The Mighty Iroquois Nation

This is where the Iroquois lived… Iroquois lived in longhouses.

Strong trees and young trees were cut for poles for the longhouses. According to legend, the Great Spirit told the Iroquios that the things of the forest were their helpers. They believed the trees in the forest were living and sacred. If they chopped down a tree, they believed they had to use every piece of the tree. Strong trees were cut for their long poles and young trees were cut and used when poles needed to be bent and shaped for their longhouses. Strong trees and young trees were cut for poles for the longhouses.

Tree poles were used to shape the frame of the longhouses. First, they made a frame out of the long tree poles of wood. Then they tied the young trees to the frame, trees young enough to bend and shape.

Then the poles were covered with tree bark. Since the Iroquois had to use every part of the tree, they used the bark from the trees, like shingles, to cover the poles.

Longhouses had two doors. Longhouses had two doors – one at each end of the house. In the Winter they covered the door opening with animal hides to keep in the warmth. The longhouse didn’t have any windows.

Holes in the roof let the smoke out. These First Americans cooked inside the longhouse, so they needed smoke holes in the top to let the smoke out. They often rigged a flag of animal skin over the smoke hole so that when it rained or snowed, the holes could be opened to cook but then closed to keep the cold and wet out. Holes in the roof let the smoke out.

Inside the longhouse Longhouses were very long – longer than your own houses. As many as 20 families sometimes shared a single longhouse. They ate and slept in the longhouses and sometimes had meetings. The fire pits ran down the middle for heat and for people to have a place to cook. The beds were along the walls. The longhouses were not measured by feet. They were measured by camp fires so a house might be 10 fires long or 12 fires long. It was hard work to build a longhouse but once it was built, it usually lasted about 20 years.

Fences or stockades sometimes surrounded the longhouse villages. Longhouses were grouped together. Longhouses were often built on hilltops so the Iroquois could see who was coming. The longhouses also often had a huge pole fence built around them for protection. The poles ended in long sharp points to discourage the enemy from climbing over the fence. Stairs were sometimes built on the inside of the fence so that archers could easily climb up and defend against attack.

Longhouses were so important to the Iroquois way of life that they called themselves “the People of the Longhouse.”

This is what the Iroquois wore… Iroquois wore feathers in their hair.

Iroquois warriors sometimes wore a mohawk – a wide stripe of hair left in the middle of the head. The men wore skull caps with feathers called a gustoweh. The number of feathers up and down usually denoted the tribe. Women wore their hair long without feathers.

The Iroquois made clothes from soft deerskin or elk hide The Iroquois made clothes from soft deerskin or elk hide. Both the men and women wore leggings. The women wore skirts or dresses that covered most of their leggings. In the Winter the men wore a smock that went down to their knees for warmth. All Iroquois had winter robes. The fur on them was bear, buffalo, or elk hides. T hey would also weave fabric from corn husks and plant fibbers. What they wore usually depended on what time of year it was. They decorated their clothes with colorful dyed porcupine quills,  pine needles, feathers, and shells. The men’s jewelry was made of bear’s teeth and claws, and beads made of shells or carved bone

Iroquois wore moccasins. On their feet Iroquois wear shoes called moccasins which are also made of soft deer skin. Iroquois wore moccasins.

This is what the Iroquois ate… Iroquois ate corn, beans and squash.

Women tended the fields. Farming provided most of the Iroquois diet. They made tools for farming. One tool was a wooden rake for leveling the soil Another was a wooden spade used to dig the soil. They used seeds to plant corn, beans, green beans, lima beans, kidney beans, pumpkin, melon, and tobacco. The women owned the land and tended the fields. The women harvested the crops. The clan mother was the boss. The Iroquois were grateful for their crops. They had six festivals each year to thank their gods.

Three Sisters Corn, beans and squash were the most important crops. They were called the Three Sisters. The corn grew tall so that the beans had a post to grow around and the squash provided ground cover so the weeds could not strangle the corn and beans. Each crop depended on the other. The Three Sisters were mixed together to make a vegetable dish called succotash.

Iroquois were hunters and fishermen. The Iroquois hunted deer, wild turkey, muskrat and beaver. They also hunted wild turkeys, geese, ducks, herons, pigeons, and partridges. The Iroquois also caught fish such as salmon, trout, perch and bass. Lots of Iroquois families ate only one large meal a day.