Tuscarora Culture By: Jadyn
Table of Contents Eat, Drink, and be Merry Longhomes, Sweet Longhomes Tug of War Animal Prints The Modern Tuscarora
In the sunny summer, and the cold, windy winter, before your great, great grandparents roamed the earth, the Tuscarorans lived peacefully. Well, that was before the Europeans and the English came. Eat, Drink, and be Merry Every body has to eat and drink. When you re sick you need medicine. They got all there food from nature. The Tuscarora smoked and dried meat and fish. They would usually eat one or two meals a day. The main food was soup made from vegetables and meat. Venison, which is deer meat, was the main meet of the Tuscarora. The other meats they ate were bear, beaver, and moose. Boys under the age of twelve hunt rabbits and birds. Soup or stew was always ready if a guest or special person stopped by. Woman would gather berries, nuts, greens, beans, mushrooms, and other small goods that grew in the woods. Vegetables, fruit, nuts, and roots could be found in the forest. You could use this for food, drinks, and medicines. Water could be found in a streams or rivers. They also hunted in the woods. The most important food for the Iroquois was corn, beans, and squash. Roasted and dried corn ears were like candy to them. It was really good and was a treat. Sometimes they would put it into cornmeal or corn cakes. On small hills the seeds were planted. They would use a sharp stick and push the stick in the dirt and put the seeds in the hole made by the stick. Then they would cover the hole with dirt and press it down with their hands. Figure1: Tuscarorans would eat berries that grew in the woods.
They would use clay pots to boil, roast or bake the food. The clay pots were made from clay inside the earth. Then they would shape the clay and let it dry by the sun. The Native Americans used roots, vines and mud to make baskets. They used the baskets to hold berries, nuts and other small things. They got syrup tapping on the maple trees with something hard and sharp. The syrup was sweet. Children under 8 were not aloud to do it. The Iroquois give thanks everyday for everything, by doing it, they had 12 sacred ceremonies and dances: Strawberry, in June when berries are ripe; Green Corn, when corn is high in late summer; Midwinter, for the start of New Year. Those are the most important, but there are more. They called their medicine man a, Shaman (sha-main). Shaman's made medicine from plants. Special healers wore masks called False Face masks that were carved from living trees. The masks represented the spirits of the woodlands, who drove away illness. False Face healers did sacred ceremonies to cure serious illness. Figure 2: Baskets were use to hold berries, greens and other small things. Figure 3: A False Face mask that certain people would wear to represent the spirits of the woodlands. They could cure many illnesses. False Face people were very important to every one in the village. They still wear them today at ceremonies at longhouse.
Longhomes, Sweet Longhomes Now: houses. Then: longhouses. In North Carolina, they eventually settled. The Tuscarora villages spread from the Appalachian Mountains to the Atlantic Ocean. Their territories stretched from the Hudson River to Lake Erie and South from Lake Ontario from what is now upstate New York. Their land crossed the eastern woodlands like a long house. They would mostly settle on the hills near a river or a lake. A longhouse frame is made out of white cedar logs and covered with elm bark. A long house could be twenty feet wide and forty to two hundred feet long. One clan lived in a longhouse. If there were not enough room for one clan they would use two longhouses. Clans are extended families that share the same female ancestor. The arched roof of the longhouse kept snow off. There were doors at both ends of the longhouse. On the door of a longhouse there Above is a longhouse with Tuscarorans working. Some tending a fire and, others are mixing corn for corn cakes. would hang a picture of a clan animal like a turtle or a bear. The natives slept on a wooden platform covered with cornhusk mats. On top of the mats there is animal fur or deer skin. And for a blanket they used skin and fur. There are two fire pits in a longhouse. One on one half, and another on the other end. They would use the fires for cooking and keeping warm. On high platforms made out of wood, there were tools, baskets and clothes stored. English Name: 1. Mohawk 2. Oneida 3. Onondaga 4. Cayuga 5. Seneca Iroquois Name: 1. Kahniakehake 2. Onyota a:k a 3. Onoda gega 4. Gayogoho:no 5. Onodowahgah Name Meaning: 1. People of the 2. People of the 3. People of the Hills/ Flint/ Keepers of the Eastern Door Standing Stone Keepers of the Council Fire 4. People of the Great Pipe/ Keepers of the Western Door
