Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands

Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands include Native American tribes and First Nation bands 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]

Joseph Brant (Mohawk) by Charles Bird King

Three Delaware or Lenape people, painting by George Catlin

The Coastal area includes the Atlantic Provinces in Canada, the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, south until North Carolina. The Saint Lawrence Lowlands area includes parts of Southern Ontario, upstate New York, much of the Saint Lawrence River area, and Susquehanna Valley.[3] The Great Lakes-Riverine area includes the remaining inland areas of the northeast, home to Central Algonquian and Siouan speakers.[4]

The Great Lakes region are 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]

List of peoples

• Abenaki (Tarrantine), Maine, New Brunswick, New Hampshire, Quebec, and Vermont
  • Eastern Abenaki, Quebec, Maine, and New Hampshire[6]
    • Kennebec (Caniba), Maine
  • Western Abenaki: Quebec, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont[6]
• Anishinaabeg (Anishinape, Anicinape, Neshnabé, Nishnaabe) (see also Subarctic, Plains)
  • Algonquin,[7] Quebec, Ontario
  • Nipissing,[7] Ontario[6]
  • Ojibwe (Chippewa, Ojibwa), Ontario, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin[6]
    • Mississaugas, Ontario
    • Saulteaux (Nakawē), Ontario
  • Odawa people (Ottawa), Indiana, Michigan, Ohio, Ontario;[6] later Oklahoma
  • Potawatomi, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,[6] Ontario, Wisconsin; later Kansas and Oklahoma
• Assateague, Maryland[8]
• Attawandaron (Neutral), Ontario[6]
• Beothuk, formerly Newfoundland[6]
• Chowanoke, North Carolina
• Choptank people, Maryland[8]
• Conoy, Virginia,[8] Maryland
• Erie, Pennsylvania, New York[6]
• Etchemin, Maine
• Ho-Chunk (Winnebago), southern Wisconsin, northern Illinois,[6] later Iowa and Nebraska
• Honniasont, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia
• Hopewell tradition, formerly Ohio, Illinois, and Kentucky, and Black River region, 200 BCE—500 CE
• Housatonic, Massachusetts, New York[9]
• Illinois Confederacy (Illiniwek), Illinois, Iowa, and Missouri[6]
  • Cahokia, Illinois, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, now Oklahoma
  • Kaskaskia, formerly Wisconsin
  • Miami, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan,[6] now Oklahoma
• Iroquois Confederacy[7] (Haudenosaunee), Ontario, Quebec, and New York[6]
  • Cayuga, New York,[6] Oklahoma
  • Mohawk, New York[6] and Quebec
  • Oneida, New York[6]
  • Onondaga, New York[6]
  • Seneca, New York,[6] now Oklahoma
    • Mingo, Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia
  • Tuscarora, formerly North Carolina, now New York
• Kickapoo, Michigan,[6] Illinois, Missouri, now Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Mexico
• Laurentian (St. Lawrence Iroquoians), formerly New York, Ontario, and Quebec, 14th century—1580 CE
• Lenni Lenape (Delaware), Pennsylvania, Delaware, New Jersey, now Ontario and Oklahoma
  • Munsee-speaking subgroups, formerly Long Island and southeastern New York[10]
    • Canarsie (Canarsee), formerly Long Island New York[11]
    • Esopus, formerly New York,[10] later Ontario and Wisconsin
    • Hackensack, formerly New York[10]
    • Haverstraw (Rumachenanck), New York[12]
    • Kitchawank (Kichtawanks, Kichtawank), New York[12]
    • Minisink, formerly New York[10]
    • Navasink,[12] to the east along the north shore of New Jersey
    • Raritan, formerly Westchester County, New York[12]
