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Longhouse
Describes the way of life of the tribes that made up the League of the Iroquois, focusing on their longhouses, unique dwellings they built for shelter and ceremonies.
32 pages, Library Binding
First published September 1, 2000
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 26, 2025
LONGHOUSE is a children's book about the type of shelters the Iroquois Native American Indians used to build. These 'houses' were made of sheets of tree bark sewn together and mounted over a wooden framework. These dwellings could be quite long, up to 200 feet (61 m) long and 25 feet (8 m) high, housing up to 100 people.
Inside along the walls were compartments for individual families. An entrance was at either end. The floor was earthen and down the middle were fire pits that families shared for cooking and heat. Food, supplies and weapons were stored inside. Several of these houses would be grouped together and surrounded by a stockade for defense. The men would hunt and fish while the women tended the crops. In time the houses would become dirty and soot filled and the soil worn out. When that happened the tribe would just pack up and move, leaving the house to return to nature.
At the new location a new house would be built. A simple explanation is given as to the steps taken to do this. Before the coming of the white man traders with their steel hatches, cutting down a huge tree with stone axes required a bit more work. They would pack clay around a tree trunk and light a fire against the tree below the clay. After the fire went out they would start chopping the burnt section. Then they might pack more clay around the truck and repeat the process until the tree fell. Sometimes they just cut and peeled the bark off a tree. Those were their main building materials.
They mentioned something else that I found interesting. In the early 1900's men of the Mohawk tribe became quite skilled working on skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building. They would walk and work balanced on steel beams a thousand feet in the air. The safety standards we have today were unheard of back then. Their nickname was "sky walkers."
This little book has illustrations, a glossary, and references for those wishing to learn more or do a report for school. I certainly could have used it.
This book is kind of neat.
Inside along the walls were compartments for individual families. An entrance was at either end. The floor was earthen and down the middle were fire pits that families shared for cooking and heat. Food, supplies and weapons were stored inside. Several of these houses would be grouped together and surrounded by a stockade for defense. The men would hunt and fish while the women tended the crops. In time the houses would become dirty and soot filled and the soil worn out. When that happened the tribe would just pack up and move, leaving the house to return to nature.
At the new location a new house would be built. A simple explanation is given as to the steps taken to do this. Before the coming of the white man traders with their steel hatches, cutting down a huge tree with stone axes required a bit more work. They would pack clay around a tree trunk and light a fire against the tree below the clay. After the fire went out they would start chopping the burnt section. Then they might pack more clay around the truck and repeat the process until the tree fell. Sometimes they just cut and peeled the bark off a tree. Those were their main building materials.
They mentioned something else that I found interesting. In the early 1900's men of the Mohawk tribe became quite skilled working on skyscrapers such as the Empire State Building. They would walk and work balanced on steel beams a thousand feet in the air. The safety standards we have today were unheard of back then. Their nickname was "sky walkers."
This little book has illustrations, a glossary, and references for those wishing to learn more or do a report for school. I certainly could have used it.
This book is kind of neat.
September 27, 2018
The audio book narrator mispronounces Iroquois wrong throughout the book.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews