Political Organization
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The Iroquois were divided in a very unique way which included clans and tribes. Every person was a member of a certain clan and tribe. A tribe consists of many different clans. The people in these different clans referred to each other as family. If a decision was to be made the first act was to decide as a clan, then together as a tribe. If the tribe agreed a “grand council” would be planned which involved other tribes. The leader of the meeting would be the chief. There as always been and will always be 56 chiefs in the Iroquois nation. The chief would then discuss the decision and share it with the other tribes. Each clan was made up of one chief, or “Hoyaneh” meaning care takers of peace. Each nations chief withholds the same amount of power, they are not the head of everything but more the voice of the people. A very important role in political organization is the clan “mother”. Clan mothers were in charge of most political power and war tactics. The Iroquois also used a system called “community census” which again involved working together to get things done. If a chief died it was the clan mother’s responsibility to elect a new chief to take his place. Even though the people worked together to establish rules and come to a conclusion in decisions, chiefs and clan mothers needed to be loyal and responsible. The system worked well and they were successful with many decisions.
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War
The Iroquois were very involved with war and it was considered a “way of life” for all the nations. In each battle their power and desire to fight grew with a fiery passion. They essentially became addicted to war. The Iroquois would fight their enemies and they would even turn on each other. The most popular warrior in the Iroquois was tadodaho, chief of the Onondaga nation. This evil man was very cunning crafty and was successful with his intimidating reputation. The Iroquois were torturous fighters and cannibalism was strongly influenced. Some chiefs attempted peace but it seemed their love for war would never die. Hayenwatha was a faithful chief who devoted his life working very hard to bring the nations to peace. There came a time where wars were called “beaver wars” During this time the Iroquois defeated tribes such as Huron. Neutral, Erie, susequehannock, and other small tribes. To the Iroquois death meant strength within the nation. Some chiefs were successful and the wampum belt was created. This two-row belt represented peace and respect among the tribes. Around the same time the five nations of the Iroquois we know today, joined together to form the Iroquois confederacy or the Iroquois League. The Iroquois at its peak controlled from the Genesee River of the west side all the way through the finger lake regions to the Hudson River on the east. The metaphor used by the Iroquois was called “longhouse” which represented their political alliance. The Seneca, the most westerly tribe were the keepers of the western door. The Mohawk, the most easterly tribe, were the keepers of the eastern door. |
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War dances were performed when a battle was about to happen. It was a ritual that signifies war and the preparation for the big battle that is about to occur.
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The nations fought ruthlessly often taking captives and young survivors. The survivors would then be adopted into different clans amount the nations. This tactic was said to help keep the Iroquois maintain the power. With all the captives even disease and warfare was unable to defeat the number of men in the military. The captives that were unlucky were tortured to death by being tied to a post, scalped then burned. The Algonquin’s repeatedly attacked upon the Iroquois. So they changed their training to a more Spartan manner, which was more affective. Originally they used mass formations and would fight behind a protective wall of shields. But they changed their thinking and began planning forms of ambush. The Iroquois has a major advantage of making their weaponry mobile. They occupied many war canoes, which made it easy to manoeuvre up and down rivers and attack from different locations. This also made travel and access to other tribes very easy. Many important wards that the Iroquois fought were between them and the Europeans. However they destroyed the Huron in 1649, petun in 1650, neutral nation in 1651, and Erie in 1657.
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![Picture](/uploads/2/3/7/8/23786397/3761371.jpg)
The war club is a wooden ball on a long stick of wood. For war there were often spikes on the ball that would crush skulls and bones making death very painful and instant.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/7/8/23786397/7324804.jpg)
The lance or spear doubles as a tool and a weapon. Made of wood and stone its sharp end can pierce enemies. This is a throwing weapon
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/7/8/23786397/3623603.jpg)
The bow was made of wood and the arrows are made of wood+stone. The men occupying these weapons needed to be strong and have good shooting accuracy. This quiet weapon helped with the tactic of ambush.
![Picture](/uploads/2/3/7/8/23786397/9496946.jpg)
The tomahawk is a very famous native weapon, it is a small axe that also doubles as a tool. The axe is thrown into the backs of enemies and is very useful in war.
