Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern cultures, or Southeast Indians are an

ethnographic Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

classification for Native Americans who have traditionally inhabited the area now part of the

Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also known as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical List of regions in the United States, region of the United States located in the eastern portion of the Southern United States and t ...

and the northeastern border of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

, that share common

cultural Culture ( ) is a concept that encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and Social norm, norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, Social norm, customs, capabilities, Attitude (psychology), attitudes ...

traits. This classification is a part of the

Eastern Woodlands The Eastern Woodlands is a cultural region of the Indigenous people of North America. The Eastern Woodlands extended roughly from the Atlantic Ocean to the eastern Great Plains, and from the Great Lakes region to the Gulf of Mexico, which is now ...

. The concept of a southeastern cultural region was developed by anthropologists, beginning with Otis Mason and

Franz Boas Franz Uri Boas (July 9, 1858 – December 21, 1942) was a German-American anthropologist and ethnomusicologist. He was a pioneer of modern anthropology who has been called the "Father of American Anthropology". His work is associated with the mov ...

in 1887. The boundaries of the region are defined more by shared cultural traits than by geographic distinctions.Jackson and Fogelson 3 Because the cultures gradually instead of abruptly shift into Plains, Prairie, or Northeastern Woodlands cultures, scholars do not always agree on the exact limits of the Southeastern Woodland culture region.

Shawnee The Shawnee ( ) are a Native American people of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their language, Shawnee, is an Algonquian language. Their precontact homeland was likely centered in southern Ohio. In the 17th century, they dispersed through Ohi ...

Powhatan Powhatan people () are Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands who belong to member tribes of the Powhatan Confederacy, or Tsenacommacah. They are Algonquian peoples whose historic territories were in eastern Virginia. Their Powh ...

Waco Waco ( ) is a city in and the county seat of McLennan County, Texas, United States. It is situated along the Brazos River and I-35, halfway between Dallas and Austin. The city had a U.S. census estimated 2024 population of 146,608, making i ...

Tawakoni The Tawakoni (also Tahuacano and Tehuacana) are a Southern Plains Native American tribe, closely related to the Wichitas. They historically spoke a Wichita language of the Caddoan language family. Currently, they are enrolled in the Wichita ...

Tonkawa The Tonkawa are a Native American tribe from Oklahoma and Texas. Their Tonkawa language, now extinct language, extinct, is a linguistic isolate. Today, Tonkawa people are enrolled in the Federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Tonkawa ...

Karankawa The Karankawa were an Indigenous people concentrated in southern Texas along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, largely in the lower Colorado River and Brazos River valleys."Karankawa." In ''Cassell's Peoples, Nations and Cultures,'' edited by Joh ...

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

, and

Mosopelea The Mosopelea or Ofo (also Ofogoula) were a Siouan-speaking Native American people who historically lived near the upper Ohio River. In reaction to Iroquois Confederacy invasions to take control of hunting grounds in the late 17th century, they ...

are usually seen as marginally southeastern and their traditional lands represent the borders of the cultural region. The area was linguistically diverse, major language groups were

Caddoan The Caddoan languages are a family of languages native to the Great Plains spoken by tribal groups of the central United States, from present-day North Dakota south to Oklahoma. All Caddoan languages are critically endangered, as the number of sp ...

and

Muskogean Muskogean ( ; also Muskhogean) is a language family spoken in the Southeastern United States. Members of the family are Indigenous Languages of the Americas. Typologically, Muskogean languages are highly synthetic and agglutinative. One docume ...

, besides a number of

language isolate A language isolate is a language that has no demonstrable genetic relationship with any other languages. Basque in Europe, Ainu and Burushaski in Asia, Sandawe in Africa, Haida and Zuni in North America, Kanoê in South America, and Tiwi ...

List of peoples

Acolapissa The Acolapissa were a small tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of North America. They lived along the banks of the Pearl River, between present-day Louisiana and Mississippi. They are believed to have spoken a Muskogean lang ...

(Colapissa), Louisiana and MississippiSturtevant and Fogelson, 69 * Ais, eastern coastal FloridaSturtevant and Fogelson, 205 *

Alafay Pohoy was a chiefdom on the shores of Tampa Bay in present-day Florida in the late sixteenth century and all of the seventeenth century. Following slave-taking raids by people from the Lower Towns of the Muscogee Confederacy (called ''Uchise'' by t ...

