Table of Contents
How did the Iroquois make a living?
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. Among these developments were ideas concerning the nature and management of property.
How was the Iroquois farmed?
To the Iroquois people, corn, beans, and squash are the Three Sisters, the physical and spiritual sustainers of life. The Iroquois agricultural system was based on the hill-planting method. Iroquois women, who were responsible for farming, placed several kernels of corn in a hole.
Did the Iroquois have money?
The Iroquois used a gift economy as a form of money. They traded corn, tobacco and other agricultural products as forms of currency.
What did the Iroquois rely on to survive?
They grew crops such as corn, beans, and squash. These three main crops were called the “Three Sisters” and were usually grown together. Women generally farmed the fields and cooked the meals. They had a number of ways to prepare corn and the other vegetables they grew.
Are the Iroquois still a tribe today?
Iroquois is actually a nation made up of six tribes. The original Iroquois Confederacy was made up of the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga tribes. Many Iroquois still live there today and across the border in Canada in Ontario and Quebec.
Who are the Iroquois people and what did they do?
The Iroquois call themselves Houdenosaunee, or “People of the Longhouse.” The Iroquois are most likely descended from the Owasco peoples, who lived in the Great Lakes area as long as 1,000 years ago. The Owasco were settled agriculturalists and supplemented their diet through hunting and fishing.
Where did the bead work of the Iroquois come from?
Beadwork sales to Victorian women were a major source of income for many Iroquois families. Iroquois beadworkers, most living on reservations in New York, Ontario, and Quebec, made some beadwork as gifts for family and friends, but the majority was made to sell as souvenirs.
When was the first settlement of the Iroquois?
The Iroquois became well known in the southern colonies in the 17th century by this time. After the first English settlement in Jamestown, Virginia (1607), numerous 17th-century accounts describe a powerful people known to the Powhatan Confederacy as the Massawomeck, and to the French as the Antouhonoron.
What was the population of the Iroquois Confederacy?
At the height of their power, the Iroquois Confederacy had boasted 10,000 or more members. By the end of the 18th century, their numbers had been reduced by more than half to about 4,000. At the turn of the 20th century (1910), their population had not yet fully recovered, reaching only a little over 7,000.