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Eastern Woodland Cultures

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Section Chronology

East of the Mississippi River, Archaic peoples adapted to a forest environment that included the major river valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland; the Great Lakes region; and the Atlantic coast (see Map 1.2). Throughout these diverse locales, Archaic peoples pursued similar survival strategies.

Woodland hunters stalked deer as their most important prey. Deer supplied Woodland peoples with food as well as hides and bones that they crafted into clothing, weapons, and many other tools. Like Archaic peoples elsewhere, Woodland Indians gathered edible plants, seeds, and nuts. About 6000 BP, some Woodland groups established more or less permanent settlements of 25 to 150 people, usually near a river or lake that offered a wide variety of plant and animal resources. Woodland burial sites suggest that life expectancy was about eighteen years, a relatively short time to learn all the skills necessary to survive, reproduce, and adapt to change.

Around 4000 BP, Woodland cultures added two important features to their basic hunter-gatherer lifestyles: agriculture and pottery. Trade and migration from Mexico brought gourds and pumpkins to Woodland peoples, who also began to cultivate sunflowers and small quantities of tobacco. Corn, which had been grown in Mexico and South America since about 7000 BP, also traveled north and became a significant food crop among Eastern Woodland peoples around 2500 BP. Most likely, women learned how to plant, grow, and harvest these crops as an outgrowth of their work gathering edible wild plants. Cultivated crops did not alter Woodland peoples’ dependence on gathering wild plants, seeds, and nuts.

Like agriculture, pottery probably originated in Mexico. Pots were more durable than baskets for cooking and the storage of food and water, but they were also much heavier and therefore were shunned by nomadic peoples. The permanent settlements of Woodland peoples made the heavy weight of pots much less important than their advantages compared to leaky and fragile baskets. While pottery and agriculture introduced changes in Woodland cultures, ancient Woodland Americans retained the other basic features of their Archaic hunter-gatherer lifestyle until 1492 and beyond.

CHAPTER LOCATOR

When and why do historians rely on the work of archaeologists?

How and why did humans migrate into North America?

Why did Archaic Native Americans shift to foraging and hunting smaller animals?

How did agriculture influence Native American cultures?

What cultural similarities did native peoples of the Western Hemisphere share in the 1490s?

Why was tribute important in the Mexican empire?

Conclusion: How do we understand the worlds of ancient Americans?

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Table 1.1 Archaic Indians at a Glance

TABLE 1.1 Archaic Indians at a Glance

Great Plains Bison Hunters
Where they lived	East of the Rocky Mountains, in present-day eastern Colorado, northeastern New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Minnesota, Iowa, Missouri, Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, and southwestern Canada
Lifestyle	Nomadic
How they acquired food	Hunting
What they ate	Bison
Technological developments	Acquired bow and arrow from the north; after Europeans’ arrival, used horses to hunt
Great Basin Cultures
Where they lived	Between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, present-day eastern California, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, and Colorado
Lifestyle	Nomadic
How they acquired food	Fishing, hunting, and gathering
What they ate	Fish, deer, antelope, bison, smaller game, plants, and piñon nuts
Technological developments	None
Pacific Coast Cultures: Chumash and Northwest Peoples
Where they lived	Chumash: around present-day Santa Barbara, California; Northwest peoples: present-day northern California, Oregon, Washington, and the west coast of Canada
Lifestyle	Village settlements
How they acquired food	Chumash: hunting and gathering; Northwest peoples: fishing
What they ate	Chumash: acorns; Northwest peoples: salmon, halibut, and other fish
Technological developments	Northwest peoples: elaborate wood carvings that denoted wealth and status; huge canoes for fishing, hunting, and conducting warfare against neighboring tribes
Eastern Woodland Cultures
Where they lived	East of the Mississippi River, in the major river valleys of the Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and Cumberland; the Great Lakes region; and the Atlantic coast
Lifestyle	Permanent settlements
How they acquired food	Hunting and gathering
What they ate	Deer, plants, seeds, and nuts
Technological developments	Agriculture and pottery