THE ALGONQUINOF THE NORTHEAST WOODLANDS

TABLE OF CONTENTSThe Northeast Woodlands……………………………………………………………………………page 2Algonquin Homes…………………………………………………………………………………………page 3Algonquin Food……………………………………………………………………………………………page 4Algonquin Clothes……………………………………………………………………………………….page 5Algonquin Travel…………………………………………………………………………………………..page 6Glossary……………………………………………………………………………………………..………..page 7

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THE NORTHEAST WOODLANDS The Northeast Woodlands is a quickly changing place. There are four seasons with wide temperature ranges. It can get below zero degrees in the winter, and above one hundred degrees in the summer. A large mountain range called The Appalachian Mountains cuts through the vast woods where plants and animals thrive. Glaciers shaped the land and dragged large rocks such as the Madison Boulder and dropped them along the way. One of the Native American tribes that had to struggle with these hardships was the Algonquin.

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Glaciers shaped the land and dragged large rocks.

Here is a map of the Northeast Woodlands

ALGONQUIN HOMES Algonquin Native Americans built and lived in wigwams. Often one family lived in a wigwam that was about fifteen feet wide. The families usually included one set of grandparents. The wigwams were made of birch bark and saplings. They used the saplings to make a frame, then they put the birch bark on. Skins were used for household items and kids played with dolls and other wooden toys. They also built sheets and baskets that were made out of birch bark too. Their cradle boards were made of birch bark as well.

Algonquin Native Americans built and lived in wigwams.

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This is a photo of a completed wigwam.

ALGONQUIN FOOD Since there were so many lakes and rivers in the area, Algonquin usually had a camp near water so they could fish and ice fish. In the spring, the woman and children picked berries. They also planted crops such as corn, apples, potatoes, and squash. While the women and children went about their business, the men hunted. They hunted moose, deer, and black bear. They also hunted beaver and water birds. When they hunted moose, they called them by blowing through a horn that imitated a mating call.

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Algonquin also ate these animals.

Only women and children harvested crops.

ALGONQUIN CLOTHES The Algonquin tribe mixed bear fat and soot into their hair to make it look black and shiny. They believed that nice looking shoes showed respect for the earth, while bad shoe condition protected children from evil spirits. Men wore only breech cloth in the summer, and wore leather robes in the winter. Women wore wrap-around dresses. Children wore nothing in the summer until they were ten, and robes in the winter. Everyone wore moccasins. They made their clothes out of animal skins and sewed them with thread made of tough animal flesh.

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This an Algonquin boy in the summer. Note the breech cloth he is wearing.

ALGONQUIN TRAVEL

The Algonquin traveled in many different ways. They traveled by snow shoe and toboggan during winter, and built canoes to travel the water ways with during the summer. They made these canoes by first making a frame, then putting inside - out birch bark on the frame. They used the canoes to fish as well. The toboggans carried their belongings while they walked ahead on snowshoes and pulled them behind them.

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This canoe is tied up by a waterfall.

Here are two Algonquians traveling by canoe.

GLOSSARYCanoe: A narrow boat that you move through the water by paddling.

Crop: A plant grown in large amounts, usually for food.

Moccasins: A soft leather shoe or slipper without a heel. Moccasins originally were worn by Native Americans.

Temperature: The degree of hot or cold in something, usually measured by a thermometer.

Wigwam: A hut made of poles and covered with bark or hides. Some American Indian tribes, chiefly in the eastern United States, once lived in wigwams.

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