NATIVE AMERICAN VILLAGE TOUR
Group Roles:
• Politician: What type of government did the people have? How was power gained,
consolidated, and maintained, and by whom?
• Economist: How were resources managed in the society? How was wealth distributed?
• Anthropologist: What were the cultural characteristics of the society? What social roles were
evident?
• Archeologist: What did these societies leave behind? What contributions did they make to
later civilizations?
Task: Use the documents to complete your row in the chart on p. 4 in your packets. Then, create a
model village following the guidelines below. You may also refer to the example on the board. Each
village must:
• Provide a brief overview and a visual representation of the political aspects of the society
• Provide a brief overview and a visual representation of the economic aspects of the society
• Provide a brief overview and a visual representation of the social aspects of the society
• Provide a brief overview and a visual representation of the contributions of the society
• Incorporate all visual aids into a model village. This may require the addition of more visual
aids, such as their homes, gathering places, and other structures.
RUBRIC
CATEGORY 4- Excellent 3- Good 2- Satisfactory 1-Poor
Knowledge Gained Student can accurately
answer all questions
related to facts in the
poster and processes
used to create the
poster.
Student can
accurately answer
most questions related
to facts in the poster
and processes used to
create the poster.
Student can
accurately answer
about 75% of questions
related to facts in the
poster and processes
used to create the
poster.
Student appears to
have insufficient
knowledge about the
facts or processes used
in the poster.
Required Elements The poster/presentation
includes all required
elements noted above
as well as additional
information.
All required elements
noted above are
included on the
poster/ in presentation.
All but 1 of the
required elements
noted above are
included on the
poster/ in presentation.
Several required
elements were missing.
Use of Class Time Used time well during
each class period.
Focused on getting the
project done. Never
distracted others.
Used time well during
each class period.
Usually focused on
getting the project
done and never
distracted others.
Used some of the time
well during each class
period. There was
some focus on getting
the project done but
occasionally distracted
others.
Did not use class time
to focus on the project
OR often distracted
others.
Originality/ Creativity All of the presentation
reflects a exceptional
degree of student
creativity in their
creation and/or display.
Some of the
presentation reflect
student creativity in
their creation and/or
display.
Presentations are
made by the student,
but are based on the
designs or ideas of
others.
No creativity was used
in the development of
the presentation.
LIFE AT THE MAYA COURT
Dominated by the king, the Maya court was the focus of religious
and political life. Within palace chambers and behind swag
curtains, the king ruled from his throne, where he reclined on
jaguar pelts in settings often prepared for feasts, with plentiful
tamales, pots of frothy chocolate drink, and flowers. Dwarfs and
hunchbacks served as his trusted counselors, while musicians
played wooden trumpets and horns made from conch shells.
The Maya commissioned finely crafted works to furnish their
palaces and attest to their sovereignty--among them carved
thrones and throne backs, where a king might reign supported by depictions of ancestors or
gods. Figural mirror holders served as “perpetual servants” who revealed the king’s dazzling
but fractured image in polished mosaic mirrors. The king’s scepter took the form of a
powerful god of lineage and lightning. Although rare, artists working in stucco achieved
realistic portraiture that captures age and wisdom.
Painted cups and vases for the elite depict scenes of court life, while clay figurines portray
members of society that attended the king. Representing servants, dwarfs, hunchbacks,
musicians, messengers, and priests, along with elegantly dressed women, these figurines all
come from tombs, where they also served their lords in death.
THE DIVINE COURT
At the heart of ancient Maya religious belief
lies maize, the staple food of the New World,
personified by the Maize God. The mythic story
of the god of maize mirrors the annual planting
and harvesting of the corn on which all Maya
civilization depended. Like the maize plant,
the Maize God was decapitated at harvest
time but was reborn--fresh, young, and
beautiful--at the beginning of each new
growing season. The Maize God was thus a
metaphor for life and resurrection.
At court, lords and ladies often portrayed themselves as incarnations of the handsome Maize
God. Mothers strapped infants to cradle boards, gently molding their foreheads into the
shape of tapered maize cobs. The Maya elite wore their thick, straight hair gathered in
upswept hairdos that echoed the lustrous corn silk of the maize plant. For their formal
costumes, they relied on two precious materials: jade and feathers. Adorned in jade jewelry
and bedecked with headdresses of green quetzal feathers, rulers became one with the
verdant, life-giving Maize God.
