The Life of the Iroquois

And How They LivedBy Marco Coco, Rachel Finein, CJ Hiscock, Jacob Lynch, Spencer White, Olivia Shadders, Matt Antinore, Danielle Smith, and Pedro Gratacos

The Life of the Iroquois

And How They Lived

Copyright 2007 Durand Eastman School, Irondequoit NY

Table of Contents

Clothing ...................................................... 1, 2

Contributions .............................................. 3, 4

Shelter ........................................................ 5, 6

Roles of Men and Women ........................ 7, 8

Transportation............................................. 9, 10

Geography .................................................... 11, 12

Foods ............................................................ 13, 14

Recreation..................................................... 15, 16, 17

Authors ...................................................... 18

They used the skin and fur of animals to make clothing. They needed clothes to protect themselves from the rain, snow and sun. They made vests, leggings, skirts, blouses, moccasins, and kilts.

Men and women needed clothes to keep warm and for protection. Native Americans used any animal they hunted for clothing.

Clothing

1

1. First they had to hunt the deer

2. Next they needed to take off the skin

3. Then they tanned it

4. After they made the clothes

5. Finally they wore the clothes

That is the whole process of making the clothes

that they wear.

That is what the Iroquois usually wore.

The process of trying to make clothes

2

ContributionsThe Iroquois made a lot of contributions to our world.

Types of contributions are lacrosse, language, government, canoes, and trading routes.

Lacrosse It’s a sport played by the men. The men try to get points in the game. The equipment is made out of sticks and wood.

The bat was made out of wood and sinew.

The ball was wrapped with animal skin.

These Iroquois men and boys are playing Lacrosse.

3

Language The Iroquois spoke a language. We still use these words today. Some of the words are

• caribou

• tomahawk

• chili

• avocado

• Lake Ontario.

Tomahawk This is a tomahawk. It is a tool needed to chop down trees and a weapon of war.

4

Shelter Native Americans needed shelter. They lived in houses called longhouses or wigwams. Both types of houses had a rounded roof to allow the rain or snow to run off instead of soaking through the roof.

The natural resources used by the Iroquois/Algonquains to build longhouse/wigwams are wood, birch bark, hickory wood, logs from trees and to hold that all together they tie deer skin on the wood.

5

Sinew tie

Native Americans used natural resources even inside of their longhouse. Native Americans had to sleep on corn husks and covered themselves with animal skin.

Ten to 12 families lived in a longhouse. In the Native American longhouse they didn’t have much privacy because there were no rooms or walls.

Longhouses were about 40 feet long, 20 feet wide and had a door on each side. Native Americans used fire pits when they cooked so they needed many smoke holes.

This is the inside of a Long house.

6

Roles of men and women and roles shared

Men and women had different roles. Men hunted animals such as buffalo, deer, and rabbits. Men also made tools and weapons such as spears and knives for war.

Women cooked over a fire in their cooking area. Women made clothing by tanning deer skin.

Women also made pottery and baskets out of straw and grasses. Men made the handles for the baskets.

7

Men cleared the land for farming and the women planted and harvested crops. The main crops were corn, beans and squash.

Roles of men and woman in Native American life

Women made cradle boards out of bark, wood and leather skins to carry the children.

8

The Native Americans traveled by foot or water to trade and hunt.

They used sleds to carry their supplies during the winter. The resources they used for sleds were birch bark and hickory wood. Another form of transportation they used was walking. Moccasins were shoes made from deer leather. In the winter snowshoes were used for walking across snow and the resources to make them were sinew nets and hickory wood.

Transportation

9

Lastly, the other kind of transportation they used were canoes and kayaks to get across the water and to fish. Natural resources used to build their boats were hickory wood and birch bark.

10

Geography

Native Americans chose to live in this area because of its natural resources.

The original people of New York came here from Asia. They were following their food and crossed a land bridge. These first people of New York were called People of the Forest or Woodlands. The first Native Americans were hunters because there were many animals. They ate the meat and used the skins for clothing.

11

Land bridge

12

Once the Native American people arrived they split up into the Haudenosaunee and the Algonquian nation. In the Haudenosaunee nation the tribes were the Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida and the Mohawk. In the Algonquian nation the tribes were the Delaware, Mohican, Abenaki, Wappinger, Montauk, Lenape and the Adirondacks.

The nations built their homes near water. Water was important because it provided fish, and water for cooking and drinking and also for farming. Lastly, water attracted the animals the men hunted for food.

Former location of Seneca summer camp in Irondequoit, NY

13

The Iroquois people or Native Americans hunted for meat, gathered nuts and berries from the woods, and grew crops for food.

Foods

The Iroquois grew beans, corn, squash and pumpkins to eat. They called beans, squash, and corn the “Three Sisters” because they grew together. The vines of the beans and squash grew together up the cornstalk.

14

The Iroquois hunted rabbits, deer and bears in the fields and woods. Native Americans hunted buffalo on the plains. They caught fish from lakes and streams.

They found nuts and berries in the woods. Women gathered leaves, bark, branches, roots for medicine and food. They went into the woods and they got sap from the maple trees for maple syrup.

How Native Americans used Free Time!

Did you know that after all that work of hunting and farming Native Americans had some free time to play? And it was fun!

In the Haudenosaunee and Algonquian nations, they had recreation, which is free time.

One of the games believe it or not, is a still around today, a ball game, now known as lacrosse. Some of the natural resources they used were hickory wood (a very light, easy to handle, wood) to make the outer edges of the net and the bat. The sinew was used to make the netting material. The game was played only by the men, 6-8 players is required.

Ball Game

15

At festivals and for entertainment at the end of Grand Council meetings they would compete in races.

During the Green Corn and New Year’s Festivals they also played something called games of chance. They would have 8 beans or nuts, a bowl, then they would shake the bowl and dump out the beans. To win they needed to get 6 of their color to get 2 points, 7 of their color equals 4 points, and 8 of your own color is 20 points. Here is where mother nature comes in, you need bowls made of clay or wood, beans or nuts.

In winter they played a game called snow snake. A path was made in the ice or snow then someone throws the wooden snake down the path as far as it can go. You win by throwing the snake the farthest. The snow snake is made from hickory wood.

Winter/Fest Games

16

There were many other activities to do. One was story telling from family members. Dolls were made by kids, from corn husks. Girls would also make pots out of clay and possibly even paint or design them in different colors.

There probably were many more games. Native Americans worked hard, but they played too.

Kid Games

17

Authors in Action

18

Back cover

This book is about how the Iroquois lived and what they used to survive. They used natural resources to do important things, but to also have fun. The people in the photograph are the authors of this book and the teachers that helped them are Mrs. Rocco, Mrs. Pound, and Ms. Kinz. The school the authors go to is Durand Eastman School in Irondequoit, New York.