How many families lived in a longhouse?
On average a typical longhouse was about 80 by 18 by 18 ft (24.4 by 5.5 by 5.5 m) and was meant to house up to twenty or more families, most of whom were matrilineally related. The people had a matrilineal kinship system, with property and inheritance passed through the maternal line.
How many people lived in an Iroquois longhouse?
The Iroquois is a name given to a league of six Native American nations that joined together, though they called themselves Haudenosaunee, which means people who live in longhouses. Longhouses were long, wooden houses where up to 20 or more related families lived together under one roof.
Who lives in the longhouse?
The Longhouse (or Birch Bark House) was a long, narrow house that was traditionally built by the American Native Indians of the Northeast Woodlands. The main tribes who used the longhouse were those belonging to the powerful Iroquois Confederacy which included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca people.
Do people live in longhouses?
They have been built by many different cultures around the world. Long ago, Vikings lived in longhouses; today, some rice-farming people in Borneo live in them.
What did a longhouse look like?
A traditional longhouse was built by using a rectangular frame of saplings, each 2 to 3 inches (5 to 7.5 cm) in diameter. The larger end of each sapling was placed in a posthole in the ground, and a domed roof was created by tying together the sapling tops. The structure was then covered with bark panels or shingles.
Where are Iroquois now?
Most of the remaining Iroquois, except for the Oneida of Wisconsin and the Seneca-Cayuga of Oklahoma, are in New York; the Onondoga reservation there is still the capital of the Iroquois Confederacy. Large numbers of Iroquois in the United States live in urban areas rather than on reservations.
Did longhouses have chimneys?
Longhouse Design Two rows of wooden columns ran the length of the house supporting the high points of the roof. Roofs would either be wood, thatched or turf. The walls were made of either clay, wooden planks or wattle and daub. Some longhouses would have had proper chimneys, but this was very rare.
Are longhouses used today?
Contemporary Uses While longhouses are no longer used to house families, they remain important to Iroquoian history and culture. Many sacred ceremonies and cultural gatherings are still held in longhouses.
How long does it take to build a longhouse?
It depends on what resources and materials were available. A possible estimate is one to two years (the reconstruction took one year to build), but we must also consider that the house seems to have been continually added to and maintained.
Did Viking houses have doors?
Typically, no windows were used in the house. All light came from smoke holes overhead, and open exterior doors. Some houses may have had small openings covered with animal membranes, located where the roof meets the wall, to allow more light to diffuse into the house.