    • Sinsink (Sintsink), Westchester County, New York[12]
    • Siwanoy, Massachusetts[12]
    • Tappan, formerly New York[13]
    • Waoranecks[14]
    • Wappinger (Wecquaesgeek, Nochpeem), formerly New York[15][9]
    • Warranawankongs[14]
    • Wiechquaeskeck, formerly New York[10]
  • Unami-speaking subgroups
    • Acquackanonk, Passaic River in northern New Jersey
    • Okehocking, southeast Pennsylvania[14]
    • Unalachtigo, Delaware, New Jersey
• Mahican (Stockbridge Mahican[7]) Connecticut, Massachusetts, New York, and Vermont[6]
• Manahoac, Virginia[16]
• Mascouten, formerly Michigan[6]
• Massachusett, Massachusetts[7][17]
  • Ponkapoag, Massachusetts
• Meherrin, Virginia,[18] North Carolina
• Menominee, Wisconsin[6]
• Meskwaki (Fox), Michigan,[6] now Iowa, Oklahoma
• Mi'kmaq (Micmac), New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Quebec,[6] and Maine
• Mitchigamea, formerly Illinois
  • Moingona, formerly Illinois
  • Peoria, Illinois, now Oklahoma
  • Tamaroa, formerly Illinois
  • Wea, formerly Indiana, descendants in Oklahoma
• Mohegan,[7] Connecticut
• Monacan, Virginia[19]
• Montaukett (Montauk),[7] New York
• Monyton (Monetons, Monekot, Moheton) (Siouan), West Virginia and Virginia
• Nansemond, Virginia
• Nanticoke, Delaware and Maryland[6]
  • Accohannock
• Narragansett, Rhode Island[7]
• Niantic, coastal Connecticut[7][17]
• Nipmuc (Nipmuck), Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island[17]
• Nottaway, Virginia[18]
• Occaneechi (Occaneechee), Virginia[18][20][21]
• Pamplico, North Carolina
• Passamaquoddy, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec, and Maine[6]
• Patuxent, Maryland[8]
• Paugussett, Connecticut[7]
  • Potatuck, New York[17]
• Penobscot, Maine
• Pequot, Connecticut[7]
• Petun (Tionontate), Ontario[6]
• Piscataway, Maryland[8]
• Pocumtuc, western Massachusetts[17]
• Podunk, New York,[17] eastern Hartford County, Connecticut
• Powhatan Confederacy, Virginia[8]
  • Appomattoc, Virginia
  • Arrohateck, Virginia
  • Chesapeake, Virginia
  • Chesepian, Virginia
  • Chickahominy, Virginia[18]
  • Kiskiack, Virginia
  • Mattaponi, Virginia
  • Nansemond, Virginia[18]
  • Pamunkey, Virginia[18]
  • Paspahegh, Virginia
  • Powhatan, Virginia
• Quinnipiac, Connecticut,[7] eastern New York, northern New Jersey
• Rappahannock, Virginia
• Sauk (Sac), Michigan,[6] now Iowa, Oklahoma
• Schaghticoke, western Connecticut[7]
• Secotan Outerbanks, North Carolina
  • Croatoan
  • Dasamongueponke
  • Roanoke people
• Shawnee, formerly Ohio,[6] Virginia, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, currently Oklahoma
• Shinnecock,[7] Long Island, New York[17]
• Stegarake, Virginia[16]
• Stuckanox (Stukanox), Virginia[18]
• Susquehannock, Maryland, Pennsylvania[6]
• Tauxenent (Doeg), Virginia[22]
• Tunxis, Connecticut[7]
• Tuscarora, formerly North Carolina, Virginia, currently New York
• Tutelo (Nahyssan), Virginia[18][20]
• Unquachog (Poospatuck), Long Island, New York[17]
• Wabanaki, Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Quebec[7]
• Wampanoag, Massachusetts[7]
  • Nauset, Massachusetts
  • Patuxet, Massachusetts
  • Pokanoket, Massachusetts, Rhode Island[17]
• Wangunk, Mattabeset, Connecticut [7]
• Wenro, New York[6][7]
• Wicocomico, Maryland, Virginia
• Wolastoqiyik, Maliseet, Maine, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Quebec[6]
• Wyachtonok, Connecticut, New York[9]
• Wyandot (Huron), Ontario south of Georgian Bay, now Oklahoma, Kansas, Michigan, and Wendake, Quebec

First Nations in Canada

Further information: First Nations in Atlantic Canada and List of First Nations governments

