By Victoria, Jenna and Megan

Introduction………........By Megan, Jenna, and Victoria

Games…………………………By Jenna

The Food………………………By Victoria

The Homes……………………By Megan

The Religion and Rituals they had…………By Jenna

Roles of Men, Women, and Children……..By Victoria

Art and Music………………….By Megan

The Cayuga was a very confident tribe. They were part of the Iroquois. They also lived in longhouses. The six Iroquois tribes are very special and have different beliefs and religions. Keep reading to find out more about the Cayuga tribe.

The Games

The Cayuga tribe played games very differently

from the games we play now. Lacrosse is actually an old Iroquois game. The lacrosse stick was called a fiddlestick. That was their favorite game. Turtle shell rattles were a game that clans often played with each other. There also is a peach pit game.

FoodThe Cayuga’s food were a little different

then ours. They cooked it over a fire and we cook it on the stove. They ate the three sister crops which are corn, beans, and squash. They also traded food with other tribes. They ate small animals. They ate some nuts such as: chestnuts , beechnuts, hickory nuts, butternuts, acorns, and black walnuts. That is what you would eat if were in the Cayuga tribe.

The Cayuga tribe lived in longhouses for their homes. To make them they used small trees to form roofs, and tree barks to cover the frame. Longhouses took very long to make because they can be 200 feet long, 20 feet high, and 36 feet wide. 36 is feet wide about the length of a school bus! Each longhouse can hold an entire clan of 60 people. That is about 20 families! Lastly longhouses are much bigger then wigwams. Wigwams can only hold one family. Now you know about the houses the Cayuga tribe lived in.

The Religion and Rituals They Had

The religion for the Cayuga tribe is very interesting. There are festivals throughout the year. One festival was the Maple Festival. They collected sap to make syrup and sugar, they also celebrated by dancing and playing games. The Cayuga tribe used the False Face mask to scare away evil spirits that caused sickness and death. Cayuga women carry on the clan’s traditions. The children belong to their mothers clan. The father belongs to a different clan. There are also clan mothers. Girl babies were always cause for rejoicing because only women could carry on the clans.

The men cleared fields and hunted for food. They also made canoes from trees. The women planted and cared for the crops called the three sister crops. They were squash, beans and corn. The boys and girls did different things. The boys learned to shoot a bow and arrow and built traps. The girls made clothing, made pottery and cooked.

The Cayuga tribe painted pots and made lacrosse uniforms. They made pottery and also strung beads to make belts which are called a wampum. This tribe used materials such as reeds, wood, and animal skins to make baskets, drums, and other instruments. They also made soapstone carvings on a mask. As you see there are a lot of objects the Cayuga tribe made.

As you can see the Cayuga tribe is very interesting. We hoped you a had fun time learning about them! Thank you for reading!