The Longhouse (Ganoñhsésgeh)
How the Onondaga and their neighbors built and lived in longhouses. This excerpt uses the section on the longhouse. It leaves out the sections on the American Revolution and on homes today.
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Long ago, the Onondagas, Mohawks, Oneidas, Cayugas, and Senecas lived in large bark homes called Ganoñhsésgeh, or longhouses. A Ganoñhsésgeh is a home built entirely of wood, usually from elm trees. First the longhouse frame was built with poles and saplings that could bend to let rain and snow slide off. When the frame was done, sheets of elm bark were attached to it like shingles. Then a second frame was built on the outside of the elm bark! This second frame made sure that the Ganoñhsésgeh was strong enough to stand up to northeast winters. It also kept the elm bark shingles in place. When finished, the Ganoñhsésgeh were at least 20 feet high. They could be as long as 200 feet.
Inside the longhouse, the Ganoñhsésgeh had bunk beds on either side of a shared fire. They gave families a place to sleep and store things. Each Ganoñhsésgeh was home to a family belonging to a specific clan. When a couple married, the husband left his clan’s house. He moved into his wife’s clan family longhouse to raise their family. A village could have many, many longhouses. A tall wooden fence called a palisade surrounded them for safety.
The Ganoñhsésgeh, or longhouse, is also an important symbol of the identity of the 5 nations. The union of 5 nations is seen as a longhouse stretching across present-day New York State. The word Haudenosaunee actually means “People of the Longhouse.”