Falling Snow

With the weather turning cold, Haudenosaunee people retreated indoors to their longhouses. Longhouses were located throughout Haudenosaunee villages, with one for each clan. There were multiple families that lived in each longhouse, all of whom shared kinship with one another based on their matrilineal clan. As long and narrow dwellings, longhouses were a minimum of one hundred feet long and twenty feet wide. With a door on each end, Haudenosaunee families entered their longhouses to see a large, open space that was framed by cedar, hickory, and elm poles. The lower tier of the longhouse included a sleeping area for each family, communal cooking spaces, and fireplaces throughout. With tree bark for the roofing and siding, and corresponding smoke holes for the fireplaces, longhouses provided the perfect gathering space for a Haudenosaunee winter tradition to take place — storytelling.