Pre-Contact, Contact, and Colonial Lifestyles of Indians of the Southeast - Coursework Example

Indians of the Southeast: A Critical Look at the Pre-Contact, Contact, and Colonial Lifestyles and Number Semester Date Research Paper Introduction This paper intends to provide an in-depth analysis on the lifestyle and culture of the Indians of the Southeast during the pre-contact, contact, and colonial eras. In this regard, the study will focus on the life ways, land-use patterns, customs, political and economic institutions, and leadership styles of the aforementioned group during the three periods. However, in order to maintain focus and clarity in the discussion, this paper will be divided into three parts. The first part will give a brief introduction on the Indians of the Southeast by focusing on, firstly, their purported geographical and environmental zones; secondly, their major socio-political organization; and lastly, their way of life and cultural patterns. The second part, on the other hand, will emphasize in a more detailed manner the history of the Indians of the Southeast by underscoring the critical events that characterized the pre-contact, contact, and colonialism eras. As for the pre-contact era, it will elucidate on the happenings during the periods of Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Early and Middle Woodland, and Late Woodland. As for the contact era, it will zero in on the events that transpired during the group’s encounter with the Spanish, French, and English conquerors. And as for the colonial era, it will highlight the important legislative and juridical interventions of the U.S. government as regards the resettlement of the Indians of the Southeast. Lastly, the third part will give much emphasis on some of the key defining features of the Indians of the Southeast by looking at their languages, subsistence, settlement patterns, socio-political organizations, and religion. Indians of the Southeast: Brief Overview The Indians of the Southeast who lived about 4000 years ago were considered members of the Woodland Indians. Some of its known groups include the Cherokee which was considered the largest Native American Tribe; the Seminole that settled primarily in Florida; and the Chickasaw. As regards the geographical boundaries surrounding their settlements, the states of Missouri, Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, and the two Virginias are regarded as its northern limits; Louisiana as its western boundary; The Atlantic Ocean as its eastern boundary; and Florida as its southern boundary. The Indians of the Southwest were mostly farmers, hunters and gatherers who stayed in the same area with their clans. They had complex socio-political organization as evidenced by various chiefdoms and large sedentary populations—estimated to run as high as 1,250,000 persons 500 years ago (Smith 1). They lived in homes like wagwams that were made from logs and sticks, then covered with grass. They ate cornpones, corn bread, hominy grits, tomatoes, potatoes and sweet potatoes. They also had more possum, bear, and other available meats except pork. The Indians of the Southeast were known to be artistic and clever people enjoyed producing colorful art using natural dyes, making basket from natural fibers to store food and other goods, and using shells to make sharp knives. Apart from these activities, the Indians of the Southwest were also known to be great storytellers and were highly knowledgeable about herbs and natural medicines. Religious beliefs also influenced the daily lives of the Indians of the Southeast in a sense that it provided certain guides on how one must behave within the tribal group. In a sense, religion helped maintain peace among mini-tribal groups and familial clans. In the succeeding parts of this paper, emphasis will be placed on investigating the history of the Indians of the Southeast in a more detailed manner, while at the same time review the main distinctions or characteristics that ultimately define their way of life. History of the Indians of the Southeast As stated previously, this part shall analyze, in great detail, the history of the group during the pre-contact, contact, and colonial eras. Some of the monumental events will therefore be underscored in order to appreciate the story of the Indians of the Southeast—specifically, the factors that had influenced them into becoming the kind of tribal group that they once were. Pre-Contact Era There are known periods within this era which include Paleo-Indian, Archaic, Early and Middle Woodland, and Late Woodland. Each period shall be discussed for better appreciation of the group’s history. Firstly, the Paleo-Indian Period which was estimated to be 10,000 years ago, happened when “humans appeared in the Southeastern culture area during the closing millennia of the Pleistocene when the region was clothed in parklands of mixed