Native Americans: Native Americans: Cahokia and IroquoisCahokia and Iroquois

US History – Libertyville HSUS History – Libertyville HS

Cahokia Mound BuildersCahokia Mound Builders

City of Cahokia, c. 1100 AD (artist’s rendition)

Who were the Cahokia?Who were the Cahokia?• Mississippian people

(group of related tribes along Mississippi River)

• Mound Builders– Subgroup of Miss. tribes

that erected earthen mounds as common public works

– Cahokian culture was centered on a big city near modern day St. Louis

CahokiaCahokia• City and “suburbs”

of 30,000 +

• Rich art work reflected leisure time

• Huge trade network

• Tech included calendars, walls

Cahokian MoundsCahokian Mounds• Purpose of mounds

– Burial? Ceremonial?– Living space above flood

plain?

• Massive building effort requiring mobilization of entire civilization, decades / centuries

• French explorers in 1600s discovered mounds, did not build on them (recognized their significance)

Monk’s Mound, Cahokia

“Monk’s Mound” – 1037 feet long, 790 feet wide base; ten stories tall; over 250,000

square feet

Mississippian Trade NetworkMississippian Trade Network• Centered on Great

Lakes region– North to St.

Lawrence– Along Atlantic coast– South to Gulf of

Mexico– West to Oklahoma

• Larger than Europe & Scandinavia!

CahokiaCahokia

• Cahokia flourished from 850 to 1500s

• Abruptly disappeared; why?

– Massive flooding?– Disease?

Iroquois ConfederacyIroquois Confederacy• Located in upstate

New York and Canada; Empire extended into Ohio Valley

• Niagara Falls = center of Iroquois culture, religion

• Iroquois were major force in early US history – why?

Iroquois ConfederacyIroquois Confederacy• Trading empire• Military empire based on

warrior culture• Total population = 25,000• Unified government /

people / culture • Union of five tribes

– Mohawk– Oneida– Onodagas– Cayugas– Senecas

Mohawk Logo“Tree of Peace”

Iroquois ConfederacyIroquois Confederacy• Called selves

“Haudenosaunee” = human being (“the people”)

– very arrogant people due to their military success

– Ohio Valley Indians called them “Irokwek” – rough translation = “snake in the grass”

– French translation = Iroquois

Lifestyle of the IroquoisLifestyle of the Iroquois• Village dwellers (100-

125 persons / village)– Communal living, based

on gender– NOT based on equality– Village made up of

extended families – cousins, aunts, etc

– Families identified matrilineally (through mother’s family)

• Child, son / daughter of mother, etc

Iroquois village, c. 1720(note longhouses, wall)

Lifestyle of the Iroquois Lifestyle of the Iroquois • Families lived matrilocally

(live where mothers are)– Lived in mother’s family lodge– Longhouse = oval shaped,

single entrance; sleep to sides, eat, meet in center

– Village, longhouse as woman’s domain

– Woods, everything else = male’s domain

– Male goes to live in wife’s longhouse

– Why is this a more practical way of organizing society?

Iroquois longhouse(interior view here)

Lifestyle of the IroquoisLifestyle of the Iroquois• Divorce customs

• Raising children

• Lack of domestic violence

• Child raising

• High suicide rate amongst male teens

Iroquois CultureIroquois Culture• Concept of time

– Patience needed to hunt, farm

– No concept of minutes, hours

– Cycle of seasons, moon basis of “time”

– Time concept circular – no beginning or end vs. European linear time: start, end point

• Examples?• European view of

Indians = lazy

VS.

Iroquois CultureIroquois Culture• Matriarchal society

– Village leadership = clan mother

• Gender division of labor– Men = hunter, warrior,

political leader– Women = farmers, village

leaders

• Naming of individuals– Clan mother named kids– Names given when you do

something good, bad, funny– Iroquois adopted European

names based on what they liked

Iroquois PoliticsIroquois Politics• Iroquois political

system– Iroquois a confederacy

of tribes– 50 or so male chiefs

got together about 1 / year

– 2 issues to consider• Make war?• Everyone have food?

– “Circle of Power”• Inner circle of males• Outer circle of clan

mothers

• Men discuss, women decide

Iroquois EmpireIroquois Empire• Rivals to Iroquois = Ohio Valley Indians

– Iroquois defeat them in every conflict • BUT . . . European involvement changed

dynamic

Map of Ohio RiverSystem, created byGeorge Washington(1754)

Iroquois and the EuropeansIroquois and the Europeans• European rivalries

translated to rivalries between Indian tribes

• French allied with Ohio Valley Indians

– Wanted trade, not land– French fur trappers needed

Indian hunters / guides– French traded guns, alcohol

for furs• British allied with Iroquois

(why?)– Because French allied with

Ohio Valley Indians

French trapper and Ohio Indian

Conflict between Indians, Conflict between Indians, EuropeansEuropeans

• Why is it that EVERY contact between Europeans, Indians resulted in bloodshed?

• Pattern to contacts– Initial cooperation– Dispute over resources

based on different perspectives towards those resources

• European ultimatum: move or die vs. Indians we’re not moving and we’ll kill you