First Nation's Assignment - Eastern Woodlands Farmers and Hunters. By Ben Gladney

The Eastern Woodlands people farmed crops that they called the called Three Sisters, these crops were beans, corn and squash. To store and isolate food the Easter woodland farmers dug out dirt pits and put food inside. The crops that they grew were planted and gown in circular fields about 12,000 acres away from their villages. The crops attracted birds so women stood on wood platforms and acted like live scarecrows.

The Eastern Woodland Farmers villages settled every 10-30 years, a villages had about 1000 people. Some Men settled on top of hilltop for an outlook on their village and better drainage. Each clan/family had to make their own shelter. Each longhouse had an extended family in it, grandfather, grandmother, father, mother children, cousins, aunts and uncles. There were about 60 Eastern Woodland Farmers villages, that served shelter for 60,000 people!

The ancestors of the Eastern Woodland Hunters arrived about 10,000 years ago!!! That was the time when the Ice age was just ending. They ended up settling in southern and southwest Ontario, southern Quebec and the Maritime provinces. ( P.E.I, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia.) The langue that the Eastern Woodland Hunters used was Central or eastern Algonquin. The Nations inside of the Eastern Woodland Hunters were the Ojibwa, Ottawa, Nipissing, Algonquin, Maliseet and the Mi'Kmaq.

The Eastern Woodland Hunters hunted and Farmed. The Mi'kmaq farmed Tabasco and the Ottawa, Aberdeen and Algonquian grew the three sisters. (beans,corn and squash.) Most of the others hunted or gathered, they were really really skilled hunters. The Eastern woodland hunters hunted and gathered edible plants, raccoon, bear, squirrel, beaver, moose, seal, caribou, fish and sometimes even whale1

Similaritys

The Eastern woodland hunters made their clothes out of mammal, bird and/or fish skin or hide. The leather of some of those animals were sewn to make robes, shirts, leggings, dressers, skirts, breechcloths and moccasins. The Eastern Woodland Farmers and Hunters decorated their clothing and art with bead work and quills. An example of art was a dream catcher they were put bye widows or on window sills, they believed that they would keep out bad spirits and changed them into good sprites. At first nations festivals the people of the village would usually wear face paint. The face paint followed a certain color code to express feelings. Red= Life, Black= death, Purple= royalty or a special occasion.

IN a Eastern Woodland Farmers village the elders were respected the most, they believed that the elders knew more then the rest of the village. The eldest female in a longhouse was considered the master, while the eldest man was the story teller. In a village their were always two chiefs a Warrior Chief an a chief . The Warrior Chief was in charge of the villages defense, and was selected through valor, wealth and courage. On the other hand the Chief was in charge of the villages decision making.