forests and grassy prairies and harbored a richer variety and greater density of animals” (Smith 1). As regards the land animals that were present during this period, mast odons, giant ground sloths, deer, South American capybaras (the worlds largest rodent) and giant armadillos were common. Secondly, the Archaic Period which dated 10,000 to 3,000 years ago happened when people in particularly abundant areas of the Southeast started living in relatively large villages and utilized a variety of food sources like land mammals, fish, shellfish, and other species of plants like the hickory nuts (Smith 1). Furthermore, “Between about 8,000 and 6,000 years ago, people in some regions of the Southeast began to narrow their subsistence base, concentrating on the use of river-based resources, while about 7,500 years ago somewhat stable settlements developed in the western inland-plateau portion of the region” (Smith 1). Thirdly, the Early and Middle Woodland Period that transpired 3,000 to 1,000 years ago was marked by three important innovations, which include the pottery manufacture, deliberate cultivation of native plants, and interment under funerary mounds (Smith 1). After this, agricultural technology become more popular in the southeast and was quickly incorporated along with gardening, gathering, fishing, shellfish collecting, and hunting. In this regard, this period allowed the people in the southeast to “experiment with the cultivation and domestication of native plants, including gourds, sunflowers, sumpweed, amaranth” (Smith1). It is commonly believed that the two most essential socio-cultural traditions that emerged during the Middle Woodland Period were the Adena and the Hopewell. These were dozens of Early Woodland societies that became close with each other and interacted continuously by sharing and participating in ceremonial complexities (Smith 1). It can be pointed out, moreover, Hopewell stood out as the more notable cultural phenomenon due to its ostentatious burial practices and its complex exchange of networks that traded raw materials and artifacts all over North America. As further described by Smith, "in some regions, especially in Ohio, Hopewell earthworks assumed enormous proportions, sometimes clusters of mounds and earthen enclosures that covered many acres” (1). Lastly, the Late Woodland Period that occurred about 1,000 to 500 years ago was marked by the “widespread cultivation of maize and beans that fostered the Mississippian tradition with its higher population densities, larger food surpluses, enormous earthen platform mounds, more complex socio-political organization, and the emergence of numerous powerful chiefdoms throughout the Southeast” (Smith 1). Contact Era The earliest Europeans who had the first encounter with the Indians of the Southeast were the Spaniards. Specifically, they were Juan Ponce de León who landed in southern Florida in 1513, and Hernando de Soto who arrived in 1539 with a small army and “moved from town to town demanding tribute and women, destroying the economic base of many groups, fighting battles, and inadvertently spreading famine and disease across the Southeast” (Smith 1). In this light, it can be said that the increase in the number of Spanish expeditions that landed in the Southeast areas resulted in the destruction of man y tribal groups. Aside from the Spaniards, the French also launched an exploration in the Mississippi River in 1673 only to find out that most of the native cultures residing in the area had already been impacted by diseases. However, the French was able to encounter the Natchez—a surviving Missisippian culture. Following the Spaniards and the French were the English who began to encroach into the Southeast in the late 1600s. By the early 1700s, “they controlled most of the Southeast, had developed an extensive trade in Indian slaves, and English colonists were flooding into the region, warring on the Indians and usurping their land and resources” (Smith 1). Colonial Era The U.S. gained control of the Southeastern region by 1783, and as more colonists encroached into the areas, tensions escalated and wars were formed. Such happenings led to the passing of the Indian Removal Ac which claimed that “all Indians living in the Southeast were to be removed to the newly created Indian Territory (which would become, at the beginning of the 20th century, the state of Oklahoma)” (Smith 1). In this regard, the first group that was resettled were the Choctaws (1830), followed by the Creeks (1837), the Chickasaw (1837) and the Cherokee (1838). Each of the removals was done by the armed U.S. federal troops (except for the Chickasaw) and was called the Trail of Tears. Essential Characteristics of the Indians of the Southeast At this point, a more critical look at the defining features of the Indians of the Southeast will be done by highlighting the following their languages, subsistence, settlement patterns, socio-political organizations, and religion. 