Introduction to the Cultures of
North American Aboriginal Peoples
Eastern Woodlands

 Eastern third dominated by Appalachian Mountains
 Characterized by steep-sided valleys, with relatively small valley floors and high-energy streams
 Flat broad plain reaching the Atlantic
 Mississippi-Ohio-Tennessee Basins and rivers flowing directly into the Gulf of Mexico
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Broad, low-energy streams
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Broad floodplain
 Mississippi River Valley is very broad in its southern reaches
(dozens of miles wide)

 Eastern Woodlands
 Hardwood Mixed-oak forest
 Southern and western regions dominated by broad, low energy rivers and wide flood plains
 Northern and central regions (Appalachia) dominated by steep-sided valleys

 Deer, rabbits
 Raccoons, opossums
 Wolf, mountain lion
 Reptiles
 Turtles, tortoises, snakes
 Birds

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Horticulturalists
Lived in settled villages made up of a number of longhouses
Each longhouse was occupied by members of a matrilineage:
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Female relatives, their husbands, daughters, daughters’ husbands, unmarried sons
The status of women was quite high
Well-known tribes include the Iroquois, Huron,
Mohicans and, Delaware

Iroquois Village

 Men
 Hunting
 Warfare
 Ceremonies and Games
 Lacrosse (NE), Chunkey (SE)
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Clearing land
 Women
 Processing food
 Collecting wood and water
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Planting and harvesting

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Horticulturalists
Lived in political units made up of a central large town (Cahokia-40,000 people) surrounded by a network of smaller towns and villages
Central towns are marked by large, flat-topped mounds
 On top of these mounds were the homes of chiefs and religious leaders
These peoples are the direct ancestors of the modern
“Five Civilized Tribes”: Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw,
Choctaw and Seminole