The Maize God was the preeminent deity in a pantheon that also included the god of
cacao, or chocolate, and the underworld god of trade. Unlike maize, a necessity, chocolate
was a luxury and the basis for a special drink favored at court. The god of trade, also
associated with luxury, was an old and ruthless trickster made rich by his control of
commerce and tribute. Maya rulers emulated his luxurious palace, where he is depicted
sitting on a throne covered with a jaguar pelt and wearing the richest of costumes--valued
goods garnered in his role as the merchant god.
WORD AND IMAGE IN THE MAYA COURT
Writing is a hallmark of Maya civilization. Of the many
Mesoamerican societies, from the Olmec to the Aztec, only
the Maya developed a complete system of writing that
represents the equivalent of speech. With more than five
hundred hieroglyphs--phonetic or pictorial signs for sounds or
words--Mayan writing long eluded modern attempts at
decipherment.
By 1900 the elaborate calendar of the Maya had been
deciphered and a correlation between it and the Christian
calendar established. Beginning in the 1950s, and especially
in the past two decades, scholars have made enormous
strides in decoding Mayan glyphs. Much of Mayan writing
can now be read, reproducing the sound and syntax of an
archaic language no longer spoken today. This writing
system saw its highest achievement in the seventh and
eighth centuries AD.
Although no examples from the first millennium AD survive,
books--screenfold manuscripts painted on fig bark paper--
were a commonplace; their illustrations may have resembled
the finely painted images on ceramics in this gallery. Such
flourishing art production required wealthy patrons--not just
the king, but warlords, noblemen, and noblewomen.
THE COURT AT WAR
For decades, when calendars were the only Maya documents that had been deciphered,
scholars erroneously theorized that the ancient Maya were peaceful timekeepers or
stargazers ruled by astronomer-priests. The discovery of new works of art and advances in
understanding the written language revealed that, to the contrary, warfare was common.
Maya city-states went to war to take over trade routes, gain special access to precious
goods (especially jade, cacao, and feathers), and probably, by the late eighth century, just
to get a share of diminishing resources, especially foodstuffs and construction material. Over
the centuries, grim rivalries developed.
Warfare took place twice for the Maya, once in the chaotic setting of battle, and a second
time in court, where victories were reenacted in carefully scripted ceremonies. Wearing
jaguar pelts and leather jerkins, warriors marched live captives, bound and stripped of their
finery, back to the palace, where they were presented to the king and subjected to painful
rituals.
Image: Cylinder vessel with flower motifs
(The pictorial quality of Mayan glyphs
meant that scribes were by necessity
artists. Many scribes and artists came
from the elite ranks; the specialized skills
for the making and inscribing of fine
things belonged to particular families
and their workshops. Teams of sculptors
produced large stone works, while a
single artist painted any given Maya
pot. Artists sometimes signed their work,
as in the case of the "Fleur-de-lis vase."
SCIENCES
Mathematics:
The Mayan achievements in science were
particularly astronomy and engineering.
Astronomy and engineering would have not
been possible if the Maya had not been skilled
mathematicians. Two systems were used to
record numbers. One was stylized pictures of the
heads of the Gods with the numerals remaining.
The second system was more commonly used, it
was similar in many respects to our decimal
system. It was based on units of twenty rather than units of ten. The Mayans had employed
bar-and-dot notations in which the bar had a value of 5 and dot as 1. A shell was a third
symbol representing the number 0. The use of the concept of zero was an accomplishment.
Combinations of the bar and dot symbols represented the numbers 1-19. Beyond the point,
the position of the numerals indicated the value, just as the decimal system the positions to
the left of the decimal point increase by powers of 10. In the Mayan system the values
increased by powers of 20 as you moved from bottom to top.
Astronomy And The Calendar
The Maya were fascinated with time and the thought of it as a supernatural force under the
control of the Gods. They believed that periods of time were burdens that different gods
carried on their backs for their allotted span of time, before passing the burden to the next
god. For example; the god of October would pass the burden onto the god of November.
Some gods were kind, others were not. Priests were responsible for determining when
beneficial or harmful deities would be ruling time. Mayan priest-astronomers studied the sky
intently from the tops of their temple-pyramids, plotting the movements of the sun, the moon,
and Venus without the use of any optical devices. They undertook intensive studies of lunar
eclipses and their observations and records were so exact that they could predict eclipses.