The Iroquois were very close which meant then traded with not only other tribes but among themselves as well. They traded excess corn and tobacco for the pelts of tribes sup north. They traded wampum (shell beads) with the tribes to the east of them. The Iroquois traders used an interesting technique called “present giving”. It starts with one clan giving another clan a present. It is expected that the clan receiving the gift would send one back. The Iroquois were very fond of this method and encouraged sharing within the community. An item that caused a lot of wars that nations fought harshly for was alcohol. There are many records of violence in the liquor trade. It brought much tragedy to many native-American tribes. The Iroquois also traded things like corn, squash, clay pipes, beaver furs, steak and many other items. There was another system within the nation called “matrilineal system”. This is when a mother passes things down to her daughter. The Iroquois traded aggressively and there are many different theories as to why. Some say that they were just trying to protect their role in economy as the middle class. Other say they needed to be forceful traders because of lack of items in their own land.
They also painted on pottery and carved on wood or soapstone. A very popular craft made by the Iroquois was the dream catcher. Art also referred to different stories and legends. The most popular piece of art the Iroquois made was their “false fask mask”. They were masks, which were only used in religious ceremonies and were very important to the Iroquois. Manny Iroquois woman did a lot of quillwork and made wampum belts out of the wampum beads. Woman’s patterns and designs in their art was very beautiful and intricate.
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Art
The Iroquois were very hardworking and spent a lot of time on survival, however they had a great balance of leisure activities as well. The Iroquois were very lively and energetic people who enjoyed all aspects of art. Before contact with Europeans, art was made out of cornhusk, hide, clay, wood, stone, shell, and bones. Iroquois represented their beliefs and history of their people. |
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A very famous legend a part of Iroquois art is the Cornhusk doll. Story has it a young girl doll was created and she was extremely beautiful. She was very arrogant and became to cocky of her good looks. So the creator of the doll took away her face. Mothers give their Iroquois daughters these dolls to remind them that beauty is more important on the inside than the outside.
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Apart from the more decorative side of art, the Iroquois musicality. The two most important Iroquois instruments were the drum and flute. The drums were filled with water to sound different from the drums of other tribes. They were very fond of music that was rhythmic and loved singing in tune to the banging of the drums. The Iroquois had many different traditional dances that represented different things. A video on the right shows a mens smoke dance which is usually performed around a fire to communicate ones thoughts. Flutes represented a man trying to lure a woman in; it was to show he was interested in her. The children of the Iroquois have a very fortunate life. They went to school, helped around the house, they even got to hunt and fish with their fathers. The kids had toys like cornhusk dolls, and played several different games. Lacrosse was formed by the Iroquois so the boys and men played this very often.
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WHY?
The main idea of this project is our tribe we were assigned. However the key part in socials challenge is further linking the why of events that occurred In this project we were asked to connect the tribes geography and how it affected everything that they did. So in this section you will find my answers as to how geography affected the different things the iroquois did.
Political Organization
Many people think that politcal organization and the geography and the iroquois would not be able to be linked together. However i thought deep into the idea of community desicions and how the tribes and clans worked together to establish things. I came up with a reason for this happening. Because of its geography the iroquois people built longhouses. These longhouses mean that the iroquois lived together and were very social with each other. Because of these reasons i think that the iroquois were somewhat forced to work together and create a form of democratic of government. The iroquois didnt jusr wakeup one day and decide they were going to all take part in making desicions. They were very close with eachother and very involved in eachothers lives so they automatically thought of working together to make a desicion just as they would work together to survive. The iroquois also were surrounded with rivers and easily crossable terrain. This made transportation easy which meant they could easily have contact with each other. They were able to share news as clans and tribes and spread the word easily because their geography didn't put them in an isolated place.
War
Geography shaped warfare by a tremendous amount and effected it greatly. For starters the iroquois were surrounded by trees. Trees mean wood and wood can be used to many diffrent weapons. They also had access to alot of stone which meant they could easily add sharpness to any object. All this wood provided a large amount of weaponry and made it very easy for the iroquois to have a successful military. Also because of all the rivers where the iroquois lived they were able to plan ambush's very effectively. The rivers made it easy for them to manouever up and down in their long canoes.
Trade
The closeness and togetherness aspect of the iroquois really did efect every part of their life. Because the iroquois lived in a very easy-living terrain they were able to have alot of contact with each other. This made trade very easy because getting in touch with each other and transporting items was never a hassle. They were surrounded with plants and wildlife so they had many different items to trade. This not only meant that trading was easier but the amount of items the traded was always very high. Even with the so called scarcity of furs in their own territory because the iroquois lived in such a good location they were able to get in contact with other tribes. The climate in their location was never to harsh either meaning being isolated and cut off was never an issue.
Art
The trees surrounding the iroquois had such an strong impact in everything they did. The iroquois were provided with so much wood that could be made into many different pieces of art. They also had access to corn husk and different items that were perfect for art and sculptures. Not only did the plants in the iroquois location but the weather as well had an affect. WIthout too harsh seasons they could have big ceremonies and fires and enjoy dancing and singing without being stormed on. The trees meant a lot of wood for instruments and fire for the celebrations.
