Eastern Woodlands Peoples

 

• The region stretches from the northeastern coast of present-day United States and the Maritimes to west of the Great Lakes.
• The Eastern Woodlands includes tribes such as the Mi’kmaq, Ojibwe, Wendat (Huron), Odawa and Algonquin
• Climate and soil conditions allowed peoples south of upland regions (Iroquois) to grow corn, beans and squash (known as the Three Sisters);
• The largest portion of many Eastern Woodlands peoples’ diets consisted of produce from their fields.
• Fishing, hunting and gathering supplemented these domestic crops.
• White-tailed deer were one of the most important game animals except in the north, where moose was the staple.
• Some coastal peoples hunted seals as well as freshwater fish, eels, mollusks and crustaceans.
• Peoples in the area gathered and ate a variety of berries, nuts, tubers and plants; and some groups harvested maple and birch sap.
• Iroquoian women planted and harvested, men were made to clear the forest for farming.
  
  
• Among most Algonquian peoples, horticulture for subsistence was minimal, except for the cultivation of wild rice in Ojibwe communities
• Hunting and fishing provided the bulk of sustenance for Algonquian peoples.
• They hunted deer, bear, moose and caribou, and, where available, seals, porpoises and whales.
• In hunting they used bows, arrows, lances, traps, snares and deadfalls, and used hooks, weirs, leisters and nets to fish.
  
  
• Crop storage among the Iroquoian peoples permitted permanent and fenced-in settlements ranging from small hamlets with a few families to towns with as many as 2,000 people.
• A typical village contained a large number of elm- or cedar-bark longhouses.
• Algonquin dwellings were smaller and less permanent than among Iroquoians, varying from birchbark tipis to wigwams or rectangular longhouses that housed several families.
• Village size varied seasonally, with the largest population concentrations generally occurring in summer.
• The largest political unit among most Algonquian peoples appeared to be the band-village, a community consisting of various bands.
• Each band or band-village possessed at least one chief, whose position was usually hereditary within the male line.
• Patrilineal groups designated by an animal totem seem to have been characteristic of Algonquian peoples.
• In Iroquoian society, longhouses sheltered several related families.
• Residence in these households was matrilocal (upon marriage a man would move into his wife’s longhouse).
• As well, descent, inheritance and succession followed the female line.
• Eastern Woodlands peoples created wampum, tubular purple and white beads made from shells used for ornamental, ceremonial, diplomatic and commercial purposes.
• In some early treaties, wampum belts featured the major terms of the agreement.
• To accept a wampum belt in formal council was to agree to adhere to the principles embodied in its woven design. The wampum thereafter served to help maintain the memory of the treaty.