Haudenosaunee Government/Tribes
What was the name of the "set of rules" (constitution) for the Haudenosaunee? This "set of rules" also brought all of the Haudenosaunee tribes together, and they stopped fighting with one another
The Great Law of Peace
Where did the Haudenosaunee live, and where did the Algonquins live?
Haudenosaunee - Northern and Central part of NY
Algonquins - Southern part of NY
What were longhouses made out of?
Elm bark, wood
What did the Haudenosaunee men do, and what did Haudenosaunee women do?
Men - hunting, fishing, making weapons, making instruments, clearing the fields
Women - planting/harvesting, making baskets and clay pots, taking care of the children, making the food
How did nature provide what the Haudenosaunee needed for their food? What types of natural resources did they need in order to access the food that they ate?
They needed to live by water (rivers, streams, lakes) so that they could fish
Needed to live by wooded areas so they could hunt, get wild fruits, mushrooms, wild nuts, etc.
Needed to live by maple trees to get the sap
They needed an area with good soil in order to produce their crops
What was the other name for the Onondaga?
What was the other name given to Seneca and Mohawk tribes?
Onondaga - "Keepers of the Central Fire"
Seneca - "Keepers of the Western Door"
Mohawk - "Keepers of the Eastern Door"
What type of boat did the Algonquins use, and what type of boat did the Haudenosaunee use?
What kinds of fish did the Haudenosaunee fish for, and what kinds of fish the the Algonquins fish for?
- Algonquins - Big boats because the big boats could handle rough ocean waters
- Haudenosasaunee lived by lakes and rivers, which were calm, so they had small boats
Haudenosaunee fished for freshwater fish (perch, trout)
Algonquins fished for shells, clams, mussels, welks, and other salt-water fish
How many people lived in a longhouse?
About 60 people, 20 or more families
What kinds of foods did the Haudenosaunee eat?
Corn, beans, squash (three sisters)
Fish
pumpkin
sunflowers
melon
eggs from birds and turtles
maple syrup
black bear, elk, deer, rabbit, wolves, turkey, ducks, turtles
mushrooms, wild nuts, fruits
What natural resources did they need so that they could build their longhouses?
They needed to live by an area with a lot of wood so they could use the wood and elm bark for their longhouses
They needed to live by the woods so that they could hunt the animals that lived there for food and then use the animal sinew to tie parts of the longhouse together
What were the other names for the Haudenosaunee?
- Iroquois (Algonquins gave them this name)
- The Six Nations
What is Wampum? Which group had to get Wampum from the other group, and why?
The Haudenosaunee would use Wampum belts to record important events and tell stories. They would use beads made out of clam shells to tell the story
They had to get them from the Algonquins, because the Wampum was made out of the shells of clams, which the Haudenosaunee could not access where they lived.
What is a clan?
Everyone in a clan had the same female relative that died a long time before
What were the names of the festivals that the Haudenosaunee celebrated? What did these festivals celebrate? When were they celebrated?
Maple festival - early spring, celebrated giving thanks for Spring, and the maple tree for maple sap
Planting festival - later in the spring, giving thanks for the return of the planting season. Asking for blessings for the seeds that were being planted
Strawberry festival - End of May/Early June - celebrated the return of strawberries
Green corn festival - Held in August celebrating the three sisters: corn, beans, and squash
Harvest festival - Early October. Celebrating crops being picked, cooked, and stored for the winter
Midwinter - Early February. Celebrating the new year
What natural resource did the Haudenosaunee need to use for their canoe transportation?
They needed lakes and rivers so that they could travel on their canoes
How did the Haudenosaunee make a decision at a council meeting?
They had to talk to each other, and they all had to agree on the same decision
What were the names of the tribes of the Haudenosaunee?
What were the names of the tribes of the Algonquins?
Haudenosaunee - Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, Mohawk
Algonquins - Lenni Lenape, Shinnecock, Mahicans
Describe what was inside of the longhouse
- fire pits
- platforms (flat surfaces) that they used for storage and sleeping
- A section for each family, separated by animal skin or tree bark
What were some of the things that the Haudenosaunee would do to celebrate festivals?
Thanksgiving address, speeches, prayers, songs, dances, music, games, feast, sacred tobacco was burned. Sometimes it was smoked
Maple festival - maple syrup and candies
Strawberry festival - eating strawberries
Green corn festival - children born since the Midwinter festival were given names, eating corn soup/succotash, peach-stone game
Midwinter - elders visited the longhouses, stirred the ashes of the old fire, told everyone to clean their house and light a new fire
What natural resource did they need to live near so that they could make their clothes?
They needed to live by the woods so that they could hunt animals (especially deer) and make clothes out of the animal skins
What were the symbols for the Great Law of Peace?
- A white pine tree with arrows buried underneath it (represented the end of the war)
- Five arrows tied together (represented that they are stronger together)
- Hiawatha Belt - represents all 5 tribes coming together. The square all the way to the east represents Mohawk, then the square next to it is Oneida, then the tree of peace in the middle represents Onondaga, then the square next to the tree of peace on the left side represents Cayuga, and the square all of the way to the west represents Seneca
How were the Haudenosaunee and Algonquin governments different?
Haudenosaunee tribes were united together, while the Algonquin tribes were not
What does "Haudenosaunee" mean?
Haudenosaunee means "People of the Longhouse"
What kinds of games did the Haudenosaunee play?
- lacrosse
- peach-stone game
- snow-snake game
What natural resources did they need in order to build their canoes?
They needed elm bark/wood