Tuscarora Tribe Culture and Customs Stephanie Sagan Tuscarora

Tuscarora Tribe Culture and Customs Stephanie Sagan

Tuscarora Tribe The meaning Tuscarora is pronounced "tuh-skuhroar-uh. " It comes from their own tribal name, Skarureh, which means "hemp people. " Indian hemp, which is also called milkweed, is a plant that produces strong fibers, like cotton does. The Tuscarora used hemp to make rope, cloth for shirts, and

Location The Tuscarora Indians originally live in North Carolina but in the early 1700’s, many Tuscarora people were killed or enslaved by the British during the Tuscarora War, Most if the survivors moved to New York state to live with their northern relatives, the powerful Iroquois Confederacy. Most Tuscarora Indians today live in the New York state or across the border in Ontario, but there are some Tuscarora people still living in the Carolinas.

Schooling Many years ago there was a one room schoolhouse on the reservation. This school was attended only by those who lived close to it. Other children went to schools located off the reservation. Students had to walk or, in bad weather, were taken in horse and buggy. Children who had no parents or only one parent were often sent to a boarding school called the Thomas Indian School located on the Cattaraugus Reservation south of Buffalo, New York. Thomas Indian School took Indian students only from New York state in grades kindergarten through eight. Students stayed at the school for the nine month school year. They lived in dormitories which typically had about 24 students each and a caretaker. There were four buildings for boys and four buildings for girls. Schooling at the Thomas Indian School was very different from the education of today. Girls took a class called, Domestic Science where they learned to wait on tables, sew, cook, and do laundry and ironing. They were given music lessons if they had good grades in

Food The Tuscarora Indians were farming people. Tuscarora women planted crops of corn, beans, and squash and harvested wild berries and herbs. Tuscarora men hunted deer and rabbits and fished in the rivers. Tuscarora Indian recipes included cornbread, soups, and stews, which they cooked on stone hearths.

Weapons & Tools Tuscarora hunters used bows and arrows. Tuscarora fishermen used spears. Tuscarora warriors used their bows and arrows or fought with heavy war clubs. Other important tools used by the Tuscaroras included stone adzes (hand axes for woodworking), flint knives for skinning animals, and hoes carved from animal bones. The Tuscaroras and other

Arts & Crafts Beadwork, basketry and wood-carving are the most common Tuscarora crafts. The Tuscaroras also crafted wampum out of white and purple shell beads. Wampum beads were traded as a kind of currency, but they were more culturally important as an art material. The designs and pictures on wampum belts often told a story or represented a person's family.

Transportation The Tuscarora Indians carved heavy dugout canoes from cypress logs for river travel. Overland, the Tuscaroras usually just walked. There were no horses in North America until Europeans brought them over, so the Tuscaroras used pack dogs to help them carry their heavy loads.

Sports & Time Passers Tuscarora children were very busy most of their day, but they did do things for fun such as play with each other, go to school and help around the house. Many Tuscarora children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Indian kids had more chores and less time to play, just like early colonial children. But they did have cornhusk dolls, toys, and games, such as one game where kids tried

Homes The Tuscarora people lived in villages of longhouses, which were large wood-frame buildings covered with sheets of elm bark. Tuscarora longhouses were up to a hundred feet long, and each one housed an entire clan (as many as 60 people. ) Today, longhouses are only used for ceremonial purposes.

Work Cited http: //www. bigorrin. org/tuscarora_kids. htm http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Tuscarora_(trib e) http: //en. wikipedia. org/wiki/Tuscarora