Northeastern Indians essays

Northeastern Indians essays Northeastern Indians The Northeastern Indians are the Indians who live in the Northeast part of the United States. The area consists of three types of land: the coast of the ocean, fertile valleys and forests. Therefore, their three main occupations were fishing, farming and hunting. No one is exactly sure how the Northeastern Indians got there in the first place. Some believe they migrated from northeastern Asia to Alaska and then to the Americas. Others believe that they are descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel while others think they can be traced to a colony of Welshmen founded by Prince Madoc in 1170. At one time there were 39 tribes living in the Northeast. They spoke basically two languages: Iroquoian and Algonquian. This report will focus on the Iroquois Indians who lived in the Northeast Woodlands. Today this part of our country is called upper New York State. The Iroquois Indians were actually a nation of Indians made up of five tribes. These tribes were the Senecas, Onondagas, Oneidas, Cayugas and Mohawks. These tribes kept fighting with each other until they joined together to become the Iroquois League in about 1570. Then instead of fighting with each other, they started fighting with their neighbors (other Indian tribes). The Iroquois had a society where the women were in charge. Kinship was determined through the mother and women owned all property. Each of the five tribes was further divided into three groups: turtle, bear and wolf. A matriarch headed each clan and the women of the clan chose these leaders. The Iroquois lived in villages that were pretty permanent and only moved when the soil dried out or there was war. They built log walls all around their villages. The wall had only one opening. They could quickly close this opening if their enemies came near. In 1600, the height of the Iroquois nation, the population was about 20,...