Transcript Southeast_Indians

Indians of the Southeast
Their Area
• The southeast
is a land of
mountains,
rivers and
forests in the
northern area.
• The southeast is a land
of grasses and swamps
in the south.
• The climate is hot in the summer and mild in
the winter. There is a great deal of rainfall in
the southeast.
Their Homes
• The floor was
built up off the
ground in case
it was wet and
soggy and to
protect from
snakes.
• The Seminole people
used cypress trees to
build their chickees.
• The frame was made of
logs and the roof was
covered in palmetto
leaves or grasses.
• There were no walls
in chickees because
they weren't needed
in the warm southern
areas and breezes
could blow through.
• They used the council
house to hold meetings
and special ceremonies.
• Cherokee houses were
in the shape of a
square or rectangle.
Upright poles formed
the framework.
• The outside was
covered with bark,
wood or woven siding
coated with earth and
clay.
• A clan’s summer house was a large
rectangular structure.
• Some Cherokee
houses were like
upside-down
baskets. There
was a small,
cylindrical, winter
home called an
asi.
• Spanish moss grows on
the limbs of trees in the
warm south. Early settlers
used this plant to stuff
their mattresses.
Their Food
• The soil in the southeast was rich and fertile
and there was plenty of rain. The Natives
grew beans, squash, corn, sunflowers and
tobacco.
• They made corn mush and corn bread.
They dried corn so they would have
something to eat in the winter.
• Gourds were dried and used as drinking
cups and bowls. People also gathered nuts
and berries in the forest.
• Tobacco was used in
ceremonies and for
trade with the settlers.
• They did not eat the
tobacco. They smoked
the tobacco in pipes.
• They were very
skillful hunters. A
hunter could hit a
fly (if it was still)
from 30 thirty feet
away!
• They hunted
bear. The bear
was used for
meat and tools.
Sometimes they
used it for
trading.
• They also hunted deer and elk. They ate
the meat, used the skins, and made tools
from the antlers and bones.
• They hunted
turtles, too. They
made the shells
into rattles and ate
the rest of the
meat.
• They also hunted
rabbits and ate
them.
Their Clothing
• The southeast people
dressed in clothes made
from the skin of
animals. Deerskin was
most commonly used.
• In hot weather, men
wore breechcloths.
When it got colder,
especially in the
northern part of the
region, they added
deerskin shirts,
leggings, and
moccasins.
• Cherokee women wore
skirts woven from plants.
• Women wore dresses,
leggings and moccasins.
Sometimes the clothes
were beaded in beautiful
colors.
• The Indians wore their hair
in many different styles.
• While the women let their
hair grow long, the men
often wore their hair in
unusual and distinctive
ways.
• One of the most popular
styles was called a
scalplock.
• The men would paint their
skin and decorate it with
tattoos. The early European
explorers were amazed at
the complex tattoo designs
covering not only the men's
bodies but the women as
well.
• They used turtle and fish
bone needles and natural
dyes from plants.
Their Talents
• The southeastern Indian women made
beautiful pottery of clay. They used the pottery
for cooking, for storing grain, and for carrying
water.
• They also made
beautiful baskets from
small, thin strips of
oak.
• The Indians who lived near lakes or swamps
often collected reeds from which to weave
mats.
• They played lacrosse. Lacrosse is played with
a hard ball and long webbed sticks.
• When the game was over, many players had
cuts, bruises and even broken bones.
…and those are the
Indians of the Southeast