The Mayans calculated the year to be 365.2422 days. The Maya used a gnomon, a kind of
sight made with a vertical rod, to determine the solstices. The rod produced the shortest
shadow at midday on June 21 and the longest at midday on December 21.
FLOATING GARDENS … Chinampas added both living
and agricultural space to the
island. Houses could be built on
chinampas after they were firmly in
place, and the plots were used to
grow a great variety of products,
from maize and beans to
tomatoes and flowers. The Mexica
[Aztec] built chinampas all around
Tenochtitlan, like their neighbors in
the freshwater lakes to the south.
They were, however, constantly
faced with the danger of flooding,
which brought salty water across
the chinampas and ruined the
land and crops. Lake Texcoco
accumulated minerals from the
river water running into it, which
caused the water to be brackish
[mix of fresh and salt water]. In the
mid-15th century, this problem was
solved; a dike was built, separating
the western section of the lake
where Tenochtitlan was located
and protecting the city from salty
water and some flooding.…
TENOCHTITLAN, AZTEC CAPITAL CITY
Creating Allies With Neighboring Cities
In 1440 the fifth chief of the Aztecs came to rule Tenochtitlan. The Mexica now dominated the whole
of the Valley of Mexico, and had allied themselves with the neighboring cities of Texcoco (Tesh-koh-
koh) and Tlacopan (Tlah-koh-pahn).
Marrying Pure Toltec Brides
Their chiefs had sought out princesses of pure Toltec descent as their brides, so that they could inherit
the divine right to rule, which belonged to the descendants of Quetzalcoatl. The new ruler of the
Aztecs was given the title of Huey Tlatcani (Ooeh-tlah-toh-ah-ni) or Great Speaker for the several
tribes over whom he had dominion. His name was Moctecuzoma Ilhuicamina (Mock-teh-Koo-zoh-
mah Eel-weeh-kah-mee-nah) , Noble Strong Arm, He Who Aims at the Sky.
The Military
During his reign the Aztec armies continued their conquests and were the first to reach the shores of
the Mexican Gulf.
Rebuilding the Temple and Captive Sacrifices
In 1484 the Great Speaker Tizoc (Tee-zohk), He who offers his own Blood to the Gods, laid the
foundations for the rebuilding of the ancient temple to Huitzilopochtli. He took prisoners and
sacrificed some to the god. [...] Tizoc died before the temple was completed. [...] When the great
temple was dedicated, he took 20,000 captives and had them all sacrificed in four days by eight
teams of priests.
AZTEC GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
THE AZTEC TAX STRUCTURE
In an article entitled, “The Aztecs Paid Taxes, Not
Tribute,” archaeologist, Michael E. Smith writes:
States interact with their subjects in two ways: they
exploit people and they provide services. This has been
true from the earliest states in Mesopotamia to the
nation-states of today. Taxation is one of the primary
means by which states exploit their citizens or subjects,
and taxes provide the revenue for the services offered
by states.
According to Smith, inhabitants and the states they
lived in paid regular taxes to the Triple Alliance
(Tenochtitlan, Texcoco, and Tlacopan) that made up
the Aztec empire. They made regular payments on
specified dates according to the Aztec calendar.
Some were paid once a year, others twice, and others
four times per year. The taxes were collected by
professional tax collectors and recorded in tax rolls.
The taxes were usually paid in cacao beans and
cotton mantas (woven cloth), that the Aztecs used for
money. Other goods supplemented the cacao beans
and mantas based on the products produced in the
region.
Source: Michael E. Smith, “The Aztecs Paid Taxes, Not
Tribute,” from Mexicon, v. 35, 2014.
The type of tax that a state, city, or town paid the Aztecs depended on their relationship with
the government at shown in the chart below.
Aztec City States:
Areas conquered and governed by the Aztecs
• Land Tax: Calpolli paid taxes in the form of cotton mantas, cacao beans, firework, and
foodstuffs based on the amount of land they farmed. Farmers kept most of their crop but had
to send some of it to the king
• Rotational Labor: Calpolli members were required to work for the king or nobles. Women spun
and wove textiles while men often supplied firewood, swept, and carried water.
