Dwellings and Settlements of the Iroquois
The dwellings of the Iroquois, as of nearly all the Forest Indians, were constructed of wood and bark, the most convenient and plentiful material at hand.
Note: This article has been excerpted from a larger work in the public domain and shared here due to its historical value. It may contain outdated ideas and language that do not reflect TOTA’s opinions and beliefs.
From Economics of the Iroquois by Sara Henry Stites, 1904.
The dwellings of the Iroquois, as of nearly all the Forest Indians, were constructed of wood and bark, the most convenient and plentiful material at hand. Even the nomad Algonquin were in the habit of carrying around with them rolls of bark with which they covered the light frame-work of their wigwams. On the hunt and the warpath, the Iroquois used similar temporary structures. In the villages, however, they built large and permanent houses, in which they lived for the greater part of the year. Descriptions of the Iroquois house are many, though unfortunately they are also various.
Mr. Morgan's description taken in connection with the early French accounts, probably gives the best idea of the facts:
"The ga-no-sote, or Bark-house, was a simple structure. When single it was about twenty feet by fifteen upon the ground, and from fifteen to twenty feet high. The frame consisted of upright poles firmly set in the ground, usually five upon the sides, and four at the ends, including those at the corners. Upon the forks of these poles, about ten feet from the ground, cross-poles were secured horizontally, to which the rafters, also poles, but more numerous and slender, were adjusted. The rafters were strengthened with transverse poles, and the whole was usually so arranged as to form an arching roof. After the frame was thus completed, it was sided up, and shingled with red elm or ash bark, the rough side out. The bark was flattened and dried, and then cut in the form of boards. To hold these bark boards firmly in their places, another set of poles, corresponding with those in the frame, were placed on the outside, and by means of splints and bark rope fastenings, the boards were secured horizontally between them…”
“In like manner, the roof was covered with bark boards, smaller in size, with the rough side out, and the grain running up and down; the boards being stitched through and through with fastenings and thus held between the frames of poles, as on the sides. In the centre of the roof was an opening for smoke, the fire being upon the ground in the centre of the house, and the smoke ascending without the guidance of a chimney. At the ends of the house were doors, either of bark hung upon hinges of wood, or of deer or bear skins suspended before the opening; and however long the house, or whatever the number of fires, these were the only entrances.”
“Over one of these doors was cut the tribal (gentile) device of the head of the family. Within, upon two sides, were arranged wide seats, also of bark boards, about two feet from the ground, well supported underneath, and reaching the entire length of the house. Upon these they spread their mats of skins, and also their blankets, using them as seats by day and couches at night. Similar berths were constructed on each side, about five feet above these, and secured to the frame of the house, thus furnishing accommodations for the family. Upon cross-poles, near the roof, was hung in bunches, braided together by the husks, their winter supply of corn. Charred and dried corn and beans were generally stored in bark-barrels and laid away in corners. Their implements for the chase, domestic utensils, weapons, articles of apparel, and miscellaneous notions, were stowed away, and hung up, wherever an unoccupied place was discovered. A house of this description would accommodate a family of eight."
Mr. Morgan is here describing a house for a single family. As a matter of fact, the Iroquois houses were generally built for occupancy by several families. In that case the cabin was made longer by twenty or twenty-five feet for every new fire. The fires were built along the central passage running from one end of the cabin to the other. Each was used by two families, one on each side. A cabin might contain eight or ten fires, and as many as sixteen or twenty families. In the spaces between the platforms, were kept extra mats and cases of provisions. In such a house, Lafitau says, a separate apartment was often left at each end where the young men of the household slept.
Passing over one or two details mentioned by Lafitau and omitted by Mr. Morgan, we find that a few rather more important features of the Longhouse have been neglected or misunderstood by the latter author. For instance, Mr. Morgan makes no mention of the exterior vestibules built at either end of the cabin. Yet these were important parts of the dwelling, both as places of storage and as general living-rooms in summer. Lafitau says "their exterior vestibule is closed in winter with bark, and serves them for storing their larger fire-wood, but in summer they open it on all sides to get the breeze. During the hot weather, many put their mats on the roofs of these vestibules, which are flat. They sleep thus in the open air, without being troubled by the dew."
Morgan seems to be wrong in stating that the upper platform of bark, running along the side of the room, was used as a bed. Lafitau calls this "le ciel du lit," and says that " it takes the place of closets and pantries, where they put in plain sight their dishes and all the little utensils of their menage."
The necessity of defense did not allow the dispersion of the Iroquois houses, so that each might stand in the centre of its own fields. On the contrary, the settlement took the form of a closely built and irregularly arranged group of from forty to one hundred and forty dwellings of all sizes, the whole surrounded by a trench and pallisade, the latter often supported by an earthen wall. There are many descriptions of the fortified Iroquois town. Lafitau's is perhaps the most complete.
"They choose pretty well the site of their villages. They locate them as far as possible, in the centre of some good lands on some little hillock which gives them a view of the surrounding country, for fear of being surprised, and on the bank of some stream which, if it is possible, winds around the spot, and forms, as it were, a natural moat in addition to the fortifications which art can add to a site already well defended by nature. They leave in the centre of their villages a place large enough for public assemblies. The cabins are pretty closely packed together, which exposes them to the continual danger of fire, since they are made of such inflammable material. Their streets are not very regular, each one building where the ground seems most unencumbered and least stony.
“The most exposed villages are fortified with a palisade from fifteen to twenty feet high, and composed of a triple row of stakes. The middle row is planted straight and perpendicular, the others are crossed and interlaced,—and lined everywhere with large and strong pieces of bark, to a height of ten or twelve feet. Along the inside of this palisade there runs a sort of platform, supported by wooden forks stuck in the ground. Here at fixed intervals they put sentry-boxes, which in time of war they fill with stones to prevent the scaling of the wall, and with water to put out fire. The platform is ascended by means of notched tree trunks, which serve as ladders. The palisade also has openings like battlements.”
“The nature of the site determines the shape of their enclosure. There are some polygons, but the majority are round and elliptical in form. The palisade has but one exit, through a narrow gate cut slanting and closed with cross bars, through which one is forced to pass sideways. They take care also to leave a pretty broad empty space between the palisade and the cabins."
Evidently, the village with its large and carefully built houses, and its elaborate fortifications, represented no small part of the wealth of the Iroquois.
Stites, Sara Henry. Economics of the Iroquois. The New Era Printing Company, 1904.
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