Created By: Kelly Schrage 4 th Grade Big Flats Elementary Click on the arrows to advance through the PowerPoint Presentation. Click on the longhouse to listen to the information.

Your friends have joined you for a walk along the Chemung River in Elmira, New York. As you walk by the flowing river, a huge bald eagle lands in a towering tree nearby. "Look around, boys and girls," announces the Eagle. "The River, known as the “large bull- thistle”, has changed over the past 600 years. Can you imagine what this land was like back then?“ "Wow," your excited friends respond. "Could you bring us back to that time so that we can see what it was like for the Native Americans?“ "Hop onto my back," invites the Eagle, "and hold on tightly. I will help you learn about some of the Native Americans who live in New York. You will learn the ways of the First People."

Native Americans of New York have contributed to our lives or lifestyles today. These contributions included things such as language, food, games, clothing, legends, and even architecture (building/planning). Your team’s job will be to explore, research and gather facts about the Iroquois and then choose one topic to research and present to another team.

Moccasins …continued Iroquois dressed different than how we dressed today. They use the pelts (fur/skin) of animals for their clothing. In the winter, the men wore shirts, leggings, and moccasins made of buckskin. Buckskin is clothing made from the skins of animals, mainly deer. The women wore skirts they had woven from the wild grasses, covered with furs, with leggings underneath. They wore snowshoes in their feet. In the summer, the men wore a breechcloth, a short piece of buckskin that hung from the front to the back of the Indian. The women wore grass dresses, and the children wore nothing at all. They wore moccasins on their feet.

Moccasins are strong, comfortable shoes made from softened animal skins. They are one type of traditional North American footwear. Iroquois Moccasins Moccasins were created and worn because of harsh climates. The environment made wearing moccasins necessary. The ability to run fast over great distances was important among the Iroquois. Runners carrying messages of war or peace could travel with remarkable speed the forest trails of what is now New York State. Pride in this very important skill may explain why moccasins were among the most highly decorated articles of Iroquoian clothing. Moccasins …continued

Iroquois Moccasins (continued)… The Iroquois usually wore soft-soled moccasins. Moccasins were made from the soft tanned hides (leather) of deer, moose, elk or buffalo. Soft-soled moccasins, were constructed from a single piece of leather. They were made by bringing up the sole of the shoe around the foot and puckering or patching the material around the instep. Moccasins were often decorated, usually in floral designs, on the instep or tongue portion. The Iroquois decorations did not usually cover the sides of the moccasin. A separate beaded or quilled piece of velvet or leather was sometimes sewn on top of the cuff or tongue portion. These decorated panels could be easily removed from the moccasins when the soles wore out, and sewn onto a new pair. Click on the moccasins to learn more! Moccasins …continued

Moccasins Today The use of moccasins is different today than long ago. The word moccasin generally refers to all types of hard and soft soled shoes, with and without puckered toes. Today, moccasins are not made for the same purposes as Native American used them hundreds of years ago. Today, people often choose to wear moccasins as slippers or everyday comfort shoes. In addition, moccasins today are usually made by machines, or in factories instead of by hand like the Iroquois made them. They are also made using both soft tanned hides (animal fur) and man-made materials. Moccasins …continued

To learn more about how moccasins were used to play a game Native Americans game, read page 32 in the Native American book (soft orange cover) To find out more about how moccasins were used by Native Americans, read page 15 in the Native American book (soft orange cover)