(Alafia, Pojoy, Pohoy, Costas Alafeyes, Alafaya Costas), FloridaSturtevant and Fogelson, 214 * Amacano, Florida west coast *

Apalachee The Apalachee were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, specifically an Indigenous people of Florida, who lived in the Florida Panhandle until the early 18th century. They lived between the Aucilla River and Ochlockonee River,Bobby ...

, northwestern Florida *

Atakapa The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct b ...

(Attacapa), Louisiana west coast and Texas southeastern coast **

Akokisa The Akokisa (also known as the Accokesaws, Arkokisa, or Orcoquiza) were an Indigenous tribe who lived on Galveston Bay and the lower Trinity and Sabine rivers in Texas, primarily in the present-day Greater Houston area. They were a band of the At ...

, Texas southeast coast **

Bidai The Bidai, who referred to themselves as the Quasmigdo, were a tribe of American Indians from eastern Texas.Sturtevant, 659John Reed Swanton''The Indians of the Southeastern United States'' page 96. The name ''Bidai'' is Caddo language term for ...

, Texas southeast coast **

Deadose The Deadose were a Native American tribe in present-day Texas closely associated with the Jumano, Yojuane, Bidai and other groups living in the Rancheria Grande of the Brazos River in eastern Texas in the early 18th century. Like other groups ...

, eastern Texas **

Eastern Atakapa The Atakapa Sturtevant, 659 or Atacapa were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who spoke the Atakapa language and historically lived along the Gulf of Mexico in what is now Texas and Louisiana. They included several distinct ba ...

, western coastal Louisiana ** Orcoquiza, southeast Texas ** Patiri, eastern Texas ** Tlacopsel, southeast Texas *

Avoyel The Avoyel or Avoyelles were a small Native American tribe who at the time of European contact inhabited land near the mouth of the Red River at its confluence with the Atchafalaya River near present-day Marksville, Louisiana. Today, the Avoye ...

("little Natchez"), LouisianaSturtevant and Fogelson, 81-82 *

Bayogoula The Bayogoula (also known as the Bayagoula, Bayagola, or Bayugla) were a Native American tribe from Louisiana in the southern United States. John Reed Swanton translated the name to mean "bayou people" and wrote that they lived near Bayou Go ...

, southeastern Louisiana *

Biloxi Biloxi ( ; ) is a city in Harrison County, Mississippi, United States. It lies on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast in southern Mississippi, bordering the city of Gulfport, Mississippi, Gulfport to its west. The adjacent cities ar ...

, Mississippi *

Chacato The Chacatos were a Native American people who lived in the upper Apalachicola River and Chipola River basins in what is now Florida in the 17th century. The Spanish established two missions in Chacato villages in 1674. As a result of attempt ...

(Chatot, Chactoo), west Florida *

Caddo Confederacy The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

, Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma, TexasSturtevant, 617 ** Adai (Adaizan, Adaizi, Adaise, Adahi, Adaes, Adees, Atayos), Louisiana and Texas ** Cahinnio, southern Arkansas ** Doustioni, north central Louisiana **

Eyeish The Eyeish were a Native American tribe from present-day eastern Texas. History The Eyeish were part of the Caddo Confederacy,Sturtevant, 616 although their relationship to other Caddo tribes was ambiguous, and they were often hostile to the Has ...

(Hais), eastern Texas **

Hainai The Hainai (Caddo: Háynay) were a Native American tribe that lived in what is now east Texas. Nomenclature The Hainai are also sometimes called Ainais, Aes, Ainay, Ais, Aix, Aynais, Aynays, Ays, Ayses, Ioni, Huawni, or Ayonai. History The ...

, eastern Texas **

Hasinai The Hasinai Confederacy (Caddo: ) was a large confederation of Caddo-speaking Native Americans who occupied territory between the Sabine and Trinity rivers in eastern Texas. Today, their descendants are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma an ...

, eastern Texas **

Kadohadacho The Kadohadacho (Caddo: Kadawdáachuh) are a Native American tribe within the Caddo Confederacy. Today they are enrolled in the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma. History The Kadohadacho traditionally lived at the borders of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and ...

, northeastern Texas, southwestern Arkansas, northwestern Louisiana ** Nabedache, eastern Texas ** Nabiti, eastern Texas **

Nacogdoche The Nacogdoche (Caddo: Nakúʔkidáawtsiʔ) are a Native American tribe from eastern Texas.Sturtevant, 617 History The Nacogdoche were part of the Hasinai branch of the Caddo Confederacy and closely allied with the Lower Nasoni. They historica ...

