The Northeast Native Americans

Created by: Berk, Lydia, Clarice, Shea, and Teddy

Food The people of the longhouse had a

lot of different resources for food. For meat they hunted elk, deer, rabbits, wolves, and bear. They also fished in nearby lakes. Some of what they caught was trout, whitefish, sturgeon, and shellfish. Some wild fowl they caught was turkeys, ducks, herons, pigeons and partridges. The people of the north also gathered wild plants. They gathered sunflowers for their oil, tobacco, plums, grapes, cherries, berries, sweet crab apples, chestnuts, black walnuts, hickory nuts, and maple sap. The Iroquoian tribe had gardens in which they grew corn, kidney beans, lima beans, pumpkins, melons, and squash.

Tools The Wampanoag made tools

for battle and everyday life. They made spears, bows and arrows and elm bark canoes. These elm bark canoes were not as light as birch bark canes. They also made Cayuga burden straps made from basswood bark fiber or leather. They also made clay pots and used sharpened pieces of bone to decorate the outsides of the pots. They also used fire to cook food and have heat. They also made many different kinds of fishing and hunting tools. Mortars made of hollowed out logs to mash corn to make bread, soups and other food. The Wampanoag created many different kinds of tools for their lives.

Homes and Shelters The Wampanoag used

different materials to make their houses and shelters. They built dome shaped wigwams called witus. They framed them with saplings and covered them with mats sewn with cat tail leaves. They built their witus around an open space so they could have ceremonies and other activities. The inside of the longhouse was lined with wooden platforms used to store food, animal furs and for sleeping. These are some of the different types of homes and shelters the Wampanoag built.

Family Life The clan matron protected

many families who were related to each other. Men were often away from their families hunting in woods and water ways. The women were centered in the long house and fields where they lived and worked with their mothers and sisters. Children were raised by their mothers, sisters and brothers. The clan was led by the clan matron (oldest most respected woman). The clan matron controlled food supplies, selected chiefs and arranged marriages.

Music and Dance

The Native Americans of the Northeast used small drums, horn rattles, turtle shell rattles, burl drums and feather fans to make music for traditional dances.

Beliefs Many beliefs some Native

Americans had were in the sky spirit who controlled the wind. Also a supreme being, earth spirits, thunder spirits, the three sisters corn, squash and beans. The Dew bird, basket woman, clamshell boy and evil spirits. I think it’s a lot like Greek mythology. A lot of the good and evil spirits fought each other in a quest to save or destroy the people of the north east. These were some of the

beliefs of the north east.

Ceremonies There would be a special longhouse

specially reserved for ceremonial use. Tobacco was often used for ceremonies. It would be thrown directly onto the coals, or smoked in stone or clay pipes. Its smoke was thought to bring prayers up to heaven. Pipes were smoked with honored guests and to strengthen friendships between tribes. Every year there would be six or eight festivals/ceremonies. Some are the midwinter festival, the time of planting festival, when maple sap flowed in trees, when berries ripen, and the eagle dance-a dance where two men from each clan dance like an eagle and they each had a horn rattle in the right hand and a feather fan in the left hand to sweep away evil. This dance is about a boy who is taken by the Dew Eagle and comes back as a man who can heal people. The dew eagle gives rain when the thunder spirit does not.

Transportation

The Iroquoian Native American tribes mainly walked on foot for transportation. Depending on what season it was, or what trees they had, they would use pine dugout canoes birch bark canoes, or linen dugout canoes for water transportation. If it was cold and snowing, they would use snowshoes.

Other Interesting Facts The Wampanoag were

a very interesting tribe to study. One interesting fact I learned was before Europeans came to the continents Native Americans grew crops along North America. Most Native Americans, (Iroquois) were Canada’s first cultivators. Girls that were too young to marry shaved off their hair in the front and on the sides. These are some interesting facts that I learned about the Wampanoag.