Time and Culture

Organization of the Tribes

The Wampanoag, and other tribes, had a very interesting and traditional government that people would still use today. The Wampanoag had a system of government in which a sachem (the leader) would make the decisions but would listen to what the people, and the council of elders would have to say also. The grand sachem, also known as the Massasoit, (which is the leader of the whole tribe and everything that goes in and out of it) rules over other sachems that rule a specific subject such as trade. The little sachems also gave advice, spread the news around, and followed the orders of Massasoit. The Massasoit’s role was several things that include: responsibility for trade privileges, and protecting allies in exchange for material tribute. The Massasoit was also responsible for listening to the council of elder’s suggestions before making a big decision. They also had to listen to pneisog, which is the military leader of a tribe, so the Massasoit had to be a very smart person otherwise the council of elders would depose him or her. If the Massasoit had a son the son would inherit his or her job as the chief, but if the current Massasoit had no son they would give the position to their daughter. The Eskimos’ economic system was a traditional one. They made their own produce from farms and fields and when the settlers came they traded their surplus for other foods and goods. Overall the system of government that the Wampanoag and other tribes had was very complex and hard, but the Native Americans managed to pull it off.

 A Native American family was very different from the British. Native American woman’s marriage was arranged by a male family member. The men would move from their families to live near their wife’s families. The woman could divorce her husband and the man would only take his belongings. The woman would keep her children.  Even though that woman could divorce the man, he would be replaced. Men were relied on for hunting.  Women were responsible for gathering plants. The children learned skills from elders. Elders were very important and highly respected. Young girls also spent time with woman who taught them skills too. A family lived in a wetus with their extended family.  Native American families were very close. Some tribes were matrilineal. That meant that a child belonged to their mother’s tribe. Sometimes boys were not aloud to marry someone in their own tribe.
Compared to the British, the Native American women were more involved with the tribe and the families were very different.

Origin of the Tribes

Some of the tribes that originated in the northeast of what is now America were the Onondaga, Oneida, Seneca, Cayuga, Mohawk and the Tuscarora. The Onondaga were located in what is now New York, and a small reservation of them still live there (about 5 miles south of Syracuse). The Oneida have a 32 acre reservation south of the city Oneida in Madison County, New York. 5,400 members of the Seneca tribe are still living in Allegheny River valley in Western New York. Most of the members of the Cayuga now live near the Seneca tribe since they do not have a reservation. The Mohawk now have 650 housing units on their reservation. All of these tribes originated in what is now New York or around that area. Of course each tribe did have their own differences but one thing that they all had in common was how close they were to each other (in terms of their origin).

We do not really know for sure the origins of the Native Americans, but there are many theories.

Joseph Smith, founder of the Mormons, was one of the several. Quaker William Penn who believed that the Native Americans were Hebrews, descendants of the ten lost tribes of Israel.

Most scientists agree that the ancestors of the Native Americans came to North America from Asia. One of the many theories was that the Native Americans came to the New World on foot by walking across Beringia, which joins Alaska and eastern Siberia.

Many scholars say that the people who lived in America were the Egyptians; other scholars on the other hand, say the first people were the Greeks, the Etruscans, the Chinese Buddhists, the Hindus, the Japanese, even the Basques and the Irish, but they were wrong because many scientists and archaeologists have found evidence that tells a very different story, and of course there are the grandchildren of the old Native Americans that also tell their version and their theories. So in addition, I think the first people to live in America were the Native Americans and they came from Asia on foot and then settled in here.

Change Overtime

There isn’t a unified Native American Culture in the Northeast, infarct; every Native American tribe had their own culture. Does this mean that when a tribe conquers another tribe in war, the winning tribe enforces their culture on the other tribes? The answer is no. In the Northeast, Native Americans promote religious freedom, and don’t enforce their values on other tribes. The cultures of different Native American tribes change due to the influence of other cultures.
Most tribes in the northeast lived in a diet of “the three staples” which are corn, beans, and squash. Also, the tribes eat fish and game. Later on, Because of Spanish influence, Native Americans were able to learn how to use a horse. This greatly changed the Native American culture because with the power of the horse, Native Americans could track, and chase animals better. Native Americans could also hunt down larger game using the horse. The horse became so important to the Native Americans, that the horse became a measure of wealth. Spanish influence was one of the factors that shaped the culture of the Northeastern Native Americans. Although The Spanish didn’t have much influence on the Northeast due to the distance between the Spanish and the Northeast Native Americans, The Spanish was one of the cultures that had an influence on Native American Culture.
One of the cultures that helped create the Northeast Native American culture is The Hunter-Gatherer culture. The hunter-gatherers were mainly nomadic people who followed the migration patterns of their game. Their culture helped form the Northeast Native American culture because; the hunter-gatherer culture passed hunting skills to Native Americans. Although Native Americans are not nomadic, like hunter- gatherers, they still have to know how to hunt or else they will starve to death. Therefore, the early Native Americans needed to know how to hunt, and use weapons and tools in order to survive.
The Final Cultural influence, and the largest, is The Putriens from England. The Putriens forced The Native Americans to convert to Christianity, and those who didn’t were later wiped out or driven away by the British and American army. The Native Americans who converted to chrsitianity had to live in small towns. In these towns, the native American were introduced to a “gentleman’s life” in which they had to reform hunting, and get accustomed to living in a modern life. These Native Americana passed this life style into their culture. Also, the putriens made Native Americans outlaw some elements of their religion that they found offensive. In-short, the putriens were trying to convert all Native Americans to Christianity. They partially succeded because some costomes were put into Native American Culture.
Native American culture started out as a respect for the enviroemnt, however, it was modified by other culture to become the way is today.

Works Cited:
DeKeyser, Stacy. The Wampanoag. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
“Economy.” NativeWiki. 21 Oct. 2008 <http://www.nativewiki.org/‌Native_Americans_in_the_United_States#Economy>.
Riehecky, Janet. The Wampanoag The People of the First Light. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
Rosinsky, Natalie M. The Wampanoag and their History. N.p.: n.p., n.d.
“Wampanoag Culture.” NativeWiki. 20 Oct. 2008 <http://www.nativewiki.org/‌Wampanoag#Culture>.