What Role Did Women Play In Iroquois Society

The skywalkers are Iroquois iron workers who literally live on the edge, doing high steel construction work and the Iroquois are historically known for being powerful and an important northeast Native American union.

The Iroquois people have settled in the areas of Ontario and upstate New York for well over 4,000 years. The Iroquois consisted of five tribes prior to European colonization. Their society serves as an outstanding example of political and military organization, complex lifestyle, and a high role of women. Until the 1500s, the five tribes of the Iroquois dedicated lots of their energy toward fighting and killing each other. However, the five tribes designed quite an intricate political system. This included a two-house legislature, kinda like the British Parliament and modern U.S. Congress. The representatives, from the Seneca and Mohawk tribes met in one house and those of the Oneida and Cayuga met in the other. The

They fought and captured other native tribes as well as fighting the early French and British settlers. During the French and Indian War they remained officially neutral, but would join either side to exploit an advantage.

Agriculture was the main source of food. In Iroquois society, women held a special role. Believed to be linked to the earth's power to create life, women determined how the food would be distributed, which was a considerable power in a farming society. Women were also responsible for selecting the representatives for the Confederacy.

The Iroquois society proved to be the most persistent military threat the European settlers would face. Although conquest and treaty forced them to surrender much of their land, their legacy lingers. Some historians even attribute some aspects of the structure of our own Constitution to Iroquois ideas. In fact, one of America's greatest admirers of the Iroquois was none other than Benjamin