• Public Works Corvée: Calpolli gave the labor of their members up to assist with building projects
directed by the Aztec government like building aqueducts or temples.
• Military Corvée: All young males had to serve in the military.
• Market Tax: Government officials waited in guard huts at the market and took a portion of the
goods as tax for being allowed to sell goods in the market.
Conquest-States:
States that were conquered by the Aztecs allowed to be rule themselves as they had
before in exchange for military loyalty and taxes
Unconquered States:
States that were unconquered by the Aztecs received military support from the Aztecs in
return for gifts
This page from the Codex Mendoza depicts
what cities in the Aztec empire owed the
government in taxes. The towns are listed on
the left and the mantas and other goods they
owe in taxes are drawn on the right.
AZTEC SUN SACRIFICES
[The Aztecs believed that] all the
time the sun was thirsting from
the great internal heat. So he
had to be nourished and cooled
by offerings of the red cactus-
fruit (which meant human hearts
and blood). Only a very few had
to be sacrificed to keep the sun
moving in the sky, but the
sacrifice must never be
neglected or the human race
would die from the fire caused
by a motionless sun.
The Custom of Sacrificing the Heart and Offering It to the Gods
The Tovar Codex, attributed to the 16th-century Mexican Jesuit Juan de Tovar, contains
detailed information about the rites and ceremonies of the Aztecs (also known as Mexica).
The codex is illustrated with 51 full-page paintings in watercolor.[...] This illustration, from the
second section, depicts a human sacrifice. An anonymous priest holding a spear presides
over the sacrifice of a man whose heart is removed by an assistant. In the background,
another assistant on the steps of a temple or pyramid holds an incense burner. The offering
of the victim's heart to the gods satisfied the Aztec belief that the sun would rise again
nourished by the hearts of men. Thexochiyaoyotl (Flower Wars) were conducted to capture
prisoners for the sacrificial offerings needed for the gods.
INCA AGRICULTURE
INCA ROADS ...We can only marvel at the ability of the
Sapa Inca [chief ruler] to control his vast
domains, separated as they were not
only by long distances, but by dramatic
changes in altitude. Inca engineers
developed a massive road system over
some of the most rugged terrain on
earth, a lattice [network] of highways
and tracks that covered a staggering
19,000 miles (30,000 km). The Inca empire
could never have been created without
this communication system that carried
important officials, government
correspondence, entire armies, and all
manner of commodities and trade
goods. Road-building started long before
Inca times, for earlier states like Chimor
on the coast also needed to connect
dense concentrations of farmers in
widely separated valleys. But the Incas
vastly extended the
network...Anthropologist John Murra has
called these roads the “flag” of the Inca
state, for they were a highly visible link
between the individual and the remote
central government…
LOCATION
By 1607, the Powhatan Chiefdom
numbered approximately 15,000.
Chief Powhatan was the paramount
chief of the Powhatan Chiefdom. In
the sixteenth century, he inherited six
tribes from his mother or someone
related to her; Powhatan society was
matrilineal so descent was passed
through the mother's line. By 1607, the
Powhatan Chiefdom had more than
30 different tribes, each of which had
its own chief. All had been gained
through marriage alliance or coercion
and were "ruled" by and had to pay
"tribute" to Powhatan.
VILLAGE LIFE
The Powhatan Indians lived in towns located
on high ground near rivers, which were
sources of food and transportation. The
Powhatan also used the rivers to bathe every
morning. Sometimes the towns were
palisaded, which usually meant they were
closer to enemy territory. The towns consisted
of from two to a hundred houses with six to
twenty people living in each dwelling,
according to Captain John Smith. These
houses, called yehakins, were typically
scattered and interspersed between the
trees. The yehakins were made from saplings
bent and lashed together at the top to form
a barrel shape. Woven mats or bark were
placed on top of the saplings and space left for an entrance at each end of the house and an open
hole at the center of the roof for smoke to escape. The size of the house varied, but someone like
Chief Powhatan had a larger house than most - it even had separate corridors! In summer, when
heat and humidity increased, the mat walls could be rolled up or removed for better air circulation.
