All about the ancient tribes
Late Woodland – 500 to 1000 AD The Late Woodland period began about AD 500 and lasted about 500 years, until AD 1000. During this time, populations increased and settlements filled up the landscape, spreading northward up small streams.
What is the Woodland period?
Woodland cultures, prehistoric cultures of eastern North America dating from the 1st millennium bc.
The Late Woodland Period lasted from AD 900 until 1650. It was a time when Virginia Indian societies underwent important social and cultural transformations. It traditionally has been dated from the supposed widespread adoption of maize agriculture.
Woodland tribes were hunters and gatherers. They hunted bear, moose and bison, and were effective fishermen. They also ate beavers, raccoons, rabbits, corn, beans and berries. Woodland Indians grew squash, pumpkins and melons.
These three additional eras include: Early Woodland Period – 3000 BC to 200 BC. Middle Woodland Period – 200 BC to 500 AD. Late Woodland Period – 500 to 1000 AD.
They tended to live near water. The languages of the Woodland Indians included the Algonquian and Iroquoian languages. The Religion, Ceremonies and Beliefs were based on Animism. Animism was a commonly shared doctrine, or belief, of the indigenous people of North America and Canada including the Woodland Indian tribes.
Participants built thousands of effigy and burial mounds across eastern North America. In addition to burial and effigy mounds, some Middle Woodland communities constructed ceremonial centers containing mounds and earthworks that served to demarcate sacred space.
Sadly, in the 1800s, a large number of the Eastern Woodlands Indians were forced to leave their native lands by the U.S. government. They were made to relocate to Oklahoma and other western states.
Iroquois inhabited northeast North America, the Eastern Woodland, which is heavily forested.
Most of the Eastern Woodlands Indians relied on agriculture, cultivating the “three sisters”—corn, beans, and squash. All made tools for hunting and fishing, like bows and arrows and traps, and developed specialized tools for tasks like making maple sugar and harvesting wild rice.
Woodland people also increased their consumption of aquatic foods, including fish, freshwater mussels, turtles, and waterfowl. These animals were found in streams, rivers, and large, shallow lakes created by flood waters. Woodland gatherers also collected a variety of tubers, nuts, and fruits.
Woodland tribes were hunters and gatherers. They hunted bear, moose and bison, and were effective fishermen. They also ate beavers, raccoons, rabbits, corn, beans and berries.
Woodland Indians – Animals The animals were very important to the Northeast Woodland Indians. Squirrels, white-tailed deer, bear, moose, beavers, and raccoons. Fish and Sea Mammals included Whales, Seal, Fish and shell fish of the coast including clams, oysters, lobsters, mussels.
The Woodlands Native Americans worshipped the spirits of nature. They believed in a Supreme Being who was all-powerful. Shamanism was part of their religious practices. A shaman is a person who, while in a trance, can communi- cate with the spirits.