United States Federally Recognized tribes

1. Absentee-Shawnee Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
2. Aroostook Band of Micmac Indians of Maine
3. Bad River Band of the Lake Superior Tribe of Chippewa Indians of the Bad River Reservation, Wisconsin
4. Bay Mills Indian Community, Michigan
5. Cayuga Nation of New York
6. Chickahominy people, Virginia
7. Chippewa-Cree Indians of the Rocky Boy’s Reservation, Montana
8. Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Oklahoma
9. Delaware Nation, Oklahoma
10. Delaware Tribe of Indians, Oklahoma
11. Eastern Chickahominy, Virginia
12. Eastern Shawnee Tribe of Oklahoma
13. Forest County Potawatomi Community, Wisconsin
14. Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, Michigan
15. Hannahville Indian Community, Michigan
16. Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin, Minnesota, Wisconsin
17. Houlton Band of Maliseet Indians of Maine
18. Iowa Tribe of Kansas and Nebraska, also considered a Great Plains tribe
19. Iowa Tribe of Oklahoma, also considered a Great Plains tribe
20. Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, Michigan
21. Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas
22. Kickapoo Tribe of Indians of the Kickapoo Reservation in Kansas
23. Kickapoo Tribe of Oklahoma
24. Lac Courte Oreilles Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
25. Lac du Flambeau Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of the Lac du Flambeau Reservation of Wisconsin
26. Lac Vieux Desert Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians, Michigan
27. Little River Band of Ottawa Indians, Michigan
28. Little Traverse Bay Bands of Odawa Indians, Michigan
29. Mashantucket Pequot Tribe of Connecticut
30. Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe, Massachusetts
31. Match-e-be-nash-she-wish Band of Pottawatomi Indians of Michigan
32. Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin
33. Miami Tribe of Oklahoma
34. Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, Minnesota
    Six component reservations:
    1. Bois Forte Band (Nett Lake)
    2. Fond du Lac Band, Minnesota, Wisconsin
    3. Grand Portage Band
    4. Leech Lake Band
    5. Mille Lacs Band
    6. White Earth Band
35. Mohegan Indian Tribe of Connecticut
36. Monacan, Virginia
37. Nansemond, Virginia
38. Narragansett Indian Tribe of Rhode Island
39. Nottawaseppi Huron Band of the Potawatomi, Michigan
40. Ottawa Tribe of Oklahoma
41. Oneida Nation of New York
42. Oneida Tribe of Indians of Wisconsin
43. Onondaga Nation of New York
44. Pamunkey, Virginia
45. Passamaquoddy Tribe of Maine
46. Penobscot Tribe of Maine
47. Peoria Tribe of Indians of Oklahoma
48. Pokagon Band of Potawatomi Indians, Michigan, Indiana
49. Prairie Band of Potawatomi Nation, Kansas
50. Prairie Island Indian Community in the State of Minnesota
51. Rappahannock, Virginia
52. Red Cliff Band of Lake Superior Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
53. Red Lake Band of Chippewa Indians, Minnesota
54. Sac and Fox Nation, Oklahoma
55. Sac and Fox Nation of Missouri in Kansas and Nebraska
56. Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan
57. St. Croix Chippewa Indians of Wisconsin
58. Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe, New York
59. Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Michigan
60. Seneca-Cayuga Tribe of Oklahoma
61. Seneca Nation of New York
62. Shawnee Tribe, Oklahoma
63. Shinnecock Nation, New York
64. Sokaogon Chippewa Community, Wisconsin
65. Stockbridge Munsee Community, Wisconsin
66. Tonawanda Band of Seneca Indians of New York
67. Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians of North Dakota, Montana, North Dakota
68. Tuscarora Nation of New York
69. Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head (Aquinnah) of Massachusetts
70. Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska

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.[23] 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.[24] The Hopewell culture began to decline from around 400 A.D. for reasons which remain unclear.[23]

Map of North East United States showing demarcation between Iroquoian (purple) and Algonquian (pink) Indian tribes.

