ABSTRACT
The geographic position of the Iroquois in interior New York was a key to fur trade in North America. The Neuters, who bordered the western territory of the Iroquois, contrasted them with other tribes of the group, saying that their women held political offices alternately with men. The Iroquois people represented an obscure handful of rather prosperous agriculturists in upper New York. To present a solid military front to the outside world and to keep peace between various Iroquois communities was an economic function insofar as it facilitated the practice of agriculture. Throughout the field of economic activity, cooperative habit transcended the demands of environment and the requirements of technology. The ideal structure of Iroquois society, as it was expressed in political theory, reflected the attitudes of women, who during their entire life span were never strongly tempted into individualistic activities.
