What were the customs of the Iroquois Tribe and why were they important?
The Iroquois (People of the Longhouse) is a Confederacy of tribes of the Northeast Woodlands. They call themeselves Haudenosaunee. The Confederacy was originally made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Onondaga, and Seneca. Later the Tuscarora were included. They were governed by the Iroquois Great Council, elected by the clan mothers (matriarchs) of the tribes. The Iroquois Confederacy was a representative democracy used as a model by America’s founding fathers. They lived in villages of longhouses, which were large wood-frame buildings covered with sheets of elm bark, up to a hundred feet long, and each one housed an entire clan (as many as 60 people.) For more information on Iroquois culture and history see: Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Indian Fact Sheet http://www.geocities.com/bigorrin/iroquo… Constitution of the Iroquois Nations:http:/
