Period+3+Iroquois

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Dwellings
written by Michael The Iroquois tribes lived in the north eastern woodlands of the united states. They lived in longhouses from elm. These where about 80 to 150 feet long and 20 to 30 feet wide. The longhouses also had a carving of the clan above the doorway. 15-20 Iroquois families could live in one long house. These have a pointed or rounded roof about 18 feet high and doors at both ends. The Iroquois made long houses with a post-and-beam or bent sapling frame. They usually covered the longhouses with slabs of elm bark about four feet wide by six to eight feet long. This is where the Iroquois live and how they build it.

Lifestyle
written by Noah The Iroquois had [|various different things to do in their free time]. For example the men would fight, trade or hunt in their free time. Men would also go spear fishing in ponds in their free time. Women would run the family while the father were out. Women also planted plants and farmed in their free time. One thing the men loved to do was play lacrosse they would play very violently though. The Iroquois actually invented the game of lacrosse and played as much as they could. Instead of a ball they had a round ball of wood and the games could last for more than a day. Other tribes played the game but used a different name for it and the Iroquois came up with the name using a french root. The remains of lacrosse sticks are in modern day upstate New York the Iroquois also called the game “wars little brother”. They played on 500-1 mile long fields with 100-1000 people on each team. The lacrosse sticks were 3 feet long with a triangular pocket on the end. Iroquois were known especially for their good sportsmanship and during the harvest season men held contests almost every day. This is only part of their daily lifestyle and it seems that the Iroquois played the game very seriously as if it was almost a ritual.

Religion
written by Willie Willie The tribe of the Iroquois. Religious? Very. Like most religions they worshiped spirits and other supernatural beings. The most important spirit was Orenda the Sky Women. The Iroquois believed that she lived in the Sky World with her Husband Sky Chief. Orenda had one daughter who gave birth to two sons named Osleha and Tawiscara or better known as Good Brother and Evil Brother. These two beings created the Iroquois. Orenda is supposed to be the first spirit and the spirit who created all other spirits. The Iroquois also thought that she was the spirit that created the world and sky. Her two grandsons created all the things in the world. Good Brother created all the good things and Evil Brother created all the bad things. Orenda, the sky, the ruler of Earth, and the creator of all beings.

League of Five Nations
written by Andy

The Iroquois had a very strong goverment system. Under the command of the Peacemaker, a Huron prophet (Huron is another type of Native American), Hiawatha ( A Native American) created the very powerful League of Five Nations in the year 1400. The League of Five Nations is also called the Iroquois League, the Five Nations and the Iroquois Confederacy. This was a group of Iroquois tribes created into five big tribe groups called the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Cayuga, the Onondaga, and the Seneca. In the year 1722 a sixth nation was added, the Tuscarora. The founding fathers were thought to have modeled our democarcy after the Iroquois. The tribes are like the 50 states, the sachems are like the senators and congressmen, the honorary pine tree sachems ( often special warriors) are like the president and his cabinet, and Onondaga (the main village of the Onondaga tribe where the grand council was held every year) is like Washington D.C. The Iroquois believed that their League was one big longhouse with the Mohawk guarding one door and the Seneca guarding the other. The League of Five Nations was a very powerful goverment system and lasted for along time.  media type="youtube" key="pudIhJLZhoA?fs=1" height="385" width="480" A song in the Iroquois Language.  @http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/culture/iroquoisconfederacy/ (brain pop)