In conclusion the iroquois are a very interesting nation. They worked together to wipeout other tribes and keep theirs going strong. Their geography has a huge effect on everything they did and the decisions they made. The iroquois were blessed with an easy living environment and they were able to have great lives. If i could live in any tribe i would chose the iroquois because i admire their togetherness and how geography forced them to come up with many different creative ways of doing life.
The main idea of this project is our tribe we were assigned. However the key part in socials challenge is further linking the why of events that occurred In this project we were asked to connect the tribes geography and how it affected everything that they did. So in this section you will find my answers as to how geography affected the different things the iroquois did.
Political Organization
Many people think that politcal organization and the geography and the iroquois would not be able to be linked together. However i thought deep into the idea of community desicions and how the tribes and clans worked together to establish things. I came up with a reason for this happening. Because of its geography the iroquois people built longhouses. These longhouses mean that the iroquois lived together and were very social with each other. Because of these reasons i think that the iroquois were somewhat forced to work together and create a form of democratic of government. The iroquois didnt jusr wakeup one day and decide they were going to all take part in making desicions. They were very close with eachother and very involved in eachothers lives so they automatically thought of working together to make a desicion just as they would work together to survive. The iroquois also were surrounded with rivers and easily crossable terrain. This made transportation easy which meant they could easily have contact with each other. They were able to share news as clans and tribes and spread the word easily because their geography didn't put them in an isolated place.
War
Geography shaped warfare by a tremendous amount and effected it greatly. For starters the iroquois were surrounded by trees. Trees mean wood and wood can be used to many diffrent weapons. They also had access to alot of stone which meant they could easily add sharpness to any object. All this wood provided a large amount of weaponry and made it very easy for the iroquois to have a successful military. Also because of all the rivers where the iroquois lived they were able to plan ambush's very effectively. The rivers made it easy for them to manouever up and down in their long canoes.
Trade
The closeness and togetherness aspect of the iroquois really did efect every part of their life. Because the iroquois lived in a very easy-living terrain they were able to have alot of contact with each other. This made trade very easy because getting in touch with each other and transporting items was never a hassle. They were surrounded with plants and wildlife so they had many different items to trade. This not only meant that trading was easier but the amount of items the traded was always very high. Even with the so called scarcity of furs in their own territory because the iroquois lived in such a good location they were able to get in contact with other tribes. The climate in their location was never to harsh either meaning being isolated and cut off was never an issue.
Art
The trees surrounding the iroquois had such an strong impact in everything they did. The iroquois were provided with so much wood that could be made into many different pieces of art. They also had access to corn husk and different items that were perfect for art and sculptures. Not only did the plants in the iroquois location but the weather as well had an affect. WIthout too harsh seasons they could have big ceremonies and fires and enjoy dancing and singing without being stormed on. The trees meant a lot of wood for instruments and fire for the celebrations.
In conclusion the iroquois are a very interesting nation. They worked together to wipeout other tribes and keep theirs going strong. Their geography has a huge effect on everything they did and the decisions they made. The iroquois were blessed with an easy living environment and they were able to have great lives. If i could live in any tribe i would chose the iroquois because i admire their togetherness and how geography forced them to come up with many different creative ways of doing life.
Bibliography
http://www.iroquoisdemocracy.pdx.edu/html/furtrader.htm
http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Iroquois-Economy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois
http://www.tribaldirectory.net/articles/iroquois-art.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_7805337_iroquois-arts-crafts.html
https://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=24798
http://www.lermuseum.org/en/choronology/1600-1649/iroquois-warfare-1640-1650/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/iroquois
http://www.mpm.edu/wirp/ICW-35.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/weapons-of-the-iroquois
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/landscape-and-nature-cinemagraphs/3
http://www.iroquoisdemocracy.pdx.edu/html/furtrader.htm
http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Iroquois-Economy.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois
http://www.tribaldirectory.net/articles/iroquois-art.html
http://www.ehow.com/list_7805337_iroquois-arts-crafts.html
https://www.livebinders.com/play/play?id=24798
http://www.lermuseum.org/en/choronology/1600-1649/iroquois-warfare-1640-1650/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois
http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/articles/iroquois
http://www.mpm.edu/wirp/ICW-35.html
http://www.examiner.com/article/weapons-of-the-iroquois
http://all-that-is-interesting.com/landscape-and-nature-cinemagraphs/3