Iroquois Food

The Iroquois were the only Canadian Indians who used agriculture. There was rich farm lands where they lived along the St. Lawrence river and Southern Ontario. Their main crop was corn, but they also grew beans and squash. They often grew all of their crops in the same field. They would harvest green corn, roast it and let it dry. They also collect wild raspberries, grapes and currents from the forests. They would collect nuts, boil them for the oil and store the oil in bladders. The Iroquois also ate meat. Hunters would trap white tailed deer and kill as many as 100 in a single drive. In the summer they smoked fish and eel and in the fall they smoked venison. Hunters could kill pigeons with long clubs, killing thousands at a time. They also caught whitefish with nets and dried the meat. They also caught huge pikes and sturgeon. In the winter they would hunt black bear by tricking them into coming out of hibernation and killing them.