Keywords Native Peoples

Native People: Eastern Farmers

Native People: Eastern Hunters

Geographical Location
The Canadian Eastern Woodlands are part of a larger biotic region that extends southwest to Illinois and east to coastal North Carolina. The deciduous forests of southern Ontario, the St Lawrence lowlands and coastal Atlantic provinces phase north into the mixed deciduous-coniferous canopy of the Canadian SHIELD in the west and the Appalachian uplands in the east. Except in the Atlantic provinces, the Great Lakes-St Lawrence watershed provided access to water transportation to all Eastern Woodland peoples. Climate and soil conditions allowed peoples south of upland regions to grow corn, beans and SQUASH; by far the largest portion of their diet consisted of products of their extensive fields.

Beaver Trap
Before Europeans came to North America, trapping was an integral part of the aboriginal way of life, providing food, clothing and shelter (artwork by Gordon J. Miller).

Historical Summary
Although the NORSE seem to have made sporadic visits to the eastern seaboard between the 10th and 14th centuries, major European influences were initiated by fishermen to the Grand Banks - who also began trading for furs in the early 16th century just prior to Jacques CARTIER's contacts with Micmac and St Lawrence Iroquoians in 1534-35. During the late 16th century the FUR TRADE expanded to involve, either directly or indirectly, most Eastern Woodland peoples. During this period the St Lawrence Iroquoians deserted their longtime homelands and, although there is debate as to whether its origin is precontact or postcontact, the famed Iroquois confederacy became prominent.

By the early 17th century there were European settlements on Sable Island (temporary), at Tadoussac, briefly on the St Croix River in Maine, and at PORT-ROYAL in the Annapolis Valley. In 1609 Henry HUDSON explored the New England coast and the river named after him, while Samuel de CHAMPLAIN accompanied a MONTAGNAIS war party against the Mohawk near Lake Champlain, an event that marked the beginning of European participation in the almost continuous intertribal hostilities that lasted for a century. By 1624, when the Dutch established New Amsterdam [New York], fur bearers had been largely exterminated along the Atlantic coast. During the first half of the 17th century, European epidemics (see NATIVE PEOPLE, HEALTH) and warfare drastically reduced Indian populations, and subsistence cycles of hunter-gatherers were disrupted. Dependency relationships developed when a variety of European trade items replaced aboriginal ones, and new forms of territoriality and leadership emerged.

In New England the Pequot War (1637) and King Philip's War (1675-76) led to population shifts clearing the way for European settlement. Some Abenaki moved to St Francis near the St Lawrence after about 1660. In the Great Lakes area, the Five Nations Iroquois intensified their attack on other Iroquoians and Algonquians during the 1640s and 1650s, forcing many peoples to flee from their homelands (see IROQUOIS WARS). Remnant groups of Huron, Petun, Neutral and Erie fled west and became known as Wyandot. One group of Huron settled at Lorette near Québec City. The Five Nations Iroquois, reduced by warfare and disease, replenished their numbers by adopting war captives and refugees.

During the late 17th century, as Iroquois power began to wane, Ojibwa and Algonquin expanded into southern Ontario; their descendants occupy reserves there today. In 1722 the Iroquois accepted the Tuscarora, a northern Iroquoian-speaking people who had fled north from the Carolinas. Following this addition, the confederacy was often called the Six Nations, although the Tuscarora were never politically equal to the 5 founding nations.

Throughout the first half of the 18th century, most Algonquians of the Eastern Woodlands supported the French and supplied them with furs in exchange for European commodities. Except for a group of Mohawk who had settled near Montréal, the majority of the Iroquois were allied with the British. At the time of the SEVEN YEARS' WAR and after the fall of NEW FRANCE to the British in 1759-60, Ottawa and Ojibwa, displeased with new policies, temporarily captured Detroit and Michilimackinac.

Most Algonquians, however, supported the British cause during the AMERICAN REVOLUTION, but the struggle split the loyalties of the New York state Iroquois, many of whom subsequently moved to lands granted to them by the British in southern Ontario. Members of all the Six Nations Iroquois settled along the Grand River, and some Mohawk settled at the Bay of Quinte.

