What was the social organization of the Iroquois?
Iroquois. The longhouse family was the basic unit of traditional Iroquois society, which used a nested form of social organization: households (each representing a lineage) were divisions of clans, several clans constituted each moiety, and the two moieties combined to create a tribe.
What did the Iroquois do for a living?
This map shows the Iroquois tribes in the area. It was a matriarchal and matrilineal society, so the power rests with the women. They own the fields where the crops grow, and responsible for them as well. The men did more of the heavy work, such as hunting and building the long houses.
How many Iroquois tribes were there?
In the Iroquois confederacy, there are 5 groups; the Mohawk, Cayuga, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga and Tuscarora. However, there are several other nations along with that. Each town could have a population of more than 2000 people at their peak. This map shows the Iroquois tribes in the area.
What kind of houses did the Iroquois live in?
The Iroquois lived in longhouses, which could fit many members of the clan. Some longhouses have been found that are longer than a modern football field. This is appropriate, since many people lived in each long house. Within each tribe, there are moieties, or parts of a group that divide them socially and ritually.
Was Iroquois society communal or hierarchical?
The Iroquois had an essentially communal system of land ownership.
What was the Iroquois League and how was it structured?
The Iroquois Confederacy originally consisted of five separate nations – the Mohawks, who call themselves Kanienkehaka, or "people of the flint country,” the Onondaga, “people of the hills,” the Cayuga, “where they land the boats,” the Oneida, “people of the standing stone,” and the Seneca, “thepeople of the big hill” ...
How did the social structure of the Iroquois society impact its decision making?
The Grand Council system ensured each nation had an equal voice. No nation could dominate another nation. In order for a decision to become law, all of the nations had to agree to it. The presence of the clan mothers and faithkeepers ensured that the chiefs worked in the best interests of the people.
What was the Iroquois community like?
The Iroquois lived in villages with long wooden buildings called “longhouses.” Families would live together in the structures with extended family members. The Haudenosaunee viewed the concept of the longhouse like six families living under one roof, with each nation representing a family.
Who helped organize the Iroquois League?
They were the Mohawk, the Oneida, the Onondaga, the Cayuga, and the Seneca. They lived near one another in what is now New York State. Well before Europeans came to North America, they organized the Iroquois League.
Who had power in Iroquois society?
The representatives, or sachems, from the Seneca and Mohawk tribes met in one house and those of the Oneida and Cayuga met in the other. The Onondaga sachems broke ties and had the power to veto decisions made by the others.
What was the social structure of the tribe?
Tribes and Clans At the highest level were the tribes or nations. These were large groups of people that had culture, geography, and language in common. Within each tribe were smaller groups called clans. The members of a clan generally shared a common ancestor and were considered related to one another.
What type of decision making was used by the Iroquois?
The Iroquois used elaborately ritualized systems for choosing leaders and making important decisions.
What form of decision making did the Iroquois use?
Each clan would reach a decision by consensus. The Clan Mother would report the decision to the Clan Chief. The Clan Chiefs would get together in Council of Clan Chiefs and reach a consensus.
How would you describe Iroquois culture?
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.
What were women's roles in Iroquois society?
In the Iroquois community, women were the keepers of culture. They were responsible for defining the political, social, spiritual and economic norms of the tribe. Iroquois society was matrilineal, meaning descent was traced through the mother rather than through the father, as it was in Colonial society.
Was Iroquois a violent tribe?
A persistent 19th and 20th century narrative casts the Iroquois as "an expansive military and political power ... [who] subjugated their enemies by violent force and for almost two centuries acted as the fulcrum in the balance of power in colonial North America".
What is the Iroquois League and why was it formed?
The Iroquois League or Haudenosaunee was a political alliance and a cultural community of the Native American tribes inhabiting the region of the Great Lakes, formed to facilitate peace between them.
What was the Iroquois League quizlet?
The Iroquois League was a confederacy of nations. Each nation in the league sent 10 elected leaders to a council. They discussed problems faced by all the nations. All council decisions had to be unanimous; everyone had to agree.
What was the structure of the Iroquois Confederacy and how were leaders elected?
The Iroquois Confederation was governed by a Grand Council of fifty chiefs: the Onondaga sent fourteen chiefs to the council, the Cayuga, ten, the Oneida and Mohawk, nine each, and the Seneca, eight. The Tuscarora were nonvoting members. The council met in a long house in the centrally located Onondaga.
What was significant about the Iroquois League?
Answer and Explanation: The Iroquois League was most significant because it helped to resist the expansion of Europeans in the area by helping the tribes within it act on a unified front. Also, their similarities and common goals made this a reality.
What is the social structure of the Iroquois?
Social Structure. The social structure of the Iroquois is tied to their family structure. Iroquois society is matrilineal, which means that the family line is traced down from the female line. The Iroquois lived in longhouses, which could fit many members of the clan.
Where did the Iroquois live?
When people talk about the Iroquois, they're referring to a number of tribes that live in upstate New York and the providence of Ontario. The Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk nations all came together to form the Iroquois Confederacy sometime between the 12th and 15th centuries CE.
How many tribes are there in the Iroquois Confederacy?
Lesson Summary. The Iroquois, also called the Six Nations, refer to themselves as the Haudenosaunee and are made up of six tribes. They formed the Iroquois Confederacy between the 12th and 15th centuries, a Confederacy that used a bicameral system of government with sachems, or representatives. They are of the oldest participatory democracies (a ...
What was the role of the Iroquois Confederacy in the French and British wars?
The Iroquois Confederacy is known as a society with great military and political organization , and one where women have a critical role. 4:52.
What is the name of the tribe that Bailey taught?
Bailey teaches High School English, has taught history, and has a master's degree in Anthropology/Historical Archaeology. The Iroquois refer to themselves as the Haudenosaunee. Made up of six tribes, they formed the Iroquois Confederacy. A matrilineal society, the Iroquois Confederacy has a strong sense of gender equality ...
Why did the Iroquois move to the longhouse?
The family of the mother also educated the children, and if any Iroquois owned property, it was the women. This was because women were the ones who tended the land.
Which tribes met in one, the Oneida and Cayuga?
The Seneca and Mohawk tribes met in one, the Oneida and Cayuga in the other. Meanwhile, the sachems of the Onondaga had the power to veto the decisions of the other four. The Iroquois Confederacy remains the oldest participatory democracy, a democracy where the people are directly involved, in the world.