Housing

The Mohawk nation lived in longhouses. The longhouses were long, narrow and rectangular structures that the Mohawk people lived in. The longhouses were large enough to serve as a house for all of the extended family (about twenty family’s). The women’s side of the birth chain classified the extended family. So if Suzie married Jimmy, Jimmy would come live with Suzie. Suzie and Jimmy’s kids would also live in Suzie’s tribe until they were old enough to marry if they were boys. If they were girls they would always live in Suzie’s tribe. Each longhouse is also a clan. Each clan is descended from a single woman called the mother of the clan. Since there are clans the longhouses are symbols of tradition in society. The longhouses were divided into compartments or apartments. Each compartment held two families. An aisle, that connected the different compartments together, separated the two families sleeping areas. In each sleeping area people the families stored their personal items. A fire was placed in the middle of the aisle for cooking and heat. A hole in the roof of the compartment let out the fire’s smoke. The construction of the longhouse started with a foundation, which was tree trunks or posts dug into the ground. Next horizontal branches were laid across the foundation. Next bendy branches made in an ark were used as rafters (or the roof foundation) were placed on top of the foundation. More horizontal poles were placed on the rafters. The framework was then covered in elm bark and then the structure was built. In order to get a good house, the Mohawk had to take the bark off in the springtime. All the logs were fastened together with bark of or braided bark.