Native American culture of the Southeast

Geographic and temporal setting: the Mississippian period

This region expanded from the Mississippi River, into the areas surrounding the Gulf of Mexico. Native Americans were the first to take advantage of such promising agricultural conditions

The main Native American groups in this area were known as the Five Civilized Tribes: Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles. Mississippian culture, developed from the beginnings of farming in Hopewellian culture, which dominated a few centuries before in the Northeast

Common food practices: corn farming

The Mississippian peoples were excellent farmers. Cherokee women planted and harvested crops, which included the “three sisters,” tobacco, and sunflowers. Their diets were full of acorns, nuts, seeds, and fruits. They had to burn and rebuild fields with each new season. This required immense amounts of time and labor but ultimately led to large crop yields

Even though they had great farming success, they continued to hunt and fish. They used bows and arrows to hunt deer, and fished in the rivers and the Gulf of Mexico for protein. In Florida, people developed complex fishing and trapping systems for clams, mussels, and saltwater fish

They also created intricate pottery and arrow points. They fashioned elaborate serving utensils and dished for food, as well as weaponry for hunting larger animals

Societal structure: urban centers

They continued mound-building traditions and extended them to the south and west. Mississippian mound societies were larger and more complex than previous communities, indicating unprecedented population growth and wealth

Cahokia, was home to an estimated 40,000 Cahokia people, after whom the city was named. It became the major urban trade center along the Mississippi River and remained the largest city ever recorded in North America until Philadelphia 500 years laters. Monk’s Mound, is the largest pre-contact earthwork in modern America, expanding 955 feet in length and 100 feet in height. The population declined sharply around 1250, due to environmental factors such as overhunting or deforestation

Poverty Point, another mount city, linked large trade networks throughout the Americas. The city provided a place to export stone and clay items on dugout canoes up the Mississippi River. Flint and soapstone came to the South from the Ohio River Valley. It is believed that this place also had religious significance, indicated by large plazas most liekyl used for worship

Most people lived in hamlets, or villages, which would form political units of under one thousand people. Seminoles, constructed villages out of chickees, building with thatched roofs and open sides

Social and religious norms: stratifying wealth

The agricultural boom of the Mississippian culture concentrated wealth at the top. The Creek people practiced slavery. The Southeast Native Americans were the first to organize villages around chiefdoms, in which families were ranked by social status and proximity to the chief himself

Chiefs lived in wooden structures atop large mounds, indicating their power. Societies usually had peace chiefs and wartime chiefs, with distinct purposes and leadership strengths

We know little about the religious practices of the Native Americans of this area. Yet we agree that agroups had a spiritual connection to the land and used the mounds for ceremonies worshipping natural features, including the sun, corn, and water, the elements which sustained them