Foods and Clothing:

The Iroquois got most of their food from the forest. They ate almost all animals that lived in the forest. For example, the Iroquois hunted deer, bear, duck, and turkey. They also ate even turtles, frogs, and bird eggs. The Iroquois did not eat these foods raw. They cooked everything they captured. They also ate vegetables. Corn was most commonly eaten. They mixed the corn with such things as beans, berries, or nuts. Other vegetables like green plants and mushrooms were also eaten. The Iroquois loved maple sugar. In fact, maple sugar was mixed in all sorts of foods such as cakes and candies.

The Iroquois made their clothing out of deer skin. The men wore short skirts and a breech cloth. The women wore longer skirts. Both men and women wore moccasins. During the winter, the men wore pants that came up to their hips and shirts that went down to their knees. The women also wore pants and a full dress that covered most of their pants. They used porcupine quill to decorate their clothing. During war time, the warriors shaved their hair into a thin strip. They wore a deer tail roach, that had a couple of eagle feathers attached to it on their thin strip of hair. Also, the men wore scalp caps that were made out of silver.

 

Religion:

The Iroquois believed that everything on the earth and in the sky had its own spirit. There were both good and evil spirits. Ha-wa-ne-yu, the good spirit that lived in a far off beautiful place in the sky, protected and cared for the Iroquois. The people worshipped, thanked, and obeyed the good spirit because they wanted to reach the wonderful place the spirit lived in after they died. The evil spirit was an Iroquois' twin brother. This evil spirit made all the bad things on the earth. The evil spirit had several bad spirits that supported him. For example, the flying head, a bad spirit that caused disease and lived in the forest, supported the main evil spirit. Also, members of the Iroquois Husk Face Society wore masks that looked like the spirits who introduced farming to the people.

 

 

Arts and Crafts:

The Iroquois made several things out of wood. They made baskets, bowls, and pipes. Corn husk was also used in making the baskets. The bowls were decorated with drawings of birds, squirrels, beavers, and human shapes. When the explorers came from Europe, they introduced the Iroquois to using metal. They made jewelry and coins out of metal.