The Iroquois lived in longhouses, large houses up to 100 feet in , usually made of elm bark. As many as 20 families the longhouse, with of individuals and their dogs the space. Longhouses were smoky as the fumes from cooking and fires could only through small holes in the .
Villages of longhouses were built in the forest, near water. They were by tall palisades or sharpened logs stuck in the earth.