Where They Lived

The Susquehannock  Indians lived along the Susquehanna River and its branches from the north end of Chesapeake Bay in Maryland across Pennsylvania into southern New York.  The Susquehannock lived in a number of large, fortified villages (perhaps as many as 20).They were allies and trading partners of the Erie in northern Ohio and the Huron of southern Ontario. They were closely related to other Woodland tribes like the Iroquois and the Delaware.  By 1700 there were only 300 Susquehannock. Settlers began to call this tribe the Conestoga. Their rapid decline continued until the last 20 were massacred by a mob of  Pennsylvania colonists in 1763. The name of the tribe Susquehannock appears to have been an Algonquin name meaning the "people of the Muddy River" (Susquehanna).

Language

Iroquian - reportedly similar to Huron.

Way of Life 

Almost completely forgotten today, the Susquehannock were one of the strongest and fiercest  tribes of mid-Atlantic region at the time of  the the first European settlers. Little is known about them today. They were probably  destroyed by epidemic and wars with the Iroquois. The Susquehannock have been called noble and heroic. They have also been described as aggressive, warlike, and bitter enemies of the Iroquois. When he first met the Susquehannock in 1608, Captain John Smith was especially impressed with their size, deep voices, and the variety of their weapons. They were known for their height. Using canoes for transport, Susquehannock war parties routinely attacked the Delaware tribes along the Delaware River.

 Like other Iroquian tribes, the Susquehannock farmed extensively. In the spring, they planted maize, beans, squash, and tobacco  in the fields near their villages. After this was finished, many groups moved south for the summer to temporary sites on Chesapeake Bay to fish and gather shellfish returning in the fall to harvest their crops and hunt. Their favorite meat was deer but they would eat lots of other forms of wildlife. They ate a  lot of fish were  such as sturgeon and gar, as well as animals found along the Susquehanna from waterfowl to bobcat, skunk to wolf and raccoon . They also ate a wide variety of nuts, tubers and seeds  .  They used a plant known as amaranth to make flour but also boiled it into cereal and even toasted or popped the seeds, not unlike popcorn. By the 16th century, the Susquehannock Indians crafted wooden canoes. Tools for the hunt  included bows and arrows with stone tips, and nets were used for fishing.

Trade

The Susquehannock  traded with  the French , the English, and the Dutch . They were the only tribe to become important trading partners with all three competing European powers. The main thing they traded was beaver fur. The trading  allowed the Susquehannock to have  more firearms and ammunition than any other eastern tribe. One village even had a cannon.

 In spite of their weapons, the Susquehannock still were attacked  by their enemies the various Iroquois tribes. In 1651, the Mohawk attacked and by 1656, had pushed the Susquehannock down to the eastern branch of the Susquehanna River

Villages

Their villages were laid out in a manner similar to the other Iroquoian tribes. The villages were generally stockaded  with a log fence and the shelters built within the stockade were of a structure that has become known as "longhouses". The longhouse was usually constructed of wood poles tied together in a rectangular shape with a vaulted roof. The longhouses were so named because their lengths varied between fifty and over a hundred feet long. The width of each longhouse was generally eighteen to twenty-five feet. Bark was placed over the pole structure and lashed down. About every twelve feet along the length of the roof vent holes were allowed to remain uncovered. Along a central hall running the length of the longhouse, fires for cooking and heating were located beneath each vent hole so that the smoke could rise and exit. A number of families occupied each longhouse and each family maintained their own fire.

To either side, platforms for sleeping were constructed. These were raised off of the ground floor so that rain, entering through the smoke vent holes, would not soak the inhabitants. The sleeping platforms were piled high with bear and other animal furs for use as covers. All of the members of a single family slept together on their section of the platform to conserve and share body warmth. A second, higher platform was used for storing of the family's possessions, including their cooking pots and utensils. In most cases, the individual family sections within the longhouse would be curtained off to provide a sense of privacy from the other families occupying the longhouse. In this  tribe, like other Woodland tribes,  the oldest female occupying each longhouse was the acknowledged head of that longhouse. They didn't stay in a village very long, after about 10 years they would have burned all the nearby firewood, the soil in their gardens would be less productive and so they would move their village to another site a few miles away.

This web page created by Mrs. Burk for McKnight 3rd Grade students.

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