Page 11 - The Native American Experience

Americans lined river banks with basket traps to catch fish. An-
cient archaeological records show that tribes traded seeds, food,
animal skins, precious stones, and other goods with one another
through a system of interconnected trails that linked thousands of
villages across the continent.

Nations of the Northeast

Before the arrival of Europeans, Native Americans did not have
guns, horses, livestock, metal tools, or vehicles with wheels. How-
ever, their hunting, fishing, and agricultural skills allowed them to
enjoy an exceptionally varied diet in a fertile land that teemed with
plants and animals. This helped Native American communities
thrive in almost every part of North America.
Indigenous people had many different governing systems, cul-
tural traditions, languages, and spiritual practices. However, there
were some similarities. Most Native American groups were made
up of extended families, or clans. Clans held a special place in Na-
tive American life as explained by Jake Aguonia and other tribal
elders of the Anishinaabe people of the Great Lakes region: “Your
clan is with you from the day you are born. It is said that your clan
walks with you and looks after you. Your clan takes care of you so
that you don’t have to go through life without help and protection.” 5
Some of the clans—though related—lived far apart, went by
different names, and spoke different dialects of the same lan-
guage. The Haudenosaunee Confederacy is an example of dis-
tant but related clans. The confederacy, also known as the Six
Nations of the Iroquois, originally included the Mohawk, Oneida,
Tuscarora, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca peoples. They spoke
different Iroquoian dialects. They occupied thousands of villages
spanning hunting grounds and farmland in present-day New York
and Pennsylvania and around the eastern Great Lakes region all
the way up into parts of southern Canada.
Haudenosaunee translates as “People of the Longhouse.”
Longhouses were large shelters constructed from layers of birch
bark over wooden poles. They could be up to 250 feet (76 m) long

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