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.