Native American Tribes

For class this week, each person was assigned a partner and had to complete a report on a Native American tribe in the United States.  My partner and I were assigned the Iroquois tribe found mostly in the North East and lower parts of Canada.  Of all the tribes that were given out to each group, the Iroquois tribe was the one I knew the most about.  As a teacher who has taught in the fourth grade and as a former student, I can say that there are large chunks of study devoted to the  Iroquois tribe. Living in upstate New York, it's hard to know about the rich history and impact that they left in this section of the country.  However I was also surprised to realize how much I didn't know about the Iroquois as well.

One of the more interesting facts about the Iroquois nation is that the women of the tribe are the ones who select the chief.  While the women have no role in the politics of the tribe, it is their decision alone that impacts who the chief will be, and while men do run most aspects of everyday life, their choice of who will be chief is not taken into consideration.  

The other interesting fact I learned, is the Iroquois name itself is a term of insult to those people.  The term Iroquois was given to them by their rival tribe, the Algonquins, and the term itself means "the killer people".  The reason this became the standard is because the Algonquins, working with the first colonists to settle in America, would tell stories about the other Native American tribes, calling them Iroquois, which eventually made its way to Europe, and into history.  The term with which the Iroquois refer to their tribe is Haudenosaunee, and is a term being used by more Native American scholars due to the negativity surrounding the previous name.  

Aside from these two instances the other information I learned about the Iroquois tribe was nothing new to me.  The traditional clothing worn, and the longhouses they resided in is not new information, but I did learn that someone in western New York did reconstruct a fully functional longhouse as per the specifications from historical documents.  

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The overall experience of working with someone on this project was also very rewarding.  I was able to work with a great partner who shared the same work ethic that I did, and we were able to accomplish everything we set out to do.  The project itself was also great, as it allowed us all to learn about Native Americans, a group of people who to this day, do not get the recognition they deserve.  


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