Yehakins were constructed by the women (who may have also owned them). Women provided
most, if not all of the fuel, and much of the food as well. Besides building the houses, and everything
associated with them, Powhatan women cooked and prepared food, gathered firewood (which
was kept constantly going), collected water for cooking and drinking, reared the children (with help
from the men when they were home), made the clothing, farmed (planting and harvesting), and
made baskets, pots, cordage, wooden spoons, platters and mortars. Many tasks took them away
from not only their houses, but the towns as well. They also collected edible plants - which meant
women needed to be able to identify the various useful plants in all seasons and terrains. Women
were barbers for the men and would process any meat the men brought home, as well as tan hides
used to make clothing. They were constantly doing something. To acquire the varied knowledge and
skills necessary to be an adult, Powhatan girls' education began at an early age.
POWHATAN CULTURE
Powhatan men had fewer jobs than the women, but
they were especially demanding. Their world revolved
around always being prepared to kill enemy people
and animals efficiently. Besides hunting and war, men
built dugout canoes (used by men and women),
fished, and cleared garden plots. They fished mostly in
the spring and hunted mostly in the fall; it was the
man's responsibility to provide animals, for food,
clothing and tools. Hunting was a taxing job, requiring
mental concentration, extended bursts of physical
energy, and an intimate knowledge of the terrain and
plant cover that attracted animals. Hunting methods
necessitated the men's unique hairstyles. They wore
the left side of their hair long and tied in a knot,
decorated with various trophies from wars or feathers,
and shaved the right side, so as not to get their bow
strings caught in their hair. The intensiveness of hunting
required periods of rest. During their "rest time" men
also cleared land for garden plots, built and repaired
fishing weirs and hunting gear, and exchanged
information with other men.
Men's work was different than women's, but both were
important and benefited Powhatan society as a
whole. In fact, if a Powhatan family had at least one
adult male and one adult female it could live
comfortably entirely by its own labor. Powhatan
children learned how to be adults, and to do adults'
work, from both of their parents. At first, both boys and
girls were taught mostly by their mothers; fathers helped rear the children when they were not
hunting or fishing. Once boys were old enough, agile enough, good enough runners, and were an
accurate shot with a bow and arrow, they were taken hunting and fishing by their fathers. These
same hunting skills also helped the boys learn the art of war and vice versa.
Marriage in Powhatan society meant that a man was able to be a provider for his wife and family -
which had to be proven to the prospective in-laws. Marriage indicated a man had truly reached
maturity and that a woman was able to bear children. Once a man found a woman he wanted to
marry, he had to attract her interest and, if she still lived with her parents, gain their approval. He did
so through gifts of food, which showed his ability to provide. Once an agreement was reached, the
man negotiated and paid a bride wealth to her parents, as a way of compensating her family for
their loss of valuable labor and for her child-bearing potential. The bride wealth served as a public
declaration of the chosen woman's value. Soon after the man procured the necessary household
items (a house, mortar and pestle, mats, pots, and bedding) and the bride wealth was paid, the
bride was brought to the groom's house. There, her father, guardian or "chief friend" joined the
couple's hands together. A string of beads was measured to the man's arm length and then broken
over the couple's hands (the beads were given to the person who brought the bride). The couple
were now married, and expected to be for life, and a celebration took place. Divorce was possible,
however, in which case any children were possibly split between their parents according to their sex.
Another type of marriage, a marriage by contract, was a temporary agreement made between a
Powhatan man and woman that usually lasted one year. Each year, the contractual union was
either renewed or ended and the two were free to marry others. If, however, the allotted time passed
without the union being ended or re-negotiated the couple were married permanently.
Chief Powhatan, and possibly other chiefs, were in a position to not only choose whom they wanted
to marry on a grander scale, but could pay whatever bride wealth they saw fit with no negotiation
(they outranked their prospective in-laws). Marrying the paramount chief was considered an honor.
However, unlike other Powhatan Indian marriages, Powhatan's wives were not allowed to have
extramarital relations, which were permitted in the rest of Powhatan society if the wife had her
husband's permission. As the paramount chief, Powhatan was able to afford more wives than the
average man (multiple wives were allowed so long as they could all be supported); he was recorded
as having had more than one hundred wives. Once one of his wives had a child by him, Powhatan
sent her with their baby back to her home town, where they were supported by Powhatan. Once the
child was old enough, he or she was sent back to live with Powhatan's other children. The mother
was then considered divorced from Powhatan and free to marry another. For all Powhatan Indians,
marriage was considered a child-rearing arrangement. Love, if it materialized during the course of a
marriage, was welcomed but not expected, as the worlds of men and women were so different and
separate.
