Monday, June 18, 2007

Algonquians of the Eastern Woodlands



The eastern woodlands stretched from Lake Superior and Lake Huron, west almost to the plains, east to the Atlantic Ocean, north into what is now northern Ontario and south below today's border with the United States. It was a diverse land with diverse people. The people were known as:

  • Abenaki
  • Anissinapek (Algonkin)
  • Beothuk
  • Maliseet (Malecite)
  • Mi'kmaq (Micmac)
  • Odawa (Ottawa)
  • Ojibwe (Ojibway)

Algonquians planted corn, beans and squash, but mostly survived by hunting, trapping, fishing and gathering plants from the wild, such as wild rice. They lived in domed or conical wigwams (this word comes from the Algonquian word "wigwaus," which means "birchbark." Birch trees grew in most parts of the lands of the Algonquian-speaking peoples. The trees were made into canoes, homes and containers.

Creation story: http://www.sgsd.k12.wi.us/homework/kanne/webpage%20stuff/American%20Literature/PreColonial%20Lit/Algonquian%20Creation%20Story.htm

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