, eastern Texas ** Nacono, eastern Texas **

Nadaco The Nadaco, also commonly known as the Anduico, are a Native American tribe from eastern Texas. Their name, Nadá-kuh, means "bumblebee place."Sturtevant, 630 History The Nadaco were part of the Hasinai branch of the Caddo Confederacy and occupie ...

, eastern Texas **

Nanatsoho The Nanatsoho were a Native American tribe that lived at the border of Arkansas, Oklahoma, and Texas.Sturtevant, 617 History The Nanatsoho were part of the Kadohadacho branch of the Caddo Confederacy. During the late 17th and early 18th centur ...

, northeastern Texas **

Nasoni The Nasoni are a Native American tribe from eastern Texas and southwestern Arkansas. History The Nasoni were divided into two bands. The Upper Nasoni, who lived along the Red River in the southwestern corner of Arkansas.Natchitoches, Lower: central Louisiana, Upper: northeastern Texas ** Neche, eastern Texas **

Nechaui The Nechaui were a Native American tribe from eastern Texas. Their name is thought to be derived from Nachawi, the Caddo language word for Osage orange.

, eastern Texas ** Ouachita, northern Louisiana ** Tula, western Arkansas **

Yatasi The Yatasi ( Caddo: Yáttasih) were Native American peoples from northwestern Louisiana that were part of the Natchitoches Confederacy of the Caddo Nation.HodgeHandbook of American Indians North of Mexico: N-Z p. 993 Today they are enrolled in t ...

, northwestern Louisiana *

Calusa The Calusa ( , Calusa: *ka(ra)luś(i)) were a Native American people of Florida's southwest coast. Calusa society developed from that of archaic peoples of the Everglades region. Previous Indigenous cultures had lived in the area for thousands o ...

, southwestern Florida * Cape Fear Indians, North Carolina southern coast * Catawba (Esaw, Usheree, Ushery, Yssa),Folgelson, ed. (2004), p. 315 North Carolina, South Carolina *

Chakchiuma The Chakchiuma were a Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe of the upper Yazoo River region of what is today the state of Mississippi. In the late 17th century, French explorers identified the Chakchiuma as "a Chickasaw, ...

, Alabama and Mississippi *

Chawasha The Chaouacha (or Chawasha) were an Indigenous people of Louisiana. They were likely related to the Chitimacha. The French massacred many of them in retaliation for the Natchez revolt against French colonists in which they had had no part. Hi ...

(Washa), Louisiana *

Cheraw The Cheraw people, also known as the Saraw or Saura,Sebeok, Thomas Albert''Native Languages of the Americas, Volume 2.''Plenum Press, 1977: 251. were a Siouan-speaking tribe of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands,Swanton''The Indians ...

(Chara, Charàh), North Carolina *

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

, western North Carolina, eastern Tennessee, later Georgia, northwestern South Carolina, northern Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, Mexico, and currently North Carolina and OklahomaFrank, Andrew K
Indian Removal.
''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture''. Retrieved 10 July 2009. :* Chickamauga, eastern Tennessee * Chickanee (Chiquini), North Carolina *

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

, Alabama and Mississippi, now Oklahoma *

Chicora Chicora was a legendary Native American kingdom or tribe sought during the 16th century by various European explorers in present-day South Carolina. The legend originated after Spanish slave traders captured an Indian they called Francisco de ...

, coastal South Carolina *

Chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Is ...

, Florida *

Chisca The Chisca were a tribe of Native Americans living in present-day eastern Tennessee and southwestern Virginia in the 16th century. Their descendants, the Yuchi lived in present-day Alabama, Georgia, and Florida in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th ...

(Cisca), southwestern Virginia, northern Florida *

Chitimacha The Chitimacha ( ; or ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands in Louisiana. They are a federally recognized tribe, the Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana. The Chitimacha have an Indian reservation in St. Mary Parish near Charento ...

, Louisiana *

Choctaw The Choctaw ( ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States, originally based in what is now Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. The Choctaw language is a Western Muskogean language. Today, Choct ...

, Mississippi, Alabama, and parts of Louisiana; later Oklahoma * Chowanoc (

Chowanoke The Chowanoc, also Chowanoke, are an Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe who historically lived near the Chowan River in North Carolina. At the time of the first English contact in 1580s, they were a large and influential tribe and rema ...

