Explore the Territories of...
East of Big Muddy
Sort by:
Name |
|
North America's Region of...
East of Big Muddy
Northeast Culture Region; Southeast Culture Region. The lands of the fertile Mississippi River Valley, and points east.
 East of Big Muddy was awarded this Special Places medal on April 2, 2007. Click on the plaque to visit other Best Places in AW. Typically, students of ancient Native lifeways divide the eastern portion of North America into two broad geographical regions: the Northeast (sometimes referred to as the Northeast Woodlands) and the Southeast. Geography and the availability of food and water played a large role in the development of these societies. Nomadic at first, the vast richness of resources enabled the inhabitants to settle into a semi-nomadic and, most markedly in the southeast, an agriculturally-dependent existence.
The major language groups that settled in these regions are the Macro-Algonkian and the Macro-Siouan. The former are the Algonquian tribes and the latter are, in the East, the Iroquoian tribes.
A broad history follows.
Pre-Clovis, Early PaleoIndian: Prior to 10,000 BC it is becoming increasingly apparent that people had settled in the region. Presumptive artifacts are few and hard to date.
Clovis Period, PaleoIndian: Roughly 9000 BC. Arrowheads were chipped to the distinguishing Clovis point specifications. Paleolithic inhabitants were hunters and gatherers. Sites of mastodon kills have been uncovered, including a notable one in Ipswitch, Massachusetts.
Late PaleoIndian: to about 7000 BC.
Archaic: Archaic Indians in the Eastern half of the continent are divided into Early, Middle and Late Period Archaic.
The Early Archaic Period is considered to begin circa 6500 BC and last until about 3000 BC, during which time migratory bands of Indians hunted the caribou herds. With milder temperatures, a new migration reached the region circa 3000 BC, which is considered the beginning of the Late Archaic Period. These people were probably less nomadic than their predecessors.
The Late Archaic overlaps with the Adena Culture in certain regions of the midwest and east, notably the Ohio River Valley. The Late Archaic is marked by an increase of sophistication in ceramics and pottery. In the northeast, the Late Archaic gave way to the Woodlands societies about 800 BC.
 In the Midwest and South, both the Hopewell and the various Mississippean cultures flourished. The Hopewell and many of the Mississippean cultures gave way to the tribes and societies in place at time of contact.
Some Algonquian-speaking tribes of the Northeast include the: Micmac, Abnaki, Massachuset, Narraganset, Wampanoag, Delaware (Lenape), Menominee, Potawatomi, Sauk, Fox, Shawnee, Powhatan.
Some Macro-Siouan-speaking tribes of the Northeast are the: Winnebago (Siouan language family), Mohawk, Oneida, Senca, Huron, Tuscarora (all Iroquoian language family).
The Southeastern tribes hailed from several families of language groups - the Muskogean, Siouan, Iroquoian, Algonquian and Caddoan families are represented. Some tribes of the Southeast are the: Cherokee, Choctaw (the baskets on this page are Choctaw), Seminole, Creek, Caddo, and Natchez.
 Sauk and Fox - fire drill Main image under license from Jupiter Images.
Other images via Mangas Cochise, shutterbug. 
Built by Mangas Cochise
The Articles of East of Big Muddy:
Sort by: Featured Date | |
The Discussions of East of Big Muddy:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
