Iroquois Time

How the Iroquois Measure Time

In our culture, people put a great deal of importance on time. Time is measured by the clock – seconds, minutes and hours. There is a time to get up in the morning for school. There is a time for classes to begin and end. You have a set time for lunch and even a set time for dismissal from school. Time is also measured by days, weeks, months, and years. Seven days make a week and 365 days form our year. As you can see, time is very important to our culture.

The Iroquois did not worry about specific time. Day and night marked the smallest division of time for them. It was the rising and setting of the sun, the phases of the moon, and the changing of the seasons that Iroquois used to measure time. It was nature that determined the way the Iroquois arranged time. Nature was the Iroquois clock.

The Iroquois marked their year with festivals

Each time of the year had its special work. The Iroquois year had two parts – summer and winter. Summer was the growing season and winter the season when the earth slept. Each time of the year had its festivals or celebrations. All of the Iroquois festivals and ceremonies returned thanks to the Great Creator. For example, in March the sap from the maple tree starts to flow. The Iroquois tapped the trees, collected and boiled the sap which they called sweet water and made it into sugar. For this gift, the Iroquois held the first festival of the spring called the Thanks to the Maple Festival. The purpose of this festival was to give thanks to the maple tree, the forest and the Creator for the renewal of life that comes with spring.

Next came the time for the clearing of the land and the planting of crops. After spring planting was over, a Planting Festival was held marked by dancing, prayers, games, storytelling, and feasting.

In late May or early June when the tiny wild strawberries appeared in the woods, the Iroquois gathered them. One day was set aside for a Strawberry Festival to give thanks to the strawberries.

With the heat of summer, the corn grew tall in the fields. After the corn ripened in late August came the Green Corn Festival. It was the time for giving thanks to the Creator for the warm sun and rains that helped the corn to grow. The festival lasted for four days at which time they set out to harvest their crops. This was one of the busiest times of the Iroquois year – the people of the village all worked together to gather the crops for the long winter to come. Finally, there was a Harvest Festival, something like our Thanksgiving, in honor of the three sisters which were corn, beans and squash.

As the nights grew cooler, the days were bright and crisp. The time for the fall hunt had arrived. Deer and bear meat were dried to be stored for the winter and the hides were prepared for blankets and clothing. Deep winter settled over Iroquois lands. Now the whole world seemed to lie dead. The Iroquois watched the position of the stars at night and the moon at dawn. It told them that the time for the Midwinter Festival was approaching. Hunters returned to the village. The Midwinter Festival, the most important on of the year, was about to begin. This festival was in honor of the right-handed twin, the good twin whose power had decreased during the long winter months. The Iroquois begged him to restore life to the earth.

What happened at Iroquois Festivals and ceremonies

All Iroquois ceremonies were held in the longhouse. When the Iroquois gathered in the longhouse for a festival, a speaker first gave a Thanksgiving speech which lasted around twenty minutes. Then, special dances were performed. All who wished to do so joined in the dances. Dances could last for 2-3 hours. A feast was then distributed to all attending who took it home to eat. There was the playing of games like lacrosse and the peach pit and the telling of legends too.

Each Iroquois festival celebrated the major changes in the seasons. It was a time to return thanks to the Creator and to ask that he continue to watch over them in the coming year.

Understanding what you have read

The Iroquois did not sorry about specific time. Nature was the Iroquois clock. The Iroquois year had two parts – summer and winter. Each time of the year had its festivals or ceremonies. In spring the Iroquois celebrated the Thanks to the Maple Festival in honor of the sap which they had collected from the maple trees. In spring after planting they had the Planting Festival. They gave thanks for the wild strawberry at the Strawberry Festival. They gave thanks to the three sisters during the harvest festival. The Midwinter Festival was the only festival of the winter. During Iroquois festivals, the Iroquois gave thanks to the Creator, danced, played games, told stories and feasted.

What were the three most important things people need to know from this reading?

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