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Native Americans
The Native Americans were the first
inhabitants of our country. Those living east of the
Mississippi River were called the Woodland Indians. They
lived in a Woodland culture finding their food by fishing,
hunting, and gathering fruits, nuts, and berries. They made
their homes of mud and thatch because those were the natural
materials available to them.
Later they began to plant and harvest
crops of beans, squash, and pumpkins. The most important and
valued crop was corn or "maize." This crop changed
the lives of the Indian woman immensely. The woman usually
did all of the field work. However the invention of rakes
made from deer antlers, and wooden hoes made their work
easier. Men became warriors to protect the precious
crops. They also did the hunting, fishing and
trapping. They trapped fish in woven fences called weirs.
Different groups of Indians lived in the
East. Some who were simply traveling through the forests
hunting, set up temporary housing. These were called
wigwams. Wigwams were tents made of bark or animal
skins. Others lived in permanent homes. These were
log-covered buildings called longhouses.
Some tribes built both summer and winter
houses. Those who lived in what is now Florida built summer
homes of wooden frames with roofs and no walls. When the
weather turned colder they moved into houses with walls plastered
in mud. These houses warmed by a fire, would stay warm
all night.
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