The environment the Hodenosaunee lived in was located in “Northern New York State in North America called Mohawk Valley” (Murdock, 1934, p. 1). Mohawk Valley was a fertile territory that was between the Genesee River, Adirondack Mountains and some of Pennsylvania. The climate for this region was based on “four seasons, but with a mild winter… [that] was ... warm enough for growing” crops.”(Murdock, 1934, p.2) In addition, the Hodenosaunee enjoyed a considerable amount of rainfall that fed numerous of springs, streams and lakes, which helped them, nourished their flora. Flora is considered a plant community, in which the flora can contain wild or cultivated plants. The plant that was included in their flora was a forest of pines, spruce, hemlock, cedar, maple, chestnuts, among many other plants. Since the region was thriving with vegetation, animals lived upon the Hodenosaunee. The animals that lived upon the Hodenosaunee were deer, fox, cougars, goose, pigeons and bison. The Hodenosaunee was an agriculturalist society. …show more content…
Their primary source of subsistence was “the cultivation of plants with hand tools, and art at which the Hodenosaunee surpass all their neighbors. Sometimes several hundred acres of tilled land surround a single village. Of maize or Indian corn, the staple crop, several varieties are known – flint and starchy corns as well as sweet corn and popcorn. In the same fields with maize, and usually in the same hills, the Hodenosaunee plant beans, squashes and pumpkins. They cultivate tobacco, melons, and sunflowers in separate plots. (Murdock, 1934, p. 4) After using the land for some time, the Hodenosaunee used a technique called the slash-and-burn in which, “Tracts of land are cleared by burning them over after felling the trees by alternate uses of stone axes and fire” and “After the fields have been burned over, the ashes are worked into the ground and act as fertilizer” (Murdock, 1934, p.4). In addition, the men in the Hodenosaunee hunted for their meats, however the women often “accompany them to prepare and bring home the kill”. The main weapon the men used for hunting was an arrow that was about 3 feet long, tipped with a head of bone, horn or chipped chert equipped with feathers twisted so as to cause rotation in flight, and carried in a deerskin quiver slung across the back. For example, The men “Usually stalk their prey singly or in small parties. They pursue bears until they tire them out; in winter they easily overtake them on snow shoes. Occasionally a large party of hunters fires the woods and drives a herd of deer between two converging fences of brushwood, at the mouth of which they are shot from ambush” (Murdock, 1934, p. 3). In addition to being agriculture’s, the women in the Hodenosaunee used to gather and collected fruits, vegetables, nuts and fungi that the Hodenosaunee ate (Murdock, 1934, p. 3 – p.4). For Example, “The natives gather and eat mushrooms and a variety of edible leaves and shoots. From the bark of the maple, and from pond lily