IROQUOIS LONGHOUSE

Northeast America and Upstate New York c.18th century

The Iroquois is the name used to refer to indigenous American tribes that speak an Iroquoian language. . These tribes included Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. They primarily occupied areas around what is now New York and sections of Pennsylvania. The Iroquois peoples confederation is also known as the Haudenosaunee which means 'People of the Longhouse'. According to the Haudenosaunee's official site, the longhouse imagery was symbolic of each nation's role within the confederacy.

Longhouses were the homes of the Iroquois and would house a number of families. Longhouses have been built in a variety of different cultures, evidence of the earliest examples being found in Europe and originating from around 5000 BCE. Even the Vikings of Scandinavia are said to have lived in variations of the form. Other indigenous peoples of North America, including those living on the coast of the Pacific Northwest, lived in such structures, though these varied in design and construction to those built by the Iroquois.

The name is an obvious reference to the long shape of these homes, usually dictated by the size and number of the families who were to live in them. An Iroquois village would have comprised of a number of longhouses and would have been surrounded by a palisade, a protective wall constructed out of wooden posts and bark.

A great deal of what was originally known about these constructions and their use came from white European colonists and settlers. However, in recent years archaeologists in the New York area have uncovered evidence of traditional longhouses, helping further our understanding of these important structures.