), North Carolina * Congaree (Canggaree), South CarolinaSturtevant and Fogelson, 188 *

Coree The Coree were a very small Native American tribe, who once occupied a coastal area south of the Neuse River in southeastern North Carolina in the area now covered by Carteret and Craven counties. Early 20th-century scholars were unsure of w ...

, North Carolina *

Croatan The Croatan were a small Native Americans in the United States, Native American ethnic group living in the coastal areas of what is now North Carolina. They might have been a branch of the larger Roanoke (tribe), Roanoke people or allied with t ...

, North Carolina *

Cusabo The Cusabo were a group of American Indian tribes who lived along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean in what is now South Carolina, approximately between present-day Charleston and south to the Savannah River, at the time of European colonization. ...

coastal South Carolina * Eno, North Carolina * Etiwan, South Carolina * Grigra (Gris), MississippiSturtevant and Fogelson, 598-9 * Guacata (Santalûces), eastern coastal Florida * Guacozo, Florida *

Guale Guale was a historic Native American chiefdom of Mississippian culture peoples located along the coast of present-day Georgia and the Sea Islands. Spanish Florida established its Roman Catholic missionary system in the chiefdom in the late 16th ...

(Cusabo, Iguaja, Ybaja), coastal Georgia * Guazoco, southwestern Florida coast * Houma, Louisiana and Mississippi *

Jaega The Jaega (also Jega, Xega, Geiga) were Native Americans living in a chiefdom of the same name, which included the coastal parts of present-day Martin County and northern Palm Beach County, Florida, at the time of initial European contact, and ...

(Jobe), eastern coastal Florida * Jaupin (Weapemoc), North Carolina *

Jororo Mayaca was the name used by the Spanish to refer to a Native American tribe in central Florida, to the principal village of that tribe and to the chief of that village in the 1560s. The Mayacas occupied an area in the upper St. Johns River valley ...

, Florida interior * Keyauwee, North Carolina *

Koasati The Coushatta () are a Muskogean-speaking Native American people now living primarily in the U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, their Coushatta homelands where in present-day Tennessee ...

(

Coushatta The Coushatta () are a Muskogean-speaking Native Americans in the United States, Native American people now living primarily in the United States, U.S. states of Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. When the Coushatta first encountered Europeans, the ...

), formerly eastern Tennessee, currently Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas *

Koroa The Koroa were one of the groups of Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands who lived in the Mississippi Valley before French colonization. The Koroa lived in the Yazoo River basin in present-day northwest Mississippi. Language The Kor ...

, Mississippi *

Luca Luca or LUCA may refer to: People * Luca (masculine given name), including a list of people * Luca (feminine given name), including a list of people * Luca (surname), including a list of people Places * The ancient name of Lucca, an Etruscan ...

, southwestern Florida coast *

Lumbee The Lumbee, also known as People of the Dark Water, are a mixed-race community primarily located in Robeson County, North Carolina, which claims to be descended from myriad Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands who once inhabited th ...

, North Carolina *

Machapunga The Machapunga were a small Algonquian language–speaking Native American tribe from coastal northeastern North Carolina.Swanton, ''The Indian Tribes of North America'', 81. They were part of the Secotan people. They were a group from the Pow ...

, North Carolina * Matecumbe (Matacumbêses, Matacumbe, Matacombe), Florida Keys *

Mayaca ''Mayaca'' is a genus of flowering plants, often placed in its own family, the Mayacaceae (or Mayaceae in earlier systems). In the APG II system of 2003, it is assigned to the order Poales in the clade commelinids. The Cronquist system, of 1981, ...

, Florida *

Mayaimi The Mayaimi (also Maymi, Maimi) were Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who lived around Lake Mayaimi (now Lake Okeechobee) in the Belle Glade culture, Belle Glade area of Florida from the beginning of the Common Era u ...

(Mayami), interior Florida * Mayajuaca, Florida *

Mikasuki The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians ( /ˌmɪkəˈsuki/, MIH-kə-SOO-kee) is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, it is one of ...

(Miccosukee), Florida * Mobila (Mobile, Movila), northwestern Florida and southern Alabama * Mocoso, western Florida *

Mougoulacha The Mougoulacha were a Native American tribe that lived near Lake Pontchartrain in Louisiana. Some sources indicate that the Mougoulacha may have been the same tribe as the Quinipissa, Acolapissa, and the Tangipahoa. John Reed Swanton suggests t ...

, Mississippi *

Muscogee The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands Here they waged war again ...

, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida, later Oklahoma **

Abihka Abihka was one of the four mother towns of the Muscogee Creek confederacy. Its precise location is presently unknown. History Origins The Abihka were the remnants of the 16th century " Chiefdom of Coosa." The bulk of the Natchez people settled w ...

, Alabama,Sturtevant and Fogelson, 374 later Oklahoma **

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, formerly Alabama, southwestern Tennessee, and northwestern Mississippi,Sturtevant and Fogelson, ix now Oklahoma and Texas ***

Pakana The Taskigi Mound or Mound at Fort Toulouse – Fort Jackson Park (Smithsonian trinomial, 1EE1) is an archaeological site from the South Appalachian Mississippian culture, South Appalachian Mississippian ''Big Eddy phase''. It is located on a bl ...

(Pacâni, Pagna, Pasquenan, Pak-ká-na, Pacanas), central Alabama, later Texas **

Apalachicola Province Apalachicola Province was a group or association of towns located along the lower part of the Chattahoochee River in present-day Alabama and Georgia. The Spanish so called it because they perceived it as a political entity under the leadership of ...

, (Lower Towns of the Muscogee (Creek) Confederacy), Alabama and Georgia *** Apalachicola (town), Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina ***

Hitchiti Hitchiti ( ) was a tribal town in what is now the Southeast United States. It was one of several towns whose people spoke the Hitchiti language. It was first known as part of the Apalachicola Province, an association of tribal towns along the ...

, Alabama and Georgia *** Oconee, Alabama and Georgia ***

Sabacola Sabacola (or Sawokli) was a Native American tribal town in what is now the Southeastern United States of America during the 17th, 18th, and early 19th centuries. Usually regarded as belonging to Apalachicola Province, Sabacola had poorly understoo ...

(Sawakola, Sabacôla, Savacola, Sawokli), Alabama and Georgia **

Chiaha Chiaha was a Native American chiefdom located in the lower French Broad River valley in modern East Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. They lived in raised structures within boundaries of several stable villages. These overlooked the ...

, Creek Confederacy, Alabama ** Eufaula tribe, Georgia, later Oklahoma **

Kialegee Tribal Town The Kialegee Tribal Town is a federally recognized Native American tribe in Oklahoma, as well as a traditional township within the former Muscogee Creek Confederacy in the American Southeast. Tribal members pride themselves on retaining their t ...

, Alabama, later Oklahoma ** Osochee ( Osochi, Oswichee, Usachi, Oosécha), Creek Confederacy, Alabama ** Talapoosa, Creek Confederacy, Alabama **

Thlopthlocco Tribal Town Thlopthlocco Tribal Town is both a federally recognized Native American tribe and a traditional township of Muscogee Creek Indians, based in Oklahoma. The tribe's native language is Mvskoke, also called Creek. Pronunciation The sound of the � ...

, Alabama, Georgia, later Oklahoma **

Tukabatchee Tukabatchee or Tuckabutche ( Creek: ''Tokepahce'') is one of the four mother towns of the Muscogee Creek confederacy.Isham, Theodore and Blue Clark"Creek (Mvskoke)." ''Oklahoma Historical Society's Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture.'' ...

, Muscogee Creek Confederacy, Alabama * Naniaba, northwestern Florida and southern Alabama * Natchez, Louisiana and Mississippi later Oklahoma * Neusiok (Newasiwac, Neuse River Indians), North Carolina * Norwood culture, Apalachee region, Florida, c. 12,000 BCE — 4500 BCE * Ofo (

), Arkansas and Mississippi, eastern Tennessee * Okchai (Ogchay), central Alabama * Okelousa, Louisiana * Opelousas, Louisiana * Pacara people, Florida *

Pamlico The Pamlico (also ''Pampticough'', ''Pomouik'', ''Pomeiok'') were Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans of North Carolina. They spoke an Algonquian languages, Algonquian language also known as ''Pamlico'' or Carolina Algonquia ...

, formerly North Carolina *

Pascagoula The Pascagoula (also Pascoboula, Pacha-Ogoula, Pascagola, Pascaboula, Paskaguna) were an indigenous group living in coastal Mississippi on the Pascagoula River. The name ''Pascagoula'' is a Choctaw term meaning "bread eater". Choctaw native Am ...

, Mississippi coast *

Pee Dee The Pee Dee is a region in the northeast corner of the U.S. state of South Carolina. It lies along the lower watershed of the Pee Dee River, which was named after the Pee Dee, an Indigenous tribe historically inhabiting the region. History The ...

