Native peoples in Eastern Canada and Northeastern United States
Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands include
Native Americantribes and
First Nationbands residing in or originating from a
cultural area encompassing the northeastern and Midwest
United States and southeastern
Canada.[1] It is part of a broader grouping known as the
Eastern Woodlands.[2] The Northeastern Woodlands is divided into three major areas: the Coastal, Saint Lawrence Lowlands, and Great Lakes-Riverine zones.[3]
The
Great Lakes region is sometimes considered a distinct cultural region, due to the large concentration of tribes in the area. The Northeastern Woodlands region is bound by the
Subarctic to the north, the
Great Plains to the west, and the
Southeastern Woodlands to the south.[5]
History
Around 200 B.C the
Hopewell culture began to develop across the Midwest of what is now the United States, with its epicenter in
Ohio. The Hopewell culture was defined by its extensive trading system that connected communities throughout the Eastern region, from the Great Lakes to Florida. A sophisticated artwork style developed for its goods, depicting a multitude of animals such as deer, bear, and birds.[6] The Hopewell culture is also noted for its impressive ceremonial sites, which typically contain a burial mound and geometric earthworks. The most notable of these sites is in the
Scioto River Valley (from
Columbus to
Portsmouth, Ohio) and adjacent Paint Creek, centered on Chillicothe, Ohio.[7] The Hopewell culture began to decline from around 400 A.D. for reasons which remain unclear.[6]
The five nations of the
Iroquois League developed a powerful confederacy about the 15th century that controlled territory throughout present-day New York, into
Pennsylvania and around the
Great Lakes.[11] The
Iroquois confederacy or
Haudenosaunee became the most powerful political grouping in the Northeastern woodlands, and still exists today. The confederacy consists of the
Mohawk,
Cayuga,
Oneida,
Onondaga,
Seneca and
Tuscarora tribes.
The area that is now the states of
New Jersey and
Delaware was inhabited by the
Lenni-Lenape or Delaware, who were also an Algonquian people.[12] Most Lenape were pushed out of their homeland in the 18th century by expanding European colonies, and now the majority of them live in
Oklahoma.
The characteristics of the Northeastern woodlands cultural area include the use of
wigwams and
longhouses for shelter and of
wampum as a means of exchange.[13] Wampum consisted of small beads made from
quahog shells.
The
birchbarkcanoe was first used by the Algonquin Indians and its use later spread to other tribes and to early
French explorers, missionaries and fur traders. The canoes were used for carrying goods, and for hunting, fishing, and warfare, and varied in length from about 4.5 metres (15 feet) to about 30 metres (100 feet) in length for some large war canoes.[14]
The main agricultural crops of the region were the
Three Sisters :
winter squash,
maize (corn), and climbing
beans (usually
tepary beans or
common beans). Originating in
Mesoamerica, these three crops were carried northward over centuries to many parts of North America. The three crops were normally planted together using a technique known as
companion planting on flat-topped mounds of soil.[15] The three crops were planted in this way as each benefits from the proximity of the others.[16] The tall maize plants provide a structure for the beans to climb, while the beans provide
nitrogen to the
soil that benefits the other plants. Meanwhile, the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the
sunlight to prevent
weeds from growing and retaining
moisture in the soil.
Prior to contact Native groups in the Northeast generally lived in villages of a few hundred people, living close to their crops. Generally men did the planting and harvesting, while women processed the crops. However, some settlements could be much bigger, such as Hochelaga (modern-day Montreal), which had a population of several thousand people,[17] and
Cahokia, which may have housed 20,000 residents between 1050 and 1150 CE.[18]
For many tribes, the fundamental social group was a clan, which was often named after an animal such as turtle, bear, wolf or hawk.[19] The
totem animal concerned was considered sacred and had a special relationship with the members of the clan.
The spiritual beliefs of the
Algonquians center around the concept of Manitou (/ˈmænɪtuː/), which is the spiritual and fundamental life force that is omnipresent.[20] Manitou also manifest itself as the Great Spirit or
Gitche Manitou, who is the creator and giver of all life. The
Haudenosaunee equivalent of Manitou is orenda.
List of peoples
Abenaki (
Tarrantine), Quebec, Maine, New Brunswick, historically Vermont and New Hampshire
^Bain, Angela Goebel; Manring, Lynne; and Mathews, Barbara. Native Peoples in New England. Retrieved July 21, 2010, from Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association.
^"Canoe". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
^Mount Pleasant, Jane (2006). "The science behind the Three Sisters mound system: An agronomic assessment of an indigenous agricultural system in the northeast". In Staller, John E.; Tykot, Robert H.; Benz, Bruce F. (eds.). Histories of Maize: Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication, and Evolution of Maize. Amsterdam: Academic Press. pp. 529–537.
ISBN978-1-5987-4496-5.