The Iroquois used the endless supply of wood for many of their living needs. They used trees and tree bark for shelter and transportation when building their longhouses and canoes. Trees even provided a source of food for the Iroquois. They would gather nuts from the various trees and make sugar from the sap.

As A. C. Parker states, “The Tree of Peace is an important symbol of peace in Iroquois tradition and in the historical record of diplomacy between the Iroquois and Westerners. Weapons would be buried under a tree to seal a peace agreement. A tree might even be uprooted to create a cavity for the weapons.

The Iroquoian people were predominantly agricultural, harvesting the “Three Sisters” commonly grown by Native American groups: corn, beans, and squash. They developed certain cultural customs.

Fun Facts about the Iroquois Up to 60 people would live in a single longhouse. As long as there was food, no one ever went hungry in a village as food was freely shared. There was a trail that connected the Five Nations called the Iroquois Trail. The Iroquois Great Council still meets today.

Iroquois Society The Iroquoi Tribes, also known as the Haudenosuanee, are known for many things. But they are best known for their longhouses. Each longhouse was home to many members of a Haudenosuanee family. Archaeologists have unearthed longhouse remains that extend more than the length of a football field.

Modern Iroquois Iroquois people still exist today. There are approximately 28,000 living in or near reservations in New York State, and approximately 30,000 more in Canada (McCall 28).

The Iroquois people lived in longhouses. Longhouses were large wood-frame buildings covered with sheets of elm bark. The Iroquois of today live in modern houses and apartment buildings.

The word Iroquois is really a derogatory term, derived from the French version of the Huron name for the Haudenosaunee, meaning “Black Snake”.

“The Iroquois religious beliefs are centered on an omniscient ‘Great Spirit’, who they believe is also their creator. They are strong proponents of anthropomorphism or animated nature and seasons. Many Iroquois are followers of Christianity.

The Iroquois believed the world to be full of supernatural creatures, including gods, spirits, and demons. Many religions have a god who is strongest or most important, and in the Iroquois religion that central god was the Great Spirit (also called the Great Chief or Great Mystery, depending on the tribe).

The Iroquois were a very spiritual people who believed in the Great Spirit, the creator of all living things. They also believed in a Good Spirit and an Evil Spirit, who were in charge of good things and bad things that happened on the Earth.

The soul is aware of the circumstances of death but the initial feelings of trepidation are replaced with a profound sense of release. The Iroquois believe we as humans have been given this form of life so we may become sensual beings, to learn what it is like to understand birth, struggle, love, death and renewal.

The bodies are traditionally buried in the ground in the belief that they will provide nourishment to the earth. Typically, the Cherokee dead are not embalmed nor are their organs donated.

Iroquois, any member of the North American Indian tribes speaking a language of the Iroquoian family—notably the Cayuga, Cherokee, Huron, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Tuscarora.

For entertainment, the Iroquois played sports like lacrosse, a stick and ball game, and in the wintertime a game called snow snake.

Women had many important jobs in the Iroquois tribe such as planting and harvesting the crops, collecting wild nuts and berries, making clothes, clay pots and baskets, taking care of the homes and the children. And of one of the most important jobs was being a Clan Mother.

The Iroquois used bows & arrows to hunt for deer, elk, ducks and fish and then later guns were used to hunt for bears , deer , rabbits , elks and ducks. Those are some uses of the hunt.

The lakes, rivers and streams provided the men with bass, trout, whitefish, sturgeon and perch. Nets and spears brought in the greatest amount but they also used hooks and lines to catch the fish. Arrows and spears were often made of chert which is commonly called flint.

Among the Iroquois, blackberry infused water was noted to be a winter drink, made from dried blackberries. It was said to frighten away the cold. The juice of corn and squash were noted to be used for beverages among the Huron (Russell, 1980:85-86).

Weapons that the Iroquois used include tomahawks (a small axe that can be thrown), bows (with string made out of sinew) and arrows (stone), war clubs…

For the Iroquois, the tomahawk was used in hand-to-hand combat, or as a thrown weapon from horseback or long distance. Traditionally, the Iroquois made their tomahawks out of stone (head) and wood (handle).

Rapidly Iroquois warriors mastered the use of short, light, and durable flintlock muskets, produced en masse by the Dutch exclusively for the North American Indian market. These weapons were ideal for forest warfare.

The Iroquois attacked their traditional enemies the Algonquins, Mahicans, Montagnais, and Hurons, and the alliance of these tribes with the French quickly brought the Iroquois into conflict directly with them.

Why did the Iroquois tribes dislike the French? The French gave their support to another tribe during a war.

The French and Iroquois Wars, which were fought from 1642 to 1698 were various battles that came about because the Iroquois tribe wanting to expand their territory. They were seeking to serve as middlemen between other Native American tribes and the French in order to facilitate the fur trade in the area.

The Mohawk are traditionally the keepers of the Eastern Door of the Iroquois Confederacy, also known as the Six Nations Confederacy or the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Our original homeland is the north eastern region of New York State extending into southern Canada and Vermont.

Tribal Nations

• Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Reservation.
• Chippewa Cree Tribe of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation.
• Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Reservation.
• Crow Tribe of the Crow Reservation.
• Fort Belknap Tribes of the Fort Belknap Reservation.
• Fort Peck Tribes of the Fort Peck Reservation.

Today, there are about 30,000 Mohawk in the United States and Canada.