The group of Native American known as the The group of Native American known as the Woodland Indians Woodland Indians is made up of several is made up of several tribes. These are some of the major tribes.tribes. These are some of the major tribes.

Delaware Wampanoag Huron

Narraganset Powhatan Iroquois

Mohawk Oneida Onondaga

Cayuga Seneca Tuscarora

Map of the area the Eastern Woodland Indians lived.

ClothingClothing

. . BuckskinBuckskin is clothing made from the is clothing made from the skins of deer. skins of deer.

In the winter, the men In the winter, the men wore shirts, wore shirts, leggings, andleggings, and moccasins.moccasins.

ClothingClothing. The women wore . The women wore skirts skirts woven from the woven from the wild grasses,wild grasses, with leggingswith leggings underneath.underneath.

Wampum Wampum

WampumWampum belts and necklaces were belts and necklaces were made from shells. made from shells. WampumWampum was was

used as money between white man and used as money between white man and Indians. Indians. WampumWampum belts were used as a belts were used as a form of communication between Indian form of communication between Indian tribes.tribes.

The Great Chain, or Covenant Belt, is generally thought to be a belt presented by the U.S. government to the Iroquois in 1794 at the Pickering Treaty at Canandaigua, N.Y. Adapted from The Native Americans. Edited by B. & I. Ballantine. 1993

This is a sample of a wampum belt.

FoodFood Eastern Woodland tribes hunted small Eastern Woodland tribes hunted small

game such as deer, rabbit, and bear. game such as deer, rabbit, and bear. They also fished using spears and nets. They also fished using spears and nets. Berries, nuts, and wild plants were Berries, nuts, and wild plants were

important forms of food.. important forms of food..

FoodFood CornCorn,, beans beans, and , and squashsquash

were the most important were the most important

crops planted. They werecrops planted. They were

know as “know as “

The Three SistersThe Three Sisters””

as they were grownas they were grown

together. together.

Wigwams were made by bending young trees to form the round shape of the home. Over this shape pieces of tree bark were overlapped to protect the Indians from bad weather.

Over the bark a layer of thatch, or dried grass, was added. A small hole in the top allowed smoke from the fires to escape. Beds were matting covered with animal skin.

Longhouses were Longhouses were long rectangular long rectangular homes. homes. Longhouses were Longhouses were made by building made by building a frame from, a frame from,

saplings.saplings.

They were then covered with bark sewn together. There was a long hallway with rooms on both sides.

Sleeping platforms, covered with Sleeping platforms, covered with deerskin, lined each wall. There were deerskin, lined each wall. There were also shelves for storing baskets, pots, also shelves for storing baskets, pots, and pelts. Pelts are the skins of and pelts. Pelts are the skins of animals with the fur attached.animals with the fur attached.

Several families Several families would live in the would live in the long house, but long house, but the families were the families were related to each related to each other.other.

The Iroquois village consisted of two or more longhouses. In the early years the longhouses were built near streams.

Pots were made

using clay coils,

etched with sticks

and other things,

and fired in coals.

ToolsTools

The men The men created dugout created dugout canoes from canoes from tree logs. They tree logs. They used carving used carving and wood and wood burning to burning to create the create the canoes.canoes.

Sometimes the Sometimes the Indians wore Indians wore corn husks corn husks masks or painted masks or painted their faces to their faces to frighten away frighten away the evil spirits. the evil spirits.