The Haudenosaunee: People of the Longhouse

Remember from Grade 3

In Grade 3 you learned that around 1784 many Haudenosaunee moved to the Grand River and the Bay of Quinte in what is now Ontario. Today we go back hundreds of years earlier, before Europeans came to Haudenosaunee lands, to see how this society lived and governed itself.

Who are the Haudenosaunee?

Haudenosaunee (say: hoe-deh-no-SHOW-nee) means "People of the Longhouse". Long ago, five nations joined together in a confederacy:

• Mohawk (in their own language, Kanien'kehá:ka)
• Oneida
• Onondaga
• Cayuga
• Seneca

In the early 1700s, the Tuscarora joined too, so today it is often called the Six Nations.

Their homelands were south and east of Lake Ontario, in what is now New York State, near lakes, rivers and rich forests. Today there are Haudenosaunee communities in Ontario, Quebec and New York, such as Six Nations of the Grand River, Tyendinaga, Akwesasne and Kahnawà:ke.

Life in a longhouse village

Villages were built near fresh water and good farmland, often on a hill, with a tall wall of wooden posts (a palisade) around them for protection.

Inside were longhouses:

• A frame of bent wooden poles, covered with big sheets of elm bark.
• Several related families lived in one longhouse. They all belonged to the same clan.
• Fires burned in a row down the middle. Two families, one on each side, shared each fire.
• Smoke escaped through holes in the roof.
• Food like dried corn was stored inside.

After many years, when the soil was tired and the firewood nearby was used up, a village would move to a new place.

The Three Sisters

Haudenosaunee women were the farmers. They planted corn, beans and squash together in small hills of soil. These three plants are called the Three Sisters, because they help each other grow:

• Corn grows tall and gives the beans a pole to climb.
• Beans help make the soil richer for the other plants.
• Squash has big leaves that shade the ground, keeping the soil damp and blocking weeds.

Men hunted deer and other animals, fished, cleared new fields, built longhouses, and travelled to trade and to meet with other nations. Everyone gathered berries, nuts and plants for food and medicine.

Clans and clan mothers

Every Haudenosaunee person belongs to a clan, such as Turtle, Wolf or Bear. The clan comes from your mother. This is called matrilineal.

Each clan has a clan mother, a respected woman chosen for her wisdom. Clan mothers have great responsibility:

• They choose the chiefs for their clan.
• They can remove a chief who does not do his job well.
• They help make sure decisions are good for the people and the future.

In many other early societies, women had much less say in government. In Haudenosaunee society, women and men each had important roles in leadership.

The Great Law of Peace

Haudenosaunee oral history tells that long ago, the five nations were often at war with each other. A messenger called the Peacemaker, helped by Hiawatha and a woman leader named Jigonsaseh, travelled to each nation with a message of peace, unity and good minds.

The nations agreed to the Great Law of Peace. People give different dates for when this happened, but it was hundreds of years ago, before Europeans came to these lands.

Symbols of the Great Law:

• A white pine, the Tree of Peace. The nations buried their weapons under its roots.
• An eagle on top of the tree, watching for danger.
• A bundle of arrows: one arrow breaks easily, but five tied together are strong.

How decisions are made

• The Grand Council has 50 chiefs from the nations.
• They talk until they all agree. This is called consensus.
• The Onondaga are the firekeepers, where the council meets.
• The Great Law was recorded with wampum belts. The Hiawatha Belt shows the five nations joined together, with a tree in the middle for the Onondaga.

The Haudenosaunee Grand Council still meets today.