(Pedee), South CarolinaSturtevant and Fogelson, 302 and North Carolina *

Pensacola Pensacola ( ) is a city in the Florida panhandle in the United States. It is the county seat and only city in Escambia County. The population was 54,312 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Pensacola metropolitan area, which ha ...

, Florida panhandle and southern Alabama * Potoskeet, North Carolina *

Quinipissa The Quinipissa (sometimes spelled Kinipissa in French sources) were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands who were living on the lower Mississippi River, in present-day Louisiana, as reported by René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Sa ...

, southeastern Louisiana and Mississippi * Roanoke, North Carolina * Saluda (Saludee, Saruti), South Carolina * Santee (Seretee, Sarati, Sati, Sattees), South Carolina (no relation to Santee Sioux), South Carolina * Santa Luces, Florida *

Saponi The Saponi are a Native American tribe historically based in the Piedmont of North Carolina and Virginia.Raymond D. DeMaillie, "Tutelo and Neighboring Groups," pages 286–87. They spoke a Siouan language, related to the languages of the Tutel ...

, North Carolina, VirginiaSturtevant and Fogelson 293 * Saura, North Carolina * Saxapahaw (Sissipahua, Shacioes), North Carolina *

Secotan The Secotans were one of several groups of Native Americans dominant in the Carolina sound region, between 1584 and 1590, with which English colonists had varying degrees of contact. Secotan villages included the Secotan, Aquascogoc, Dasamon ...

, North Carolina *

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, ...

, Florida and Oklahoma *

Sewee The Sewee or "Islanders" were a Native American tribe that lived in present-day South Carolina in North America. Their territory was on the lower course of the Santee River and the coast westward to the divide of Ashley River, around present- ...

(Suye, Joye, Xoye, Soya), South Carolina coast * Shakori, North Carolina * Shoccoree (Haw), North Carolina, possibly Virginia * Sissipahaw, North Carolina * Sugeree (Sagarees, Sugaws, Sugar, Succa), North Carolina and South Carolina *

Surruque The Surruque people lived along the middle Atlantic coast of Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. They may have spoken a dialect of the Timucua language, but were allied with the Ais. The Surruque became clients of the Spanish government ...

, east central Florida * Suteree (Sitteree, Sutarees, Sataree), North Carolina *

Taensa The Taensa (also Taënsas, Tensas, Tensaw, and ''Grands Taensas'' in French) were a Native American people whose settlements at the time of European contact in the late 17th century were located in present-day Tensas Parish, Louisiana. The mean ...

, Mississippi * Tawasa, Alabama *

Tequesta The Tequesta, also Tekesta, Tegesta, Chequesta, Vizcaynos, were a Native American tribe on the Southeastern Atlantic coast of Florida. They had infrequent contact with Europeans and had largely migrated by the middle of the 18th century. Loca ...

, southeastern coastal Florida *

Timucua The Timucua were a Native American people who lived in Northeast and North Central Florida and southeast Georgia. They were the largest indigenous group in that area and consisted of about 35 chiefdoms, many leading thousands of people. The va ...

, Florida and Georgia **

Acuera Acuera (Timucua: ''Acuero''?, "Timekeeper") was the name of both an indigenous town and a province or region in central Florida during the 16th and 17th centuries. The indigenous people of Acuera spoke a dialect of the Timucua language. In 1539 th ...

, central FloridaHann 1996, 5-13 **

Agua Fresca ''Aguas frescas'' () or ''frescos'' or ''aguas'', are light non-alcoholic beverages made from one or more fruits, cereals, flowers, or seeds blended with sugar and water. They are popular in many Latin American countries, as well as parts ...

(or Agua Dulce or Freshwater), interior northeast Florida **

Arapaha Arapaha (also Arapaja or Harapaha) was a Timucua town on the Alapaha River in the 17th century. The name was also sometimes used to designate a province or sub-province in Spanish Florida. Arapaha entered historical records with the establishmen ...

, north central Florida and south central Georgia? **

Cascangue The Icafui (also Ycafui, Icafi, Ycafi) people were a Timucua people of southeastern Georgia, who were closely related if not synonymous with the Cascangue people.John E Worth, ''The Timucuan Chiefdoms of Spanish Florida: Assimilation'', vol. 1 (Uni ...

, coastal southeast Georgia ** Icafui (or Icafi), coastal southeast Georgia **

Mocama The Mocama were a Native American people who lived in the coastal areas of what are now northern Florida and southeastern Georgia. A Timucua group, they spoke the dialect known as Mocama, the best-attested dialect of the Timucua language. Their ...

