01-04 Algonquin and Iroquois.doc
Name: _________________________
PD:________
Date: ____________
The Algonquin and Iroquois Cultures
Read about the Algonquin and the Iroquois. For each category (language, government, etc.), decide
whether they were similar or different. Similar means alike, not exactly the same. Put an “S” or a “D”
in the box.
SIMILAR
OR
DIFFERENT
Algonquin
Language
Algonquian
Iroquois (Haudenosaunee)
Iroquoian

Government
Tribes were not unified.

Birch bark canoes were lighter and
Transportation better than the Iroquois’ elm bark
canoes.
Food
Dwellings
Tribes
Clothing
Geography
Names
Canoes made from elm bark.
Planted crops but relied mostly on
hunting, fishing, and gathering.
Relied mostly on crops of corn,
beans, and squash. (The Three
Sisters)
Wigwams or longhouses. A wigwam
is made the same way as a
longhouse except it is round.
Longhouses: wooden frames
covered with bark.
Wappinger, Delaware (Lenni
Lenapes), Montauk, Mahican
Mohawk, Seneca, Onondaga,
Oneida, Cayuga. The Tuscarora
joined the League later.
Deerskin clothes decorated with
shells, quills, and feathers
Deerskin clothes decorated with
shells, quills, and feathers



Organization
They formed the Iroquois
Confederacy (AKA League of the
Iroquois) to prevent warfare
between tribes.
Leaders (sachems) were elected
by women.
Location: Southern NY State
Climate: Hot summers and cold
winters.
Place: Eastern Woodlands



Location: North and Western NY
State
Climate: Hot summers and cold
winters.
Place: Eastern Woodlands
Tribes were organized into clans, or
groups of families.
Tribes were organized into clans.
The Algonquin were called
“Adirondack” by the Iroquois.
(It means “they eat trees”.)
The Haudenosaunee were called
“Iroqu” by the Algonquin.
(It means rattlesnakes.)
1.
Why did the Iroquois tribes form the
League of the Iroquois?
2.
Which group, the Algonquin or the
Iroquois, had better canoes? How
were they better?
3.
Which tribes were in the Iroquois
Confederacy?
4.
What is the difference between a
wigwam and a longhouse?
5.
What are the “Three Sisters”?
6.
Why did the Algonquin and the
Iroquois mainly dress in clothing
made of deerskin?
7.
The Algonquin and the Iroquois
decorated their clothing with feathers
and porcupine quills. What does this
tell you about their way of life?
8.
What is a clan?
9.
What does Adirondack mean?
10.
The Haudenosaunee were nicknamed
Iroquois by their enemies. Why do
you think they got this nickname?