First Nations Study - the Iroquois people

 Hello!

Over the past month my girls and I have been learning about Canada's early and current Indigenous nations. 

We began reading about the Indigenous people that called Canada home centuries before the first European explorers arrived while we were camping at Awenda Provincial Park early in September.  Our focus then shifted primarily onto the Iroquois First Nations people.  We connected with the Iroquois as they were a farming people that have lived in the home we now call Ontario for centuries.  

Our first task was doing some reading from our Story of Canada book on how these First Peoples arrived in Canada and then migrated east and settled here in our local area.  We read on how they constructed their villages of longhouses where families would live and work together; how they would farm the land using companion planting that we still use today - we still plant the "three sisters" of corn, beans and squash together and we read of a young chief that brought peace to the five nations with the planting of the "tree of peace".

We are fortunate to live near some protected historical sites such as Crawford Lake Iroquois village, so one beautiful afternoon we set out on a field trip to explore life in a longhouse.

The girls were fascinated by the sheer size of the longhouses and how high the ceilings were.  They noticed the corn hung from rafters drying for the winter and the warm animal pelts and furs on the bunks.

Staff were socially distanced available to answer our questions - what roles did women typically play?  How did the smoke from the fires exit the longhouse without a chimney? 

    We tried our tongue at many Iroquois words and discussed the skills needed to make moccasins, baskets and arrows.

    It was such perfect Autumn weather, we decided to hike along one of the park's many trails, spying chipmunks, geese and beautiful wood carvings along the way.

    We will begin learning about the next visitors to Canada on our Canada timeline this coming week, but we sure did enjoy our exploration of early Iroquois peoples.

Jeanette