Land cessions in New York, a growing dependency on whites and general demoralization stimulated a revitalization movement in 1799 led by the Seneca prophet Handsome Lake. The new religion spread to other Iroquois communities in the US and Canada (see HANDSOME LAKE RELIGION). After the WAR OF 1812 some Ojibwa, Ottawa and Potawatomi moved from the US to the Georgian Bay area. A portion of the Oneida settled on the Thames River. During the first half of the 19th century, reserves were surveyed for Algonquians along Georgian Bay, the Robinson-Huron and Robinson-Superior treaties of 1850 enfranchising most Algonquians in Ontario. In the Atlantic provinces some 60 Micmac reserves were established (see INDIAN RESERVE; INDIAN TREATIES).

As white settlements throughout the Eastern Woodlands grew larger and more numerous, hunting and gathering by various Algonquians waned in importance. Small-scale horticulture, often the result of missionary influences, increasingly supplemented a diet which came to include store foods as well as locally obtained fish and game. Some Indians were employed by Euro-Canadians in such activities as lumbering, mining and the fur trade, or as part-time labourers.

On reserves, an elected system of chiefs and councillors replaced traditional political institutions, except among some Iroquois whose confederate chiefs filled political offices. At Six Nations the traditional system was formally replaced by an elected system in 1924, but the old confederate system often continued in opposition to the elected officers and the federal government that failed to recognize it.

By the 20th century the majority of Eastern Woodland Indians had adopted Christianity, albeit sometimes only nominally. Many Iroquois continued to practise the Longhouse religion of Handsome Lake. Dependency on government sources of economic support, owing to few employment opportunities or inadequate training, resulted in poverty on most reserves not situated near large urban centres.

Following the GREAT DEPRESSION of the 1930s, many Indians moved to urban centres in Canada and the US to work, and many more have since done so. Often they make frequent trips to the reserve and, when not employed or after retirement, return. After about 1960 new government-sponsored job programs on reserves and the revitalizaton of old arts and crafts lessened economic dependency. Health clinics and modern medical treatment have resulted in dramatic population growth so that many tribal groups are now numerically larger than at the time of contact (see NATIVE PEOPLE, DEMOGRAPHY).

By 1995 there were 48 207 Iroquoians on 8 reserves in Canada, including the Huron at Lorette. Some 18 656 Micmac are affiliated with 25 reserves in the Atlantic provinces and the Abenaki with the St Francis reserve. The number of other Algonquians residing in the Canadian Eastern Woodlands is difficult to determine since not all are registered Indians associated with reserves. A figure of 50 000, however, seems reasonable.

Huronia
(artwork by Lewis Parker)

Huronia (Detail 1)
Building a fire (artwork by Lewis Parker).

Huronia (Detail 2)
Riverside activities (artwork by Lewis Parker).

Huronia (Detail 3)
Longhouse and stockade (artwork by Lewis Parker).

Wigwams
Wigwams used by the Eastern Woodlands hunters. They were covered with birchbark, skins or mats (artwork by Gordon Miller).

Longhouse Activities
Activities at an Iroquoian longhouse feast include dancers, gamblers, storytellers (courtesy Lazare and Parker).

Micmac Chief's Coat
Micmac military great coat, back view (courtesy Glenbow Museum/Museum of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia).

Traditional Culture
IroquoianAll Iroquoians relied primarily on cultivated corn, beans and squash. Fishing, hunting and gathering supplemented domestic crops. Men cleared forest areas while women planted and harvested and made pottery. The Huron exchanged corn for fish and hides with Nipissing. Crop storage permitted sedentary and often palisaded settlements varying from small hamlets with a few families to towns where as many as 2500 persons resided. Population density was high, reaching a peak of perhaps 24 persons per km² (60 persons per sq mile) among the Huron. Although estimates vary, there may have been from 70 000 to 90 000 northern Iroquoians at contact.

A typical village contained a large number of elm- or cedar-bark longhouses. Each LONGHOUSE sheltered several related families. Residence in these households was matrilocal; ie, upon marriage a man would move into his wife's longhouse. As well, descent, inheritance and succession followed the female line. One or more households formed a matrilineage. Several lineages composed an exogamous clan designated by a particular totem emblem (crest). Tribes appear to have been composed of from 3 to 10 clans whose members were scattered in several villages. Among some groups, clans were divided into 2 categories or moieties. Clan mates, regardless of village, and among the Five Nations even through tribal affiliation, considered themselves to be siblings.

