The Life of the
Iroquois
And How They Lived
By 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
Clothing
Men and women needed clothes to keep warm and for
protection. Native Americans used any animal they hunted for
clothing.
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.
1
The process of trying to make clothes
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.
2
Contributions
The 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.
Sinew tie
5
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
Women made cradle boards out of bark, wood and leather
skins to carry the children.
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
8
Transportation
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.
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.
Land bridge
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
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
12
Foods
The Iroquois people or Native Americans hunted for
meat, gathered nuts and berries from the woods, and grew
crops for food.
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.
13
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.
14
How Native Americans
used Free Time!
Ball Game
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.
15
Winter/Fest Games
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.
16
Kid Games
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.
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.