| The Seneca nation, the largest tribe in the Iroquois | | | | Seneca burial artifacts and gathering written history to |
| Confederacy, has deep historical roots that have been | | | | document the Seneca burial customs and patterns. |
| the subject of many archaeological discoveries in the | | | | How did the Iroquois become known for their |
| last century. The movement of the tribe followed the | | | | entrepreneurial spirit? |
| geographical pattern running from Canada into New | | | | The Iroquois traded with Dutch settlers from the |
| York as many factions of the nation set up camps | | | | beginning of their cohabitation. This fact was pieced |
| throughout New York in the seventeenth century. This | | | | together through archaeological evidence. The Iroquois, |
| tribe, though, is one shrouded in mystery. Perhaps | | | | utilizing the Three Sisters successful method of |
| these three are the most commonly addressed: | | | | agriculture, growing corn, beans, and squash together, |
| | | | used fertile land in the best possible manner. They |
| 1. Why have more Seneca cemeteries been found | | | | would trade or sell extra crops to supplement their |
| than any other tribe of the Five Nations? | | | | economy and lifestyle. Archaeological evidence tells a |
| 2. How did the Iroquois become known for their | | | | story of how far ranging their trade networks were. |
| entrepreneurial spirit? | | | | Successful entrepreneurs, the Iroquois busied about |
| 3. Why did the Iroquois choose the longhouse structure | | | | trading furs (raccoon and beaver) and selling off |
| as the most suitable for their living arrangements? | | | | pieces of their land. From these trades, the Native |
| Why have more Seneca cemeteries been found than | | | | Americans received beads, ribbon, brass kettles, and |
| any other tribe of the Five Nations? | | | | men's ruffled shirts. When they ran out of land to sell, |
| The Seneca tribe, unlike the other tribes in the Five, and | | | | they needed to come up with something else to sell in |
| then Six, Nations (also called the Iroquois League or | | | | the market place as a means of support. Iroquois tribal |
| Iroquois Confederacy) was found to have at least one | | | | members, beginning in the mid-1800s, began making |
| cemetery at each living site. While other tribes of the | | | | and selling different kinds of craft items such as |
| nation (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and later | | | | beadwork, paintings and baskets to tourists who were |
| the sixth, Tuscarora) have a few known cemeteries | | | | beginning to visit the areas of Niagara Falls, New York |
| scattered throughout the region, none are more | | | | and Montreal, Canada. Yet others saw the benefit in |
| numerous or resemble the highly structured and | | | | performing Native American dances at some of the |
| complex burial traditions that have been found within | | | | festivals and gatherings as they would occur. |
| the Seneca tribal practices. | | | | Why did the Iroquois choose the longhouse structure |
| The Seneca tribe had a more elaborate burial ritual | | | | as the most suitable for their living arrangements? |
| than the other tribes in the Iroquois Confederacy; they | | | | The longhouse, whose very name is part of the |
| buried their dead in precise positions with the body | | | | Iroquois language, Haudenosaunee, which means |
| flexed. Artifacts and belongings were buried with the | | | | People of the Longhouse, tells us much about the |
| dead within the grave. These relics were often | | | | social organization of the Seneca people. From |
| scissors, gun flints, gun parts, pottery, and glass and | | | | archaeological finds, we know that the longhouse could |
| shell beads. This ceremonial practice could also have | | | | be built from 25 to 400 feet long but typically were built |
| factored in the cemeteries being located closer to the | | | | between 180 and 220 feet long. Longhouses are long, |
| community center. | | | | as their name implies, narrow, and rectangular in shape. |
| The Seneca communities were located farther | | | | The longhouse was built as a home with extended |
| geographically than the other tribal villages from any | | | | families in mind. This lends itself to the sense of |
| European settlements. All the tribes, having an innate | | | | community this nation shared. Each family had a |
| fear of catching a disease, or an Evil Spirit, from | | | | personal interior space of about six feet by nine feet, |
| outsiders, wanted to be as far as possible from any | | | | divided as compartments, with a general "hall" running |
| foreign elements. They wanted to trade with the | | | | the length of the structure. |
| Europeans, but they didn't want to live with them. Most | | | | This mode of housing was designed to hold not only |
| tribes tended to locate their cemeteries far from the | | | | parents and their children, but grandparents, aunts, |
| central living areas as well, but the Seneca cemeteries | | | | uncles and cousins as well. In the Iroquois tribe, 20 or |
| were located closer to the community. This fact could | | | | more families could reside in a longhouse, typically all |
| also lead to the reason why Seneca cemeteries were | | | | the relatives from the mother's side of the clan. |
| more accessible to archaeologists and easier to find. | | | | Women were important in Iroquois society and each |
| The Cayuga, as did many of the other tribes, it must | | | | member of a "clan" was a descendant from one |
| be noted, have had some possible burial sites | | | | person, following the mother's bloodline. Each clan had |
| destroyed by vandalism; therefore, it is not possible to | | | | its own longhouse and was named after an animal or |
| reconstruct them in their entirety to more closely | | | | a bird. The animal or bird was inscribed as a logo on |
| scrutinize the Iroquois burial tradition. The New York | | | | the longhouse and it was depicted on many decorative |
| Rochester Museum is currently analyzing excavation | | | | items contained within the longhouse. The longhouse, |
| findings to continue learning about the burial habits of | | | | however, was more than a home to each clan to the |
| the Seneca tribe. The Rochester Museum and some | | | | Iroquois; the Five Nations considered each branch a |
| of its top archaeologists, including Charles Wray and | | | | part of their overall society's home. |
| Harry Schoff, are also credited with saving many | | | | |