, coastal northeast Florida and coastal southeast Georgia ***

Saturiwa The Saturiwa were a Timucua chiefdom centered on the mouth of the St. Johns River in what is now Jacksonville, Florida. They were the largest and best attested chiefdom of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of ...

, northeast Florida ***

Tacatacuru Tacatacuru was a Timucua chiefdom located on Cumberland Island in what is now the U.S. state of Georgia in the 16th and 17th centuries. It was one of two chiefdoms of the Timucua subgroup known as the Mocama, who spoke the Mocama dialect of Timu ...

, coastal southeast Georgia **

Northern Utina The Northern Utina, also known as the Timucua or simply Utina, were a Timucua people of northern Florida. They lived north of the Santa Fe River (Florida), Santa Fe River and east of the Suwannee River, and spoke a dialect of the Timucua languag ...

north central Florida ** Ocale, central Florida **

Oconi The Oconi or Ocone were a Timucua people that spoke a dialect of the Timucua language. They lived in a chiefdom on the margin of or in the Okefenokee Swamp in southeastern Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The Oconi first appeared in Spanish records ...

, interior southeast Georgia **

Potano The Potano (also Potanou or Potavou, Timucua: ''Potano'' "That is happening now") tribe lived in north-central Florida at the time of first European contact. Their territory included what is now Alachua County, the northern half of Marion County ...

, north central Florida ** Tucururu (or Tucuru), central? Florida ** Utina (or Eastern Utina), northeast central Florida ** Yufera, coastal southeast Georgia ** Yui (Ibi), coastal southeast Georgia ** Yustaga, north central Florida * Tiou ( Tioux), Mississippi * Tocaste, Florida *

Tocobaga Tocobaga (occasionally Tocopaca) was the name of a chiefdom of Native Americans, its chief, and its principal town during the 16th century. The chiefdom was centered around the northern end of Old Tampa Bay, the arm of Tampa Bay that extends betw ...

, Florida * Tohomé, northwestern Florida and southern Alabama * Tomahitan, eastern Tennessee * Topachula, Florida * Tunica, Arkansas and Mississippi * Utiza, Florida * Uzita, Tampa Bay, Florida * Vicela, Florida * Viscaynos, Florida *

Waccamaw The Waccamaw people were an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, who lived in villages along the Waccamaw and Pee Dee rivers in North and South Carolina in the 18th century.Lerch 328 Name The meaning of the name ''Waccamaw'' is ...

, South Carolina *

Waccamaw Siouan The Waccamaw Siouan Indians are one of eight state-recognized tribes in North Carolina. Also known as the Waccamaw Siouan Indian Tribe, they are not federally recognized. They are headquartered in Bolton, North Carolina, in Columbus County, and ...

, North Carolina * Wateree (Guatari, Watterees), North Carolina * Waxhaw (Waxsaws, Wisack, Wisacky, Weesock, Flathead), North Carolina and South Carolina *

Westo The Westo were an Iroquoian Peoples, Iroquoian Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribe encountered in what became the Southeastern U.S. by Europeans in the 17th century. They probably spoke an Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian la ...

, Virginia and South Carolina, extinct * Winyah, South Carolina coast * Woccon, North Carolina *

Yamasee The Yamasees (also spelled Yamassees, Yemasees or Yemassees) were a multiethnic confederation of Native Americans who lived in the coastal region of present-day northern coastal Georgia near the Savannah River and later in northeastern Florida. ...

, Florida, Georgia * Yazoo, southeastern tip of Arkansas, eastern Louisiana, Mississippi *

Yuchi The Yuchi people are a Native American tribe based in Oklahoma, though their original homeland was in the southeastern United States. In the 16th century, the Yuchi lived in the eastern Tennessee River valley. By the late 17th century, they had ...

( Euchee), central Tennessee, then northwest Georgia, now Oklahoma

Federally recognized tribes

# Alabama-Coushatta Tribes of Texas # Alabama-Quassarte Tribal Town, Oklahoma #

Caddo Nation of Oklahoma The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, w ...

# Catawba Indian Nation, South Carolina #

Cherokee Nation, Oklahoma The Cherokee Nation ( or ) is the largest of three federally recognized tribes of Cherokees in the United States. It includes people descended from members of the Old Cherokee Nation who relocated, due to increasing pressure, from the Southe ...