Tug of War Tuscarorans were peaceful. Then they came. The German, English, Swiss and Europeans took over the Tuscarora land in the 1700's. The Europeans were at first friends with the Tuscaroras, but then they started to come to their land and live there. The Tuscarora Indians were very mad at the Europeans because many Native Americans were sold into slavery. Oneida and the Tuscarora fought with the colonists in the Revolutionary War. All Iroquois, but the Oneida and Tuscarora, helped the British in the Revolutionary War. South Carolina sent Colonel John Barnwell and 500 Yamasee fighters to fight the Tuscarora because the North Carolinians asked neighboring colonies to. A ban of Tuscarora got so mad at the Europeans that they formed a band and went to the European settlement to fight. More than 200 people died. Skarooren (ska-roo-en) is what the Tuscarora called themselves. It means "people of the Indian hemp". Figure 1: The Tuscarorans are on their way to war. They bring their weapons and hope with them. The French called the Native Americans, Iroquois, because it means, black snakes! The natives did not like this name. They called themselves Haudenosaunee, or people of the
Animal Prints Styles have really changed over the years. This is their fashion then. Traditional clothes were made out of deerskin. They would get beads from the traders who they came across. Women would stitch the beads on the deerskin to make pretty patterns. Bear fur robes kept the wind out and kept them warm during the cold or windy days. For shoes, they would wear moccasins made from deer, moose or elk skin. During the winter they would wear snowshoes. Men wore lion cloth in the winter. Also, men wore fringed shirts and leggings during the winter. Men wore a kastoweh (ga-stow-a), which was a feathered hat. They would use eagle feathers. The way the eagle feathers were arranged depended on the men's nation. Some men would shave their hair in a scalp lock (crest) or they would let it grow to be long. Men would sometimes wear saches. Some men would have beads and quills decorated on the saches. The women wore leggings and dresses. If they wanted to be fancy they would wear a fancy belt or a silver ornament. Girls who were not married had their hair into braids. Women who were married wore their hair in one braid. Figure 1: This is deerskin. Tuscarorans made clothing with this. Figure 2: Above is a Kastoweh (gastow-a). Native Americans wore it on their head. This is an Oneida Kastoweh
The Modern Tuscarora Native Americans today live just like other people. Except, they will sometimes go to longhouse and do religious things. Half of a natives live is still a secret. Some natives live on the reservation. Iroquois reservations are in: Ontario, Quebec, New York, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, and Canada. Longhouse's today are used for religious celebrations and community meetings. Today they play sports such as ice hockey, basketball, football, softball, tennis, and lacrosse. Men and women of the Iroquois will work normal jobs. Teens will work normal jobs too, like Mc Donald's, Burger King, or Dairy Queen. They work all the same jobs we do. Today, natives will eat pizza and everything else that everyone else eats. They will try to have a low-fat diet and eat healthy. On some days, they will follow Iroquois recipes though. Iroquois people wear every thing that we do today. On special occasions or celebrations, Iroquois will wear traditional clothes. Today Tuscarorans follow Christianity, and others follow longhouse religion. Figure 1: Lacrosse players are playing lacrosse last year. This shows that Lacrosse is still going on today and many people play Lacrosse Figure 2: Iroquois dancer is doing Traditional Dancing. Today they do it for competition. The colors represent peace today, but before they did not have colors like that. The beads are for decoration. Sometimes they have a picture of a clan or the Haudenosaunee flag.
Now which side are you on? They are amazing and interesting to learn about. It just so happens that my best friend and I are Tuscarorans. To get more information, read the book The Tuscarora by Jill D. Duvall. I hope you learned more about the Tuscarora. There is a very, very old story about the beginnings of the Iroquois nation. Long ago, the original people were moving to a new hunting grounds. In their path was a dangerous river. The people found a grape vine stretched across the river. By holding onto the vine, they could get safely to the other side. However, when most of them had crossed, the vine broke. Those who crossed the river moved on. The others were left behind. The ones who had crossed were the Tuscarora. The other five nations were Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, Mohawk and the Cayuga.
Bibliography Books Author Jill D. Duvall Mary Englar Michelle Lomberg Ann Malaspina Greg Roza The Tuscarora Book Title The Iroquois-The Six Nations Confederacy The Iroquois The Iroquois-A Proud People The Iroquois-of New York City Chicago Brantford Philadelphia Berkeley Heights New York Publisher Childrens Press Bridgestone Books Chelsea Clubhouse Enslow Publishers, Inc. PowerKids Press Copyright Date 1991 2003 2004 2005 2003