The Woodland Natives of North America

were the first to be assimilated and the first to

lose their culture, their land and ultimately

their lives to the invaders who took without

asking and left nothing unscathed.

Woodland Nations are usually considered to be all of those

Native People who lived East of the Mississippi River,

from Maine to Florida, they were all called Woodland People.

Although their geographical areas and numbers were vast,

these Native People shared many commonalities in their cultures.

Many Woodland People were Nomads or those who

lived as they traveled in the hunt of their food,

while others, stayed put and raised their own food.

Housing was also similar among the Woodland People,

with Longhouses, round houses or wigwams and Tipis

being the most common types of lodging.

Some People, like my Shawnee and the Creek Nations,

were Matrilineal, meaning that control was passed

down through Tribal women and their relatives.

*There have been rebukes of this statement by readers, however,

my information came from a very elder Creek chief many years ago

who stated that the Shawnee and Creek people were at one time

united in the south and that both were Matrilineal.

Patrilineal Tribes were controlled by the Men.

Within the Tribes, were smaller groups called clans which

were sorted by different families and their relatives.

Despite their differences as Native Peoples, eventually

all Woodland Nations would face a common enemy,

the encroaching non natives landing on their shores

who while accepting the kind generosities of the Natives,

were methodically planning how to annihilate them.

Unlike the Western Native Nations, the Woodland People did

not get any advanced warnings, by the time that they learned

what these new people were really like, it was too late.

These are some of the Woodland Nations:

People of the Place of the Fire

Citizen Potawatomi Nation

After reading this document you will understand

why our own constitution was formed from it.

Constitution of the Iroquois Nations

Description of the creation of the Iroquois League, 

with an excellent depiction of their Longhouses.

Founding of the Iroquois League

People Building a Long House

The Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida,

Mohawk and Tuscarora Nations.

The Haudenosaunee

The Lenapes:

Hudson Valley Indians

Indiana Native People's History

Indian Removal from Indiana

Woodland Indian Languages

The Eastern Woodland Natives were the first to

be displaced by the encroachment of Europeans.

Indians of the Lower Hudson Valley