Most Iroquoian peoples possessed both civil chiefs and war chiefs. The Five Nations Confederacy had a council of 50 permanent and hereditary offices which has survived in modified form to the present. Among the Five Nations, condolence ceremonies commemorate deceased confederacy chiefs, replace them and bestow on the successors the honorary names associated with the office. The Huron had a similar political system.

All groups possessed religious specialists (SHAMAN), engaged in seasonal rituals often associated with crop harvests and held periodic feasts (see NATIVE PEOPLE, RELIGION). The Huron held elaborate FEASTS OF THE DEAD, usually at the time when villages were to be moved to new locations. The bones of dead relatives were gathered and placed in mass graves (ossuaries) with grave goods. The Five Nations had a number of medicine societies focused on curing, the best known being the FALSE FACE SOCIETY. During performances members wore elaborately carved wooden masks.

Clay Pots
Clay pots were used by the Eastern Woodlands people. In burial grounds, they were used to hold food for the departing spirits (artwork by Gordon J. Miller).

Exterior of Reconstructed Longhouse
Ste-Marie Among the Hurons, near Midland, Ontario. Built c. 1640, reconstructed 1960s (photo courtesy Ste-Marie Among the Hurons).

Iroquois Council Discussions
A council separates into family groups to discuss important matters concerning the village, such as war (artwork by Lewis Parker).

Algonquian
Horticulture as a subsistence activity was either absent or marginal among most Eastern Woodland Algonquians. Ottawa, Algonquin, Abenaki and Maliseet grew some crops; the Ojibwa and Micmac grew none, and the Nipissing traded fish for Huron corn. Hunting and fishing provided the bulk of the food. Deer, bear, moose, caribou and even seals, porpoises and whales were harvested in areas where they could be found. Bows, arrows, lances, traps, snares and deadfalls were used in hunting, and hooks, weirs, leisters and nets were employed to procure fish. In the Great Lakes area wild rice was harvested in the early fall, and maple or birch sap was collected in the early spring. Meat was either boiled or roasted for immediate consumption or smoke-dried for future use.

A seasonal round of activities tended to inhibit a strictly sedentary existence, although the abundance of certain food, especially fish, and some horticulture permitted a greater degree of sedentation than among Subarctic peoples farther north. Dwellings were smaller and less permanent than among Iroquoians, varying from conical birchbark TIPIS to domed WIGWAMS or rectangular structures that housed several families. Village size varied seasonally, with the largest population concentrations occurring in summer. Some Ottawa and Abenaki villages may have numbered 300 persons.

Unlike the Iroquoians who travelled mainly on land or in crude elm-bark CANOES, the Algonquians made gracile birchbark canoes. In winter they used SNOWSHOES, sleds and TOBOGGANS. Trade and visiting appear to have been common activities among adjacent Algonquian peoples.

The aboriginal population of the different Algonquian groups is difficult to estimate owing to postcontact movements and the effects of diseases. There may have been 15 000 to 20 000 Central Algonquians in Canada and an equal number of Eastern Algonquians either in Canada or whose descendants later moved to Canada. More research is required before these estimates can be refined.

Prior to European intervention, the largest political unit among most Woodland Algonquians appears to have been the band-village, there being no confederacies of village chiefs. Each BAND or band-village appears to have possessed at least one chief or headman, whose position was usually hereditary within the male line. Patrilineal groups designated by an animal totem seem to have been characteristic of all peoples. Village-band territories were not strictly demarcated, and all members had equal access to basic subsistence resources. While intertribal feuds may have occurred, it is doubtful that warfare was conducted on the same scale as that which characterized the early historic period.

The most important religious figure was the shaman, who engaged in curing and performed magical rites to ward off evil spirits such as WINDIGO and to appease or locate game. Impersonal powers pervaded the universe, and Algonquians made no conceptual distinction between the human and animal worlds. Seasonal rituals and feasts were held, as well as rituals associated with birth, puberty and death.

