Geography
The Eastern Woodlands cultural area refers to the region that stretches from the northeastern coast of present-day United States and the Canadian Maritimes to west of the Great Lakes. The Eastern Woodlands includes, among others, the Haudenosaunee, Mi'kmaq, Anishinaabe and Wendat (Huron). Climate and soil conditions allow peoples south of upland regions to grow corn, beans and squash (known as the Three Sisters); the largest portion of many Eastern Woodland peoples’ diets consisted of produce from their fields.
Language
Eastern Woodland Indigenous peoples belong to two unrelated language families, Iroquoian and Algonquian. Iroquoian-speaking peoples occupied much of what is now southern Ontario. Algonquian-speaking groups extended from Lake Superior north of Lake Huron to the Ottawa Valley.
Creation Stories
"Sky Woman" is the Haudenosaunee creation story of Sky Woman, who fell from the unseen world and landed on Turtle Island. Above are two versions to hear the story: a narrated version and an animated version.
Suggestions for your class:
Dig deep into the Woodlands culture and way of life by reading books set in and written by those from the Woodlands. Read the books together as a class or excerpts of them and create activities around the text to help students understand Woodlands culture and way of life.
Dig deep into the Woodlands culture and way of life by reading books set in and written by those from the Woodlands. Read the books together as a class or excerpts of them and create activities around the text to help students understand Woodlands culture and way of life.
Art
Art came to have a new purpose. It was a source of income to people whose traditional means of livelihood had been destroyed. Baskets, beaded necklaces, model birchbark canoes and even feathered headbands were made to be sold to outsiders...tourists and collectors of "Indigenous arts and crafts.”
Suggestions for your class: