Some notes on the Iroquois Family

To the Haudenosaunee (People of the Longhouse) the family was the center of their life. As we learned in class, their longhouse families were extended matrilineal families.

Here are some addition notes!

  1. Groups of longhouse families, related to a common woman ancestor, were called CLANS.
  2. The amount of clans depended on the tribe, here are eight of them
    3.

    Hawk Heron Snipe Deer

    Bear Beaver Wolf Turtle
  3. The clans were organized in the two groups shown above. Social Scientists call these groups phratries.
  4. You got your clan from your mother.
  5. You were directly related to everyone in your clan, no matter what tribe. Members of the other clans in your phratry were your cousins.
  6. You married outside your clan and outside your phratry if possible.
  7. A basic rule was — you helped your family and relatives. It was not permitted to injure or harm a family member or relative.
  8. Can you see how this would effect life in a village, tribe, and in the League?

Here are some Seneca terms used in families…..

Mother — no ’yeh

Father - ha ’ nih

Son — he :awak

Daughter - khe : awak

Grandmother — akso : t

Grandfather — hakso : t

These terms are from the Seneca Dictionary by Wallace Chafe,