about hunting today, but my dad refused to tell me what. After we went hunting today, my dad did become strict, making me do many chores, as usual, but he is in a bad mood. After I did my chores, I played a game I invented with my friends called lacrosse. My father watched for a little, then fought in the war against the Huron with his war club. We are all tired.

Journal Entry 2: Terrain (or not terrain) Today, we hunted once again, but today we went near the big river in the huge forest. We all had bows and arrows, and my dad also had a spear. We were looking for a bird lurking in a spruce tree. We saw a ferocious bear glare at us from the big flowery area near the huge cedar tree and river. I sniped the bear from a long distance, only using up three arrows (each one hit). The bear fell dead. I just grinned.

Journal Entry 2: Ecosystem While we were hunting, I took some mental pictures. I will describe them as good as I can. Though I killed a bear, I saw some wild nut bushes and fruits, which we picked. In a nearby ash tree, a fox was in pursuit of a bird, and I spared its life because it was so satisfied. A deer grazed near another cedar tree. I gazed at it in awe, then my dad yelled at me to shoot the bear, which I did. But that deer was really cool.

Journal Entry 2: Plants I noticed the beautiful plants, too. The ash wood, birch, spruce, and cedar trees’ height was amazing. The nut and fruit bushes fit in the forest so well, it was like my mothers beautiful paintings. I love the plants here. They are so amazing.

Journal Entry 2: Animals Foxes and birds quarreled today, all over the place. The bear I slaughtered had a family, which chased me near a moose family, where the bears settled happily, though I heard something scream a deafening scream and other noises. Wolves were in pursuit of extremely fast deer, which dove in to a lake and confused the wolves. Today included lots of running. It was also very tiring.

Diary Entry 3: Weather Today started off as a little chilly, trying to imply the fact fall is coming. I was freezing my chest off, though, because I wasn’t wearing a shirt. I didn’t regret, because as the day continued it got gradually more warm, until I felt the urge to rip off my skin. The clouds were clear, and I felt super exposed to heat. I dove in to a nearby lake to cool off. I wished it weren’t so hot. Then I remembered the freezing winter was approaching, so I dropped the wish. But I do wish the weather here would stay the same!!!

Journal Entry 3: Weather Impact As you know, I don’t wear a shirt in summer. I don’t because of the immense heat. We, men, barely ever wear a shirt. In winter, we put on these robes my mom made for us. I took it out to look at and know, how diverse the weather here is. Most animal skin goes in to art or winter clothes. The animals here have full-time winter coats. I would hate to be one in the summer.

Journal Entry 3: Survival Strategies I grabbed a scroll written by my ancestors, the kind about how they live. I read about how they were nomadic. That idea seemed so silly. Building a longhouse and moving every 3 days? No way. Our decision making process is much better than our ancestors, the kind were our matriarchs vote on numerous leaders, rather than a monarchy for leaders. Growing food didn’t exist then, and that was shocking. No fruits or vegetables or farms? I would die so quickly. Moving all the time is crazy. My ancestors hunted strange animals I have never heard of. Either I am so different, or my ancestors are weird.

Reflection 1 My summer has been awesome, but now horrific occurrences might appear. When my father fought the Huron 3 days ago, he wouldn’t tell me why he was upset. Now I know why. It is because the Algonquin are on the brim of war with us, and even though the Huron are almost defeated, some other strange, pale men are invading the area with weird shiny thingymabobs are long rock-shooting rod thingys. On top of that, winter is approaching, and no crops will grow. Though my clan had lots of food, our tribe doesn’t, which is why the hunting ban till winter is being enforced tomorrow. Don’t get too comfortable in summer, or you will suffer in winter.

Reflection 2: How Awesome am I I would give myself a 96.3 (with a line on top of the 3) because I didn’t do very great in general. I should make this more first person, which I attempted to do, but I had so much information that I couldn’t do a very good job. I do think I did good with the amount of information I had, though. I just want to so, I’m kind of modest. I did enjoy doing this project because I love to write, and the story unfurled as I needed it; I didn’t have a set storyline. I think this went well, regardless, because I had a lot of time to revise and improve my work. This was an amazing experience. Thank ya – thank ya very much.

Bibliography Historycentral.com/Indian/Before.html School.eb.com/comptons/article ?query=Iroquois&ct=ebi Bigorrin.org/iroquois_kids.htm WORLD BOOK I newoodlands.html h/media/nuke.jpg.html

ALSO REMEMBER… CLOSE YOUR PARENTHESIS!!! (OR THIS WILL HAPPEN NEAR YOU)

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