Stone-age living

Life in an Indian village includes many activities that would be familiar to any camper today. Food preparation is a daily task. Hunting parties are less frequent, but sometimes range far from the village.

Stockade fences enclose most eastern villages for protection. Building the stockade is a major undertaking, but sometimes necessary. Felling trees without a woodsman's axe is both an art and a chore. 

Clothing is made almost entirely from animal skins. Indians know how to weave straw into mats on simple looms, but have no way to spin the fine yarn needed to weave fabric. Instead, they tan animal hides.
Indian life, 1600

  Harmony with Nature
Most tasks are performed in the open air, by a stream or in the woods, where natural food is abundant. But Indians also know how to grow their own food, and are skilled hunters with bow-and-arrow. Roomy homes are made of lashed saplings, covered with bark, which are often clustered inside a stockade fence for protection from intruders.

Indian dwellings

  Building Without Lumber
Indian dwellings in the eastern woodlands are simple and snug. Woven mats line the inside walls to block drafts, while the firepit in the center allows cooking in bad weather, and heating in cool seasons. Like western teepees, these huts have openings at the top to draw smoke up and out.


Indian hunting

  Hunting Wild Game
Hunting on open grasslands with only a bow-and-arrow requires skill and cunning. Until Indians are able to capture and tame horses that escape from the Spanish, bringing down a buffalo is a tricky business. Indian hunters sometimes cover their bodies in animal skins, to allow a closer approach.