What kind of houses did the Iroquois tribe live in?
The longhouse was the basic Iroquois dwelling. Most were made by driving two rows of sticks into the ground then bending them until the met. There they were tied and crossbars were tied to connect them. Over this framework elm bark was placed, forming a large enclosed space. Use of bark had it’s problems. The removal of bark normally killed the tree. The process was best done in the spring when the bark was loose and pliable. Bark removed from trees can be straighten from the curve it followed on the tree by weighing in down until it dries. The biggest long house could hold as many as ten families. Most were about eighteen feet high and eighteen feet wide, averaging 60 feet in length, but many were longer. They had an aisle 6-10 feet wide down the center and partial walls were built along the sides–sort of like booths, only bigger, making a three sided enclosure, open to the aisle, where a family would live. They would step up onto a slightly elevated floor about 18 inches about the a
