PEOPLES OF THE NORTHEAST The Northeast region was the original home of many American Indian nations This map shows the areas where some of them lived before Europeans arrived in the region Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe Ojibwe n n Me Me Algonquin Algonquin Ottawa Ottawa e e e e omin omin k k n n u u h h o-C o-C H H Potawatomi Potawatomi Mesquakie Mesquakie MiamiMiami Illinois Illinois Micmac P P a a s s P P s s e e a a n n m m o o a a b b q q s s u u c c o o o o Abenaki Abenaki d d t t d y Wam Wampanoag Huron Huron k k w w a a a a a a g g h h eid eid o o a a d d M M a a n n n n a a g g O O o o c c u u n n e e y y O O n n a a e e C C S S Narragansett Narragansett ErieErie Susquehannock Susquehannock Lenape Lenape Powhatan Tuscarora CULTURAL AREAS Plains Southeast Northeast Subarctic Cultural area border International border State province border Many Nations Around 1500 Europeans began writing about the people they met on the coast of North America By then many separate American Indian nations existed in the Northeast Each nation had its own identity system of government and way of life But the nations of the Northeast also had much in common Northeast Indians speak languages from three different language families Algonquian al-GON-kee-an Iroquoian ear-oh-KWOY-ee-an and Siouan SOO-an Each language family includes many different but related languages Nations 66
that belong to the same language family share many cultural traits in addition to similar languages Algonquian-speaking peoples were spread throughout the region They got much of their food by farming They also fished hunted and gathered wild plants Algonquians lived in small bands and moved frequently The Menominee meh-NOM-uh nee and Potawatomi pah-toe-WAH-toe-mee lived along the Great Lakes The Algonquin al-GON-kin and the Ottawa AH tuh-wuh lived in present-day Canada The Abenaki AB-eh-na kee Lenape len-AHPE Wampanoag wam-puh-NO-ag and Narragansett nahr-ruh-GAN-sit made their homes in areas that later became New England states To the south members of the Powhatan POW-ah-tan or pow-HAH-tan Confederacy lived in present-day Virginia The Northeast region was rich in resources Many areas were covered in forests 7
LANGUAGE FAMILIES OF NORTHEAST PEOPLES LANGUAGE FAMILY Algonquian MAJOR PEOPLES Abenaki Algonquin Illinois Kickapoo Lenape Mahican Malecite Menominee Mesquakie also called Fox Miami Micmac Mohegan Narragansett Ojibwe Ottawa Passamaquoddy Penobscot Pequot Potawatomi Powhatan Confederacy Wampanoag Iroquoian Cayuga Erie Huron Mohawk Neutral Oneida Onondaga Seneca Susquehannock Tuscarora Siouan Ho-Chunk also called Winnebago Iroquoian-speaking peoples mostly lived near Lake Erie and Lake Ontario Like Algonquians Iroquoians hunted animals and gathered plants But much more of their food came from farming Iroquoian peoples spent most of the year in large permanent villages near their crop fields Some Iroquoian peoples such as the Huron HYUR-on and Neutral NOO-tral lived in present-day Canada Others such as the Tuscarora tusk-uh ROAR-uh lived in parts of what became North Carolina and Virginia Many others lived in present-day Delaware New York and Pennsylvania These included the Mohawk MO-hawk Oneida oh-NIE-duh Onondaga on-uhn-DAH-guh Cayuga 88
kay-OO-guh Seneca Erie EAR-ee and Susquehannock sus kwuh-HAN-ock Siouan-speaking peoples lived on the western edge of the region In the 1500s and 1600s most of them moved even farther west to the Great Plains Only the Ho-Chunk HOH-chunk of Wisconsin stayed in the Northeast After Europeans arrived in North America Northeast Indians lives changed drastically Many died due to disease and warfare Over time the new nation of the United States pressured Northeast Indians to sell much of their land The United States even forced some peoples to move west A few groups lost so many members that they no longer existed as nations But most Northeast peoples survived their hardships Modern Northeast Indians continue to live throughout the Northeast 9
