Iroquois Longhouse

 A traditional Iroquois longhouse was usually made from tamarack trees, which produced a very hard wood. Layers of bark, mud, moss and pine tar pitch were used as insulation, as well as animal skins on the interior walls. The only openings were smoke holes on the roof and the doorways, one at each end of the longhouse. Bark lashed together or animal skins and hides were used to cover the door openings. Smoke holes would have a leather flap for use in heavy rains or snow to keep the interior dry.

An indication of the number of families living in a longhouse was the number of smokeholes on the top, as each family would have their own fire for warmth and cooking. Sleeping areas in a longhouse were along the sides of the structure, and beds were constructed like bunk beds made of wood with corn husk mattresses and animal skins for cushioning and warmth. Some longhouses had cedar chips on the floor for insulation in winter.

Longhouses were usually built in the spring of the year, as the wood was most porous at that time. Tree trunks were bent over and lashed together with ropes made of vines and plant fibers that were twisted or braided together. The Iroquois were not nomadic people and preferred to live in one area for an extended length of time. When the longhouse would begin to decay and fall apart (around 20-25 years), the land was usually also unfarmable and herds of game in the area diminished. This was the time when the people of the longhouse would seek another location to build their villages.

Above the doorway of the longhouse was the clan symbol as an indication of the wolf, bear or turtle clan that resided there.

To learn more about Iroquois longhouses from our Museum Educator, please visit these links to an interview done by the Green Bay Press Gazette:  http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090818/GPG0803/308180087 and http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20090818/GPG0803/308190008