Period+6+Iroquois

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Dwellings
written by Lindsey 

The Iroquois were skilled architects and built amazing adobes for themselves. They made longhouses, that were from 50 to 100 feet long. They layered bark to act as shingles to keep out rain and snow. The longhouses had holes for smoke to come out of so they could have fire inside. They longhouses were 5 to 10 feet tall. They housed 8-10 families. They were made of Hickory, Birch, Elm and Maple wood. The Families that lived in the houses were communities that shared food and fire. When people got married, the husband would move into the wife’s longhouse. Gardens were planted outs de the longhouses. Beans, Maize, and Squash were planted in the gardens, which women took care of. Tall pointed fences surround the longhouses to protect the inhabitants. In the winter, the longhouse became a storage center, holding dried animals and vegetables to eat. Iroquois means //people of the longhouse//  and that’s what they were.

Lifestyle
written by Abel Saavedra

[[image:iroquoisnation.jpg caption="http://www.collegelax.us/news/2007/09/26/iroquois-nationals-announce-staff-and-tryouts-for-u-19-team/"]]Iroquois national lacrosse logo
 Lifestyles: Iroquois women headed the family, and their children became part of their mother’s clan not their father’s. Iroquois women stored their food for the winter. As a group women planted the three sisters, which included corn, beans, and squash. Also Iroquois saw Europeans as trading partners. Eventually they played a important role in wars between France and England to control the new world. The Iroquois called themselves Haudemosaunee which meant “people of the longhouses”. The More than one thousand years ago the Iroquois moved into the forests of Central New York. In the 1400s the Iroquois formed a powerful group called the League of Nations, which included 5 different tribes that all protected them from the Algonquin tribe. The Iroquois people organized themselves in councils. Council members were called Sachems. The head mothers would choose the Sachems. Also, there were council members called Pine Trees who were famous for being warriors. The councils would keep peace among the tribes. Each Iroquois village was run by a clan that was named after different forest animals. The Iroquois used the forests to use their needs. They made houses from the trees around them, like elm, hickory and birch trees. Each long house was home to 15-20 families. Iroquois men would hunt, trade, and fight together. Young Iroquois boys were trained in strength, courage, and skill to prepare them for war.

 FOR PICTURES! [|__http://www.history.com/photos/native-americans-tribes-and-cultures/photo11__]

Religion
written by Olivia

The Iroquois had a very fascinating religion, not so different in some ways from some of our religions today. The Iroquois believed that “The Sky Woman” (also known as Orenda) created the world. They believed that she brought seeds with her, which created the plants, that “The Good Brother” created all good things and that “The Evil Brother” created all bad things. They believed in a lot of spirits, such as “The Three Sisters” who were the spirits of Maize, Beans, and Squash, there was also Thunder. For Medicine in the Iroquois there were false faces, when someone was sick, they would dress up in masks and scream outside the sick persons home to scare away the evil spirits creating the disease. There were no full time worshippers of the religion like there are today, such as priests, nuns, and other worshippers of the Gods. In the Iroquois tribe, when someone died in the earlier daysthe body was left out on a wooden scaffolding until only the skeleton was left, then they would put the bones in a special house of the dead. Also, after the burial, they released a captured bird in the belieif that it carried away the spirit of the deceased. But after some time, parts of the ceremony changed, the freeing of the bird stayed the same, but the “burial” process changed. They would buiry the body in a sitting position facing East, and as usual after the burial, a captured bird was released to carry away the spirit of the deceased. Once the spirit was carried away, it embarked on a journey and series of ordeals in the sky world. People mourned for exactly one year, for that is how long the journey is said to take. At the end of the year, there is a big feast to celebrate the souls arrival in the land of the dead. That is some information on the Iroquois tribes religion.

Government
written by Will Mountzoures

Government: The Iroquois government was made up of councils. At the top of the ranks was the league of councils. The council members were called sanchems and it was the head mother of the families job to chose them. In addition, there were also special members called the pine trees. The pine trees were often famous warriors. After a while of fighting and war, the Iroquois made the confederacy of five nations. This led to a time of peace and prosperity, as it was the Unions (confederacy) job to bring peace. The five tribes in the union were the [|Mohawks], the [|Senecas], the [|Onondagas], the [|Oneidas], and the Cayugas. Later on when the Tuscarora people joined it was called the confederacy of six nations. It was then when the made the [|wampum belt] that represents the union of six nations. The belt was made to remember the place of great peace. And that is why the Iroquois government is considered the most powerful of the native Americans. A [|Wampum belt.] It represents the time of peace during the rule of the confederacy of six nations.

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