Period+2+Iroquois

Period 2 Iroquois _

Dwellings
written by Johanna

__ **An Iroquois [|dwelling] consists of many [|attributes].Villages were built by the water for drinking and food resource. One village may have dozens of log framed houses covered with bark from an elm tree. Long houses were 100 feet long and 20 feet wide. Relatives lived together in sections of the long house.** __

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Lifestyle
written by Kevin

In the[| Iroquois] nation was a great nation throughout the northeastern region. They had many different ways of life. The men in the tribe did most of the hunting, fishing, and fighting. The woman in the tribe were the head of the family at home they cooked and took care of the children.The women also planted the[| “3 sisters”] which were beans, squash, corn for the family. Both boys and men were very skilled at fighting with spears and bow arrows. They could also both hunt for animals and food. One of the Iroquois favorite sports games was [|lacrosse]. It was a games played with wooden sticks and a deerskin ball. The objective was to pass the ball around the field and to throw it between the to sticks for a goal with your stick. These games lasted from 2 or 3 days. It was also a very rough game with lots of agression and hitting with sticks and checking. Lacrosse was played from the northeast regions to the great lakes, lower canada, up state new york and parts of the southeast. Teams were from 10 to 15 people. In the southeast they were 100 to 1000! Lacrosse was a huge game for native americans. _

Religion
written by Tiger



In the Iroquois religion, they believed in many things such as spirits and other beings. First, they believed that [|Orenda]  ( to mean Sky Woman) created the world and she brought seeds which created all the plants in the world. They also believed that her “grandsons” created the Iroquois. They believed that the “Good Brother” created all things good and the “Evil Brother” created all that is bad. They also believed in other beings who they thought were responsible for natural occurences like thunder and lightning. Festivals were held at different times for different spirits that they believed in. The False Faces are the best known part of the Iroquois religion. They were medicine healers. They wore masks which they called the “faces” and screamed to scare away “disease spirits.” They would also perform a ritual over the sick person. Some of their ritual equipment consisted of turtle shell and folded bark [|rattles.] They thought that members wearing masks supposedly had “special powers.” Men and women were both a part of the society, but women did not wear masks. Sunflower oil was applied to the masks at times. They were also offered tobacco, and addressed as "grandfather." Orenda’s “grandsons” created the Iroquois, so that makes the Sky Woman and the False Face masks grandparents to the Iroquois. They had many different “classes” of masks: the [|Husk Face]  Mask, the Doorkeeper (or Doctor) Masks, and the Common False Face Mask. These are just some of the truly amazing facts about the Native American Iroquois religion.

Mask Image Source __Male Indian Image Source__ Female Indian Image Source

**Government** written by Darian

The Iroquois were a balanced community. There government started when a man stopped the war between the 5 tribes. Once this was done there government began. They called it the l League of Councils. The Iroquois League made laws but each tribe had different laws. Each bilhad to go through 3 parts of the council then had a final judgement. One thing for sure is that they would never make laws for trading. When a meeting began only the sachems could vote. There were a total of 50 members and 50 members only. Special warriors were called Pine Trees. Women had real power. They could demote, declare war, etc.