Introduction
This section of Native American Indian Facts provides information about the Native American Indian tribes of the Northeast woodlands. This region stretches from the Atlantic coastline in the East to the Mississippi River in the West, and from the Great Lakes in the North to North Carolina and Tennessee in the South. In this section many aspects of the Northeast Indian tribes will be covered including their history, traditions, famous men and women, jewelry, how they lived, where they lived, what they hunted, and how they dressed. Below is a list of the tribes from the Northeast followed by several interesting facts about these indigenous people of North America.Click here for a great selection of Northeast American Indians books on AMAZON
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Northeast American Indian Tribes List
- Abenaki
- Algonquin
- Cayuga
- Chippewa
- Illinois
- Iroquois (also known as the Haudenosaunee)
- Kickapoo
- Lenape
- Lumbee
- Maliseet
- Menominee
- Miami
- Micmac
- Mohawk
- Mohegan
- Mohican
- Montauk
- Munsee
- Nanticoke
- Narragansett
- Niantic
- Nipmuc
- Nottoway
- Oneida
- Onondaga
- Ottawa
- Passamaquoddy
- Penobscot
- Pocomtuc
- Potawatomi
- Powhatan
- Quiripi (also known as Quiripi)
- Sac and Fox
- Seneca
- Shawnee
- Shinnecock
- Susquehannock
- Wampanoag
- Wappinger
- Winnebago (also known as Hochunk)
- Wyandot (also known as Huron)
Facts about the Northeast American Indian Tribes
- The Northeast American Indians are also referred to as Eastern Woodland Indians because most lived in the forest.
- The Northeast region of North America is a large area with many variations of climate, landscape, and natural resources. These differences account for the wide variations of Indian cultures in the region.
- Wigwams and longhouses were the typical shelter of Indians living in this region.
- The Indians of this region first came in contact with Europeans around the year 1000 A.D. when the famous Viking explorer Leif Ericsson sailed from Greenland to Canada.
- By the early sixteenth century the Indians of the Northeast had been in contact with explorers from many European countries. They had met explorers and settlers from England, Spain, France, and Portugal who were interested in the regions vast natural resources including lumber, fish, and furs.
- Among the most famous Indian people of the Northeast are the Iroquois. They are actually a group (league) of tribes know today as the Iroquois League or the League of Peace and Power. Historically the league made decisions, on important matters, as a group. Several Native American nations make up this league. Originally it was comprised of the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca tribes and was referred to as the Five Nations. In 1722 the Tuscarora nation joined the league which then became referred to as the Six Nations.
- Perhaps the most well known Indian of the Northeast region was Pocahontas. She was a member of the Powhatan tribe. There are many untrue stories told about her. For example she never had a romantic relationship with the famous English settler John Smith. However she did marry an English colonist by the name of John Rolfe.
- One of the most famous American Indians of the Northeast was Squanto. He helped the Pilgrims survive after their first winter in America. He was a member of the now extinct Patuxet tribe which was part of the Wampanoag Confederacy.
- Pontiac was a famous chief of the Ottawa tribe. He defended the Great Lakes region from the invasion of the British and was involved in the capture of Fort Detroit at the Battle of Bloody Run.
- Small beads made from quahog shells, called wampum, were used by many North American Indians as money for trade with white settlers and explorers.