Besides being taught the differences in their worlds, Powhatan boys and girls learned how to properly
act. They were taught to be respectful in public; self control was one of the greatest virtues. This
served a functional purpose as well, since there was no law enforcement. Even chiefs sometimes did
not have the right to intervene in quarrels between people. It was best to follow the policy that
"proper human beings" simply were not supposed to be openly hostile with each other. Instead, a
non-interfering and non-preaching stance was taken to avoid insulting anyone. This respectful public
attitude was especially important when Powhatan Indians encountered non-relatives or someone
they did not trust or like.
INTRODUCTION TO CHEROKEE LIFE
Cherokee, North American Indians
of Iroquoian lineage who
constituted one of the largest
politically integrated tribes at the
time of European colonization of the
Americas. Their name is derived
from a Creek word meaning
“people of different speech”; many
prefer to be known as Keetoowah
or Tsalagi. They are believed to
have numbered some 22,500
individuals in 1650, and they
controlled approximately 40,000
square miles (100,000 square km) of
the Appalachian Mountains in parts
of present-day Georgia, eastern
Tennessee, and the western parts of what are now North Carolina and South Carolina.
Traditional Cherokee life and culture greatly resembled that of the Creek and other tribes of the
Southeast. The Cherokee nation was composed of a confederacy of symbolically red (war) and
white (peace) towns. The chiefs of individual red towns were subordinated to a supreme war chief,
while the officials of individual white towns were under the supreme peace chief. The peace towns
provided sanctuary for wrongdoers; war ceremonies were conducted in red towns.
When encountered by Spanish explorers in the mid-16th century, the Cherokee possessed a variety
of stone implements, including knives, axes, and chisels. They wove baskets, made pottery, and
cultivated corn (maize), beans, and squash. Deer, bear, and elk furnished meat and clothing.
Cherokee dwellings were bark-roofed windowless log cabins, with one door and a smoke hole in the
roof. A typical Cherokee town had between 30 and 60 such houses and a council house, where
general meetings were held and a sacred fire burned. An important religious observance was the
Busk, or Green Corn, festival, a firstfruits and new-fires celebration.
BELIEF SYSTEM
The river, or "Long Man," was always believed to be
sacred, and the practice of going to water for
purification and other ceremonies was at one time
very common. Today the river or any other body of
moving water, such as a creek, is considered a
sacred site and going to water is still a respected
practice by some Cherokees.
The everyday cultural world of the Cherokee
includes spiritual beings. Even though the beings are
different from people and animals, they are not
considered "supernatural", but are very much a part
of the natural, real world. Most Cherokee at some
point in their lives will relate having had an
experience with these spiritual beings.
CHEROKEE WEAPONS
Arrowheads were made from various kinds of stone but flint was considered the best. Not only
because it was so hard, but also because flint is easier to chip into "flakes" with sharp edges than
most other hard rocks.
A favorite tool for chipping arrowheads into shape was the deer antler. A piece of rock was first
broken into smaller pieces by using a hammer stone, then the most likely pieces shaped into
arrowheads by chipping away with a smaller hammer stone and with deer antlers.
Spear points were made in the same way; they were just larger in size and shaped a bit differently.
Some spears were made entirely of hard wood; the points sharpened by hand and then hardened in
a fire.
Stone weapons, tomahawks and battle hammers were made from rocks of the correct overall shape
by sharpening one edge and grinding a binding groove around the stone using other, harder stones.
The groove was made so that the stone could be tied to a handle with rawhide. Other hammers and
axe-type weapons also were used; sometimes a knot in a root or branch with a convenient handle
made a good battle axe.
The Cherokee used blowguns mainly for taking small game but occasionally used them in warfare.
Blowguns ranged from three to nine feet in length. The darts were made of hard woods. The back
end of the dart was fitted with thistledown to form a seal and help center the dart in the blowgun. A
sharp breath blown into the barrel behind the dart would send it traveling at a great speed. With
practice, these blowguns could be very accurate.
Darts used in warfare were generally poisoned. Venomous snakes were sometimes made to strike a
piece of spoiled meat, then the dart points were pushed into the meat to absorb the venom. Certain
plant juices and extracts known to be poisonous were also used as coatings for the darts.
CHEROKEE TOWNS
Every evening the residents of
Cherokee villages and towns entered
the Council House, where lengthy
discussions could take place about
issues of concern to the town.
Decisions were made by reaching a
consensus among all the adults of
each town, including the women. The
chiefs were expected to represent and
enact those decisions to the outside
world.
Households could be very large, with
many clan members and husbands
residing in them. The more sisters there
were in each generation, the larger
the household would be. Usually several structures existed that loosely belonged to the sisters of each
generation, comprising a clan compound.
The following is taken from a manuscript prepared by J.P. Evans in 1835.
"In the chartered limits of North Carolina and in those of Georgia and Tennessee, as far as my
observations extend, the Cherokees are divided into towns and clans. By towns is not to be
understood a cluster of dwellings contained within a small space, as amongst the whites, and
probably with some other Indian tribes, but a small colony, generally embracing some miles in extent.
In the same sense, Cherokee village is to be understood."
INTRODUCTION
The Iroquois people have inhabited the areas of Ontario and upstate
New York for well over 4,000 years.
Technically speaking, "Iroquois" refers to a language rather than a
particular tribe. In fact, the IROQUOIS consisted of five tribes prior to
European colonization. Their society serves as an outstanding example
of political and military organization, complex lifestyle, and an
elevated role of women.
Mohawk Indian chief Joseph Brant served as a spokesman for his
people, a Christian missionary of the Anglican church, and a British
military officer during the Revolutionary War.
GOVERNANCE AND WAR
Until the 1500s, the five tribes of the Iroquois devoted much energy toward fighting and killing each
other. According to ORAL TRADITION, it was about this time that they came to their senses and united
into a powerful confederation.
The five tribes designed quite an elaborate political system. This included a bicameral (two-house)
legislature, much like the British Parliament and modern U.S. Congress. 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. There was an unwritten constitution that described these
proceedings at least as early as 1590. Such a complex political arrangement was unknown in Europe
at that time.
Although the tribes began to work together, they surely did not renounce war. They fought and
captured other native tribes as well as wave after wave of European immigrants who presented
themselves. They fought the early French and British settlers. During the French and Indian War they
remained officially neutral, but would join either side to exploit an advantage. Both sides courted
Iroquois support during the Revolution. As a result, there was a split in the CONFEDERACY for the first
time in over 200 years. Iroquois fought Iroquois once more.
Excerpts from the Iroquois Constitution
Roots have spread out from the Tree of the Great Peace,
one to the north, one to the east, one to the south and
one to the west. The name of these roots is The Great
White Roots and their nature is Peace and Strength...
The soil of the earth from one end of the land to the other
is the property of the people who inhabit it. By birthright
the Ongwehonweh (original beings) are the owners of the
soil which they own and occupy and none other may hold
it. The same law has been held from the oldest times. The
Great Creator has made us of the one blood and of the
same soil he made us and as only different tongues
constitute different nations he established different hunting
grounds and territories and made boundary lines between
them...
Whenever a foreign nation is conquered or has by their
own will accepted the Great Peace their own system of
internal government may continue, but they must cease
all warfare against other nations...
The women of every clan of the Five Nations shall have a
Council Fire ever burning in readiness for a council of the
clan. When in their opinion it seems necessary for the
interest of the people they shall hold a council and their
decisions and recommendations shall be introduced
before the Council of the Lords by the War Chief for its
consideration.
IROQUOIS SOCIETY
The Iroquoi Tribes, also known as the Haudenosuanee, are
known for many things. But they are best known for their
longhouses. Each longhouse was home to many members
of a Haudenosuanee family.
The LONGHOUSE was the center of Iroquois life.
Archaeologists have unearthed longhouse remains that
extend more than the length of a football field.
Agriculture was the main source of food. In Iroquois
society, women held a special role. Believed to be linked
to the earth's power to create life, women determined how the food would be distributed — a
considerable power in a farming society.
Women were also responsible for selecting the sachems for the Confederacy. Iroquois society
was MATRILINEAL; when a marriage transpired, the family moved into the longhouse of the mother,
and FAMILY LINEAGE was traced from her.
The Iroquois society proved to be the most persistent military threat the European settlers would face.
Although conquest and treaty forced them to cede much of their land, their legacy lingers. Some
historians even attribute some aspects of the structure of our own Constitution to Iroquois ideas.