Eastern Woodlands

Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands

• The land east of the Mississippi River was once almost completely covered in forests. This area was home to many groups of Native Americans.

• The languages spoken by the Native Americans of these Eastern Woodlands belonged to one of two groups. The larger one was Algonkian. The other group was Iroquoian.

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Background

Multiple Choice

Which color represents the Eastern Woodlands?

• Blue

• Green

• Yellow

• Red

The Eastern Woodlands is a huge area. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to Florida. Its forests, lakes, rivers, and the Atlantic Ocean provide many natural resources for the many different people who live there.

In the forests were many kinds of animals to hunt for food. Forests also provided wood for building homes and canoes. Many wild plants and berries could be eaten or used for medicine. The soil was rich and the river valleys was ideal for farming. Its bodies of water were filled with fish, shellfish, and sea animals.

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A Rich Environment

Multiple Choice

The Eastern Woodlands region stretches from the Atlantic Coast in the east to the ______ River in the west.

• St. Lawrence

• Ohio

• Oswegatchie

• Mississippi

Multiple Choice

The Eastern Woodlands region of the U.S. is mostly covered by _____.

• ocean water

• glaciers

• grasslands

• forests

The Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands were mostly farmers who lived in permanent villages. They hunted also for their meat. Many Woodland people built wigwams. Wigwams were homes with bent sapling frames. They were covered with cattail mats or elm bark. Many people fished and traveled far in canoes made of birchbark.

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The Wigwam

Multiple Choice

Many Woodland people lived in homes called _____.

• igloos

• tepees

• huts

• wigwams

Multiple Choice

Most people of the Eastern Woodlands got their food from ______.

• hunting and gathering

• shopping

• hunting and farming

• gathering and begging

Multiple Choice

The canoes of the Eastern Woodland people were made from burned out logs covered by _____.

• plastic wrap

• saplings

• birch bark

• animal skins

Peoples of the Eastern Woodlands

• The people of the Eastern Woodlands
hunted animals such as deer and Moose.

(left) Iroquois hunter, 1950

• They also planted crops such as
corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins.
These are called the Three Sisters.

(above) Iroquois women grinding corn or dried berries. 1664
engraving

Multiple Choice

What did the Iroquois Indians farm for food?

• Three Sisters

  Corn, Beans and Squash

• Deer

• Buffalo

• tomatoes, rice and beans

Today we know the Haudenosaunee as the Iroquois because they spoke the Iroquoian language. The Haudenosaunee lived mainly in what is now New York State. They included 5 groups, the Seneca, the Cayuga, the Onondaga, the Oneida, and the Mohawk.

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​The Haudenosaunee

Haudenosaunee means "people of the longhouse" in Iroquoian language. Longhouses are long buildings made of poles covered with sheets of bark. Each longhouse held several families.

"The People of the Longhouse"

Multiple Choice

What does the name "Haudenosaunee" mean?

• People of the Night

• People of the Snake World

• People of the Wigwams

• People of the Longhouse

Multiple Choice

Longhouses were different than wigwams because they were ______.

• larger and held multiple families

• smaller and covered in elm bark

• the same size but covered with animal skins

• made of saplings only

What do you see in these images?

Inside the Longhouse

The Haudenosaunee made fine beadwork called wampum. Wampum was a belt or string of small polished beads made from shells and strung or woven together. Wampum was used in ceremonies, to seal agreements, or as a gift. Wampum was very time-consuming to make, but very valuable to the people.

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Wampum

Multiple Choice

Wampum was made from _____.

• tree bark

• saplings

• seaweed

• sea shells

Open Ended

How would the Native Americans in the Eastern Woodlands use their environment to meet their wants and needs?

Iroquois Confederacy

supporting question:
How does the iroquois create peace among others?

Iroquois Confederacy

• A confederacy is a form of government where many parts are joined together or unified.

• The Iroquois Tribes consisted of...

• Cayuga

• Onondaga

• Mohawk

• Seneca

• Oneida

Multiple Choice

A confederacy means

• a form of government where one person or group has all the power

• a form of government where there is a king or queen

• a form of government that contains city-states

• a form of government where many parts are joined together or unified

Symbolism

• What is a symbol?

• Find a post-it around the room, take 2 minutes to draw a symbol that would represent you.

• Let's look at the symbols that represents each nation.

The Peacemaker

• The Iroquois Confederacy was created because of conflicts between each nation. They were at war and fighting over hunting lands.

• A man came to the Iroquois and told them they needed to work together to prevent wars and that by uniting together, they would become stronger and keep their people safe.

Multiple Choice

What was one reason the Iroquois were at war?

• Fighting over crops

• Arguing over who is the leader

• Fighting over hunting land

• Fighting over who gets to trade with the Great Plains Native Americans

The Peacemaker

• The women were the first to accept this idea. They became the leaders of their communities.

• The leaders were called Clan mothers. They led their clan and the decisions that would be made.

• Once people agreed, they uprooted the tallest pine tree and threw all their weapons into the hole where an underground stream carried them away.

The Peacemaker

• They then replanted the "Great Tree of Peace" and four white roots spread out in all four directions.

• The chiefs of each tribe formed a council and sat beneath the tree to create the laws that would govern the nations.

• This would then be called the Great Law of Peace. It established an alliance among the nations.

Open Ended

What do you think the word "alliance" means?

Government

• Each tribe in the Iroquois League had its own elected officials called chiefs.

• These chiefs would attend the Iroquois council where major decisions were made regarding the Five Nations.

• Each tribe also had its own leaders to make local decisions.

The League

The League is governed by a Grand Council, an assembly of fifty sachems, each representing one of the clans of one of the nations.

Sachems= chiefs

Iroquois Government:

• A council of 50 members, chosen by women, made decisions for the League.

• Each nation had one vote.
-All of the nations had to agree before any action could be taken.

This is a meeting of the Iroquois Six Nations Council. Note the flags
symbolizing the many clans among these tribes. Ontario Canada, 1914

Open Ended

Answer the supporting question:

Make sure you restate and type in complete sentences.

How does the Iroquois create peace among others?