why did iroquois live in new york?

Question

why did iroquois live in new york?

Answer 1

IF you mean New York CITY - well in recent times (since the early 1920's) you'd say it was because the Iroquois are arguably the world's best workers on steel skyscraper (and bridge) construction, and New York had more (and higher) skyscrapers than anywhere else in the world (and quite a few bridges as well...).

Exactly what's behind their dominance of this industry is uncertain, but most folk observe that these workers have absolutely no fear of heights and would happily work without safety gear (back in the old days) such as ropes and harnesses which would have hampered their productivity. The story of how they first became involved in the steel industry (in Canada before moving into the US) is told in the first link.

The second link observes that the tradition of the menfolk working away from the reservation in construction and factory work while their families waited for them 'back home' is essentially a similar lifestyle to the traditional one, where men would leave home for weeks at a time to go hunting.

Answer 2

Upstate New York was one of the traditional areas of the Iroquois Confederacy (or Haudenosaunee). New York proper was inhabited by the Lenape.

"Iroquois" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois

"Lenape" : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenape

"From the book, "League of the Iroquois," pages 5 to 6, Eli Parker states the original five nations was one tribe of many Iroquoians throughout NYS and Canada. They lived at Montreal Canada under the subjection of the Adirondacks, a branch of the Algonquins. They fought the Adirondacks for their independence, but lost. Forced to flee Canada to escape extermination, they traveled down the St. Lawrence River, Lake Ontario and entered by the Oswego River and settled near Onondaga Lake. They expelled the small family tribes living there. When they increased in number a group would break off from the mother tribe and form a new tribe in a new location. This splitting off from the mother tribe at Onondaga Lake is how the five nations were formed."

"THE HISTORY AND ORIGIN OF THE FIVE NATIONS (Iroquois tribes)" : http://www.upstate-citizens.org/Iroquois-origin.htm

Answer 3

Better question--Why were the Iroquois pushed out of New York??

Answer 4

WHY?? They were living there when the Americans drove them off their land and forced them to move. Eventually, all Iroquois land in the US was taken over by the US government. Also, remember, many Iroquois lived in Canada.

Chow!!

Answer 5

The Iroquois had been living in what would become New York State when the Dutch founded the firsst colonies of Europeans in the early 1600s. It had plenty of food resources for them, both hutnting and fishing, and growing crops such as corn

Answer 6

Iroquois was a nation that lived other places too. Primarily in NY but there were several tribes Mohawk being a large one.

Answer 7

They had to live somewhere and that was a place with good hunting and fishing and reasonably good farming with okay water transportation.