The Iroquois

A detailed Summary of The Iroquois

The Indian Tribe in North America that I chose to report on is the Iroquois. The Iroquois are one of the most important tribes because they were part of the Revolutionary war and sided with the British. I chose to research the Iroquois because they seem very interesting and they were a very advanced tribe. I also liked the fact that they played a role in the Revolutionary war.

The Iroquois were originally a confederacy of Five Nations which resided in upstate New York between the Adirondack Mountains and Niagara Falls. Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca were the names of the five original nations. Sometime between 1715 and 1722, the Tuscaroras, an Iroquoian tribe of North Carolina, which had moved to New York, were formally admitted to the confederacy.

The name Iroquois was given to them like many other tribes, by their enemies. The Algonquin called them the Iroqu "rattlesnakes." After the French added the Gallic suffix "-ois" to this insult, the name became Iroquois. The Iroquois call themselves Haudenosaunee meaning "people of the long house."

Over time, they gained control of most of the Northeastern United States and eastern Canada. At its peak in 1680, their empire extended west from the north shore of Ches

For now, their talent for diplomacy and political unity kept things under control, but forces which would destroy them had been set in motion. On the positive side, the conquering gave the Iroquois a claim to the lands of their former enemies. However, the Iroquois didn't extend their conquering to non-Iroquoian speaking tribes and that caused the population to drop. Despite the incorporation of 1,500 Tuscarora in 1722 as a sixth member of the Five Nations, there were only 12,00 Iroquois by 1768. By the end of the Revolutionary War, they were less than 8,000.

The food of the Iroquois was mostly based on agriculture. Corn, beans, and squash were called "deohako" or "life supporters." Their importance to the Iroquois was clearly demonstrated by the six annual agricultural festivals held with prayers of gratitude for their harvests. Women were the ones that harvested and collected crops under the supervision of the clan mother. Men left the village in the fall to hunt and returned about mid-winter. The primary occupation of the men was warfare, aside for building the villages and clearing land.

In warm weather, men usually wore just legging and a breechclout. A breechclout was a piece of fabric about 18 inches wide that passed between the legs. It was held to the waist by a belt and hung down to the knees in the front and back. After the arrival of the white man, the Iroquois male began to carry a tobacco pouch. It hung at his waist and was attached to a shoulder strap that crossed his chest. The Iroquois man sometimes wore an unusual feather-covered cap. It conformed to the shape of his head. In the center of the hat, one or two feathers stood up.

The Iroquios, Barbara A. McCall, 1989, p12, 19

The government of the Iroquois is somewhat hard to explain. First, the clan mothers were the ones who nominated the man that can possibly become chief. The people were the ones that "voted" for the chief. Once they have found a chief, he is the chief for the rest of his life unless he does not do what the people want. If the chief does not do what the people want, he has three chances to stop or he will be no longer be the chief.

American Indian Almanac, John Upton Terrell, 1971, p196

Some common words found in the essay are:
Iroquois Iroquoian-speaking, False Society, Pennsylvania Chesapeake, False False, Iroquois Iroquois, Revolutionary War, North Carolina, Lake Michigan, Northeastern United, Onondaga Seneca, sick person, false society, revolutionary war, clan mothers ones, native americans, cold weather, medical care, name iroquois, five nations, warm weather, ones voted chief, hole roof smoke, system government,

Approximate Word count = 1726
Approximate Pages = 7 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: History