1. Language There were four major languages used by the Indians of Southeast: Muskogean, Southern Iroquoian, Siouan, and Caddoan. Muskogean was considered to be the largest and most widespread among the four families, and it was spoken by the Creeks, Choctaw, Seminole, and the Chickasaw (Smith1). 2. Subsistence Agriculture was the main source of living. Maize, beans, and squash were grown as primary agricultural crops through a method called shifting cultivation or slash-and-burn (Smith 1). As further stated, “using axes, knives, and other hand tools, the vegetation was cut, allowed to dry, then set on fire (a quick and efficient way to return nutrients to the soil)” (Smith 1). In this regard, the Indians of the Southeast cultivated a piece of land for several years and once its fertility declined, they move on to a new area. The abandoned piece of land was left for a long time until it gradually recovered its ability to produce adequate harvest after which it was planted again. As such, as further pointed out, “agricultural plots were intercropped, that is, maize was planted along with beans and squash so that the beans could fix nitrogen into the soil, the maize stalks provided supports for the growing beans, and the squahs plants spread out over the soil and helped it retain its moisture” (Smith 1). Moreover, agricultural labor was mostly handled by women, alongside the gathering of wild plants and other materials. Some of the most essential plant food included nuts, grapes, persimmons, berries, roots, seeds, fruits, and vegetables (Smith 1). Aside from agriculture, hunting was also a crucial source of food and materials for the Indians of the Southeast, as deer became the primary animal that provided meat, skins, hooves, and bones. Bears, opossums, squirrels, rabbits, turkeys, waterfowl, insects, crabs, crawfish, shellfish, and fish by men or groups of men. 3. Settlement Patterns Most of the Indians of the Southeast settled in one permanent town. Since most of the people stayed in one town, they developed specific ways to enhance their everyday living, thus they developed streets, private and public areas, and moats for security (Smith 1). The houses of the Indians of the Southeast were mostly thatched-roofed and its walls were plastered with mud to make them sturdy. Matrilineal extended family usually resided in the houses, and the families of the same matrilineal background lived next to each other. 4. Political Organization As stated earlier, the Indians of the Southeast had flourishing and complex chiefdoms that varied in size and influence. In this regard, the people were usually ruled by an elite group who were believed to be rewarded with semi-divine or divine status. Their influence on religious beliefs and rituals guided the general lifestyle of the people. Southeast towns were usually inter-dependent. Each of the matrilineal extended household had a leader, and each town had a council that was composed of the most powerful household leaders (Smith 1). Thus, political power was controlled by the elite which were often wealthy families and clans. Moreover, the power within the town was divided as White Council or Red Council. White Council was composed of experienced men of over 50 years who stood as shamans and conducted governmental roles. Red Council, on the other hand, was composed of young men who were yet to prove themselves. 5. Social Organization Majority of the Indians of the Southeast counted their descent through the women. They treated kinship as the most important element that tied the society together as it defined who the people and how they ought to be treated (Smith 1). Obviously, the matrilineal extended family was deemed to be the primary social unity. 6. Religion Indians of the Southeast believed that the earth they called ‘This World’ was a large, flat island floating on an ocean, and the sky was a large vault of rock that rose and fell to allow the passage of the sun and the moon. The ‘Upper World’ existed above the sky vault while the ‘Under World’ was located below the world. The Sun was deemed to be a major god and was the source of light and life to the people. Depending on the society, the sun could either be female or male. On the other hand, the moon was also deemed a god and was related to rain and fertility. It can be said that the primary goal of religious belief and custom was the maintenance of purity and harmony in the group. This was symbolized by an eternal sacred fire that burned in a temple. Conclusion In conclusion, it can be said that the extensive economic, socio-political, cultural, and religious customs of the Indians of the Southeast could be regarded as a proof on how elaborate and rich their way of life once was. Work Cited Smith, Chuck. Southeast Culture Area. Cabrillo.edu, 2000. Web. 28 Mar 2013. Read More