"Длинные дома" ирокезов

The Iroquois, who by the time the Europeans arrived occupied the territory around Lake Ontario, lived in settlements surrounded by palisades. Some of them were very large, consisted of several dozen houses and had one and a half – two thousand inhabitants. In each house there lived a large group of relatives. Houses were oblong rectangular in shape and were sown round with pieces of elm bark; entrances were at the ends. The central part of a house was an area of general use. There were hearths, the smoke from which was let out through holes in the roof. On both sides of the central isle there were “rooms” for families. When a new family was formed, an extension was attached to the house, as a result of which it became longer. This is why the Europeans referred to them as “long houses”. They were sometimes as long as 300 meters, and could accommodate up to a hundred people. Aiming to illustrate how big these houses were, Lewis Henri Morgan, who studied the Iroquois people in the 19th century, wrote that the locals opened the western door on Niagara, and the eastern – on Hudson River. Later the term “long house” began to be used to describe any community houses of American Indians.

Drawing showing 'long house' of the Iroquois. L.G. Morgan. Houses and House Life of the Native Americans. 1934.		Reconstruction of the Iroquois settlement.