villages,and also built huge earthen mounds as burial and ceremonial places near a vast Indian metropolis that may have had thirty thousand people.The largest mound was 100 feet high,with a rectangular base larger than that of the Great Pyramid of Egypt.In the city,known as Cahokia,were toolmakers,hide dressers,potters,jewelry makers, weavers,salt makers,copper engravers,and magnificent ceramists.One funeral blanket was made of twelve thousand shell beads. From the Adirondacks to the Great Lakes,in what is now Pennsylvania and upper New York,lived the most powerful of the northeastern tribes,the League of the Iroquois, which included the Mohawks (People of the Flint),Oneidas(People of the Stone), Onondagas(People of the Mountain),Cayugas(People at the Landing),and Senecas (Great Hill People),thousands of people bound together by a common Iroquois language. In the vision of the Mohawk chief Iliawatha,the legendary Dekaniwidah spoke to the Iroquois:"We bind ourselves together by taking hold of each other's hands so firmly and forming a circle so strong that if a tree should fall upon it,it could not shake nor break it, so that our people and grandchildren shall remain in the circle in security,peace and happiness." In the villages of the Iroquois,land was owned in common and worked in common. Hunting was done together,and the catch was divided among the members of the village Houses were considered common property and were shared by several families.The concept of private ownership of land and homes was foreign to the Iroquois.A French Jesuit priest who encountered them in the 1650s wrot "No poorhouses are needed among them,because they are neither mendicants roDpaupers....Their kindness, humanity and courtesy not only makes them libexal with what they have,but causes them to possess hardly anything except in common." Women were important and respected in roquois society.Families were matrilineal. That is,the family line went down through the female members,whose husbands joined the family,while sons who married thewrjoined their wives'families.Each extended family lived in a "long house."When a woman wanted a divorce,she set her husband's things outside the door. Families were grouped in vlans,and a dozen or more clans might make up a village. The senior women inthe willage named the men who represented the clans at village and tribal councils.They alo named the forty-nine chiefs who were the ruling council for the Five Nation confederacy of the Iroquois.The women attended clan meetings,stood behind the circle of men who spoke and voted,and removed the men from office if they strayed too far from the wishes of the women. The women tended the crops and took general charge of village affairs while the men were always hunting or fishing.And since they supplied the moccasins and food for warring expeditions,they had some control over military matters.As Gary B.Nash notes in his fascinating study of early America,Red,White,and Black:"Thus power was shared between the sexes and the European idea of male dominancy and female subordination in all things was conspicuously absent in Iroquois society." Children in Iroquois society,while taught the cultural heritage of their people and solidarity with the tribe,were also taught to be independent,not to submit to overbearing authority.They were taught equality in status and the sharing of possessions.The Iroquois did not use harsh punishment on children;they did not insist on early weaning or early toilet training,hut gradually allowed the child to learn self-care.villages, and also built huge earthen mounds as burial and ceremonial places near a vast Indian metropolis that may have had thirty thousand people. The largest mound was 100 feet high, with a rectangular base larger than that of the Great Pyramid of Egypt. In the city, known as Cahokia, were toolmakers, hide dressers, potters, jewelry makers, weavers, salt makers, copper engravers, and magnificent ceramists. One funeral blanket was made of twelve thousand shell beads. From the Adirondacks to the Great Lakes, in what is now Pennsylvania and upper New York, lived the most powerful of the northeastern tribes, the League of the Iroquois, which included the Mohawks (People of the Flint), Oneidas (People of the Stone), Onondagas (People of the Mountain), Cayugas (People at the Landing), and Senecas (Great Hill People), thousands of people bound together by a common Iroquois language. In the vision of the Mohawk chief Iliawatha, the legendary Dekaniwidah spoke to the Iroquois: "We bind ourselves together by taking hold of each other's hands so firmly and forming a circle so strong that if a tree should fall upon it, it could not shake nor break it, so that our people and grandchildren shall remain in the circle in security, peace and happiness." In the villages of the Iroquois, land was owned in common and worked in common. Hunting was done together, and the catch was divided among the members of the village. Houses were considered common property and were shared by several families. The concept of private ownership of land and homes was foreign to the Iroquois. A French Jesuit priest who encountered them in the 1650s wrote: "No poorhouses are needed among them, because they are neither mendicants nor paupers.. . . Their kindness, humanity and courtesy not only makes them liberal with what they have, but causes them to possess hardly anything except in common." Women were important and respected in Iroquois society. Families were matrilineal. That is, the family line went down through the female members, whose husbands joined the family, while sons who married then joined their wives' families. Each extended family lived in a "long house." When a woman wanted a divorce, she set her husband's things outside the door. Families were grouped in clans, and a dozen or more clans might make up a village. The senior women in the village named the men who represented the clans at village and tribal councils. They also named the forty-nine chiefs who were the ruling council for the Five Nation confederacy of the Iroquois. The women attended clan meetings, stood behind the circle of men who spoke and voted, and removed the men from office if they strayed too far from the wishes of the women. The women tended the crops and took general charge of village affairs while the men were always hunting or fishing. And since they supplied the moccasins and food for warring expeditions, they had some control over military matters. As Gary B. Nash notes in his fascinating study of early America, Red, White, and Black: "Thus power was shared between the sexes and the European idea of male dominancy and female subordination in all things was conspicuously absent in Iroquois society." Children in Iroquois society, while taught the cultural heritage of their people and solidarity with the tribe, were also taught to be independent, not to submit to overbearing authority. They were taught equality in status and the sharing of possessions. The Iroquois did not use harsh punishment on children; they did not insist on early weaning or early toilet training, hut gradually allowed the child to learn self-care. No Profit Use Only