By around 1100, the distinct Iroquoian-speaking and Algonquian-speaking cultures had developed in what would become New York State and New England.[25] Prominent Algonquian tribes included the Abenakis, Mi'kmaq, Penobscot, Pequots, Mohegans, Narragansetts, Pocumtucks, and Wampanoag.[26] The Mi'kmaq, Maliseet, Passamaquoddy, Abenaki, and Penobscot tribes formed the Wabanaki Confederacy in the seventeenth century. The Confederacy covered roughly most of present-day Maine in the United States, and New Brunswick, mainland Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island, Prince Edward Island and some of Quebec south of the St. Lawrence River in Canada. The Western Abenaki live on lands in New Hampshire, Vermont, and Massachusetts of the United States.[27]

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.[28] 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.[29] 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.

Culture

The Northeastern Woodlands is a cultural region that includes the northeastern United States and southeastern Canada

See also: Eastern Agricultural Complex

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.[30] Wampum consisted of small beads made from quahog shells.

The birchbark canoe 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.[31]

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.[32]

The most important social group was the clan, which was often named after an animal such as turtle, bear, wolf or hawk.[33] 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.[34] Manitou also manifest itself as the Great Spirit or Gitche Manitou, who is the creator and giver of all life. The Iroquois equivalent of Manitou is orenda.

See also

• Classification of indigenous peoples of the Americas
• Hopewell tradition
• War of 1812

Notes

1. Trigger, "Introduction" 1
2. Mir Tamim Ansary (2001). Eastern Woodlands Indians. Capstone Classroom. p. 4. ISBN 9781588104519.
3. Trigger, "Introduction" 2
4. Trigger, "Introduction" 3
5. "History of Pre-colonial North America." Essential Humanities. Retrieved July 13, 2013.
6. Sturtevant and Trigger ix
7. "Cultural Thesaurus". National Museum of the American Indian. Accessed April 8, 2014.
8. Sturtevant and Trigger 241
9. Sturtevant and Trigger 198
10. Goddard 72
11. Goddard 72 and 237
12. Goddard 237
13. Goddard 72, 237–238
14. Goddard 238
15. Goddard 72 and 238
16. Sturtevant and Fogelson, 290
17. Sturtevant and Trigger 161
18. Sturtevant and Fogelson, 293
19. Fogelson and Sturtevant 81
20. Sturtevant and Fogelson, 291
21. Sturtevant and Trigger 96
22. Sturtevant and Trigger 255
23. "Hopewell Culture". Ohio History Central. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
24. "m7/98 Encyclopedia of North American Prehistory M". Archived from the original on October 20, 2009. Retrieved September 11, 2008.
25. Klein, Milton M. (ed.) and the New York State Historical Association, The Empire State: A History of New York, Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, 2001, ISBN 0-8014-3866-7
26. Bain, Angela Goebel; Manring, Lynne; and Mathews, Barbara. Native Peoples in New England. Retrieved July 21, 2010, from Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association.
27. Toensing, Gale Courey. "Sacred fire lights the Wabanaki Confederacy", Indian Country Today (June 27, 2008), ICT Media Network
28. Horatio Gates Spafford, LL.D. A Gazetteer of the State of New-York, Embracing an Ample Survey and Description of Its Counties, Towns, Cities, Villages, Canals, Mountains, Lakes, Rivers, Creeks and Natural Topography. Arranged in One Series, Alphabetically: With an Appendix… (1824), at Schenectady Digital History Archives, selected extracts, accessed December 28, 2014
29. "Native People of New Jersey". ALHN New Jersey. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
30. Northeast American Indian Facts Native American Indian Facts Retrieved March 7, 2019.
31. "Canoe". Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 26, 2019.
32. Northeast Indian Culture Khan Academy. Retrieved March 7, 2019
33. Northeast Indian Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved March 7, 2019
34. Bragdon, Kathleen J. (2001). The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Northeast. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 18.

References

• Trigger, Bruce C. "Introduction." William C. Sturtevant, general ed. Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978.
• Trigger, Bruce, volume ed. Sturtevant, William C., general ed. Handbook of North American Indians. Washington, DC: Smithsonian Institution, 1978.