The vision quest associated with the acquisition of a personal supernatural guardian helper existed among all groups. Central Algonquians held Feasts of the Dead that were similar but not identical to those of the Huron. During the 17th century these feasts attracted large numbers of persons, often from several tribes. Because quantities of goods were given away and the names of new chiefs raised, they came to resemble the Northwest Coast funerary POTLATCH.

Moose Hunt
Having trailed a moose until the dogs force its collapse, a team of Algonkian hunters close in for the kill (artwork by Lewis Parker).

Birchbark Canoe
In building a canoe, bark is stripped from the birch, placed inside a staked frame, sewn and attached. Ribs are fixed in position and seams sealed with spruce gum (artwork by Lewis Parker).

Snowshoes
The long, narrow (left) and bear paw snowshoes of the Eastern Woodland hunters were used for different snow conditions (artwork by Gordon J. Miller).

Algonkian Canoe
The birchbark canoe of the Algonkian peoples was ideal for travel by rivers and lakes separated by narrow watersheds or portages (artwork by Lewis Parker).

Culture Change
There has been considerable culture change among all Eastern Woodland groups. Hunting, gathering and fishing have become marginal subsistence activities except among some Micmac, for whom fishing has remained significant. Agriculture, altered by new technologies, crops and rules regarding the sexual division of labour, declined as reserve populations grew, lands were partitioned, and new job opportunities arose. Such traditional foods as corn bread and corn soup are still eaten, and tobacco continues to be grown for ritual purposes.

Different reserve populations and different groups on the same reserve represent varying degrees of acculturation and assimilation (see NATIVE PEOPLE, SOCIAL CONDITIONS). Some Algonquians still maintain an essentially animistic world view, while Iroquois following the Longhouse religion adhere to modified aboriginal beliefs and principles. Traditional beliefs and values tend to remain strongest among those who regularly speak the native language. A revitalization of selected aspects of traditional cultures, not only arts and crafts (see NATIVE ART) but also dances and rituals, as well as a greater political awareness, have served to reinforce identity and esteem after over 3 centuries of cultural erosion.

Author CHARLES A. BISHOP

Links to Other Sites
Legends Project
Listen to dramatizations of oral histories, including ancient legends and myths, that Inuit and First Nations elders would have shared during family gatherings and activities in their communities. The series of recordings on this website were originally broadcast on the CBC Radio 1 program “Ideas.”

Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples
The website for the "Encyclopedia of Canada's Peoples." Click on the links for feature articles about Canada's many multicultural communities, access to their extensive digital archives collection, learning modules, and much more. From "Multicultural Canada."

Languages of Canada
A comprehensive online database of languages currently in use in Canada. Also provides details about extinct languages. Check out the "language maps" for more information. Based on "Ethnologue: Languages of the World, Fifteenth edition." From SIL International, a US website.

FirstVoices Language Archive
A website devoted to Canada's indigenous languages. Features program information, multimedia dictionaries, and related resources. Produced by The First Peoples' Cultural Foundation.

Raid on Deerfield
A narrated history of the 1704 Raid on Deerfield and its aftermath from Native and European perspectives. Also features fascinating stories about Native societies, cultures, trade practices, and traditions. This multimedia website is from the Memorial Hall Museum in Deerfield, Massachusetts.

Maliseet - Passamaquoddy Dictionary
This online dictionary is from the Mi'kmaq - Maliseet Institute, University of New Brunswick.

Four Directions Teachings
Elders and traditional teachers representing the Blackfoot, Cree, Ojibwe, Mohawk, and Mi’kmaq share teachings about their culture. Animated graphics visualize each of the oral teachings. This website also provides biographies of participants, transcripts, and extensive learning resources for students and their teachers. In English with French subtitles.

Aboriginal peoples in Québec
A brief profile of Aboriginal peoples in Québec. From Indian and Northern Affairs Canada.

Micmac Nation of Gespeg
The website for the Micmac Nation of Gespeg.

Site Droulers-Tsiionhiakwatha
The Tsiionhiakwatha/Droulers archaeological site interpretation center, a prominent Iroquoian village in Quebec lies. Circa 1450, approximately 500 St.Lawrence iroquoians established a village near the La Guerre River in what is now the municipality of Saint-Anicet.