# Chickasaw Nation, Oklahoma # Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana #

Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma The Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma (Choctaw language, Choctaw: ''Chahta Okla'') is a Indian reservation, Native American reservation occupying portions of southeastern Oklahoma in the United States. At roughly , it is the second-largest reservation ...

Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana The Coushatta Tribe of Louisiana (Coushatta: ''Kowassaatiha'') is one of three federally recognized tribes of Koasati people. They are located in Allen and Jefferson Davis Parishes, Louisiana. The tribe hosts an annual pow wow during the sec ...

# Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians of North Carolina # Jena Band of Choctaw Indians, Louisiana # Kialegee Tribal Town, Oklahoma #

Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida The Miccosukee Tribe of Indians ( /ˌmɪkəˈsuki/, MIH-kə-SOO-kee) is a federally recognized Native American tribe in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Seminole Tribe of Florida, it is one of thr ...

# Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians, Mississippi # Muscogee (Creek) Nation, Oklahoma # Poarch Band of Creek Indians of Alabama #

Seminole Tribe of Florida The Seminole Tribe of Florida is a List of federally recognized tribes, federally recognized Seminole tribe based in the U.S. state of Florida. Together with the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma and the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians of Florida, it is ...

Seminole Nation of Oklahoma The Seminole Nation of Oklahoma is a federally recognized This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized b ...

# Thlopthlocco Tribal Town, Oklahoma # Tunica-Biloxi Indian Tribe of Louisiana # United Keetoowah Band of Cherokee Indians in Oklahoma

History

The following section deals primarily with the history of the peoples in the lengthy period before European contact. Evidence of the preceding cultures have been found primarily in archeological artifacts, but also in major earthworks and the evidence of linguistics. In the Late Prehistoric time period in the Southeastern Woodlands, cultures increased agricultural production, developed ranked societies, increased their populations, trade networks, and intertribal warfare. Most Southeastern peoples (excepting some of the coastal peoples) were highly

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

, growing crops like

maize Maize (; ''Zea mays''), also known as corn in North American English, is a tall stout grass that produces cereal grain. It was domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 9,000 years ago from wild teosinte. Native American ...

, squash, and beans for food. They supplemented their diet with hunting, fishing, ''Four Directions Institute.'' (retrieved 2 June 2011) and gathering wild plants and fungi. Belonging in the Lithic stage, the oldest known art in the Americas is the

Vero Beach Vero Beach is a city in and the county seat of Indian River County, Florida, United States. According to the 2020 census, the city had a population of 16,354. Nicknamed "The Hibiscus City", Vero is situated about southeast of Orlando along the ...

bone found in present-day Florida. It is possibly a mammoth bone, etched with a profile of walking mammoth; it dates to 11,000 BCE.

Poverty Point culture

The

Poverty Point culture The Poverty Point culture is the archaeological culture of a prehistoric indigenous peoples who inhabited a portion of North America's lower Mississippi Valley and surrounding Gulf coast from about 1730 – 1350 BC. Archeologists have identified ...

inhabited portions of the state of

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

from 2000–1000 BCE during the Archaic period. Many objects excavated at Poverty Point sites were made of materials that originated in distant places, indicating that the people were part of an extensive trading culture. Such items include chipped stone projectile points and tools; ground stone plummets, gorgets and vessels; and shell and stone beads. Stone tools found at Poverty Point were made from raw materials that can be traced to the relatively nearby Ouachita and Ozark mountains, as well as others from the more distant

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

and

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

valleys. Vessels were made from

soapstone Soapstone (also known as steatite or soaprock) is a talc-schist, which is a type of metamorphic rock. It is composed largely of the magnesium-rich mineral talc. It is produced by dynamothermal metamorphism and metasomatism, which occur in sub ...

which came from the Appalachian foothills of

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. Hand-modeled lowly fired clay objects occur in a variety of shapes including anthropomorphic figurines and cooking balls. File:Poverty Point clay utensils HRoe 2009.jpg, File:Poverty Point female figurines HRoe 2009.jpg, File:Poverty Point gorgets atlatl weights HRoe 2009.jpg,

Mississippian culture

Mississippian culture The Mississippian culture was a collection of Native American societies that flourished in what is now the Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States from approximately 800 to 1600 CE, varying regionally. It was known for building la ...

s flourished in what is now the

Midwestern The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

Eastern Eastern or Easterns may refer to: Transportation Airlines *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai * Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 192 ...

, and

from approximately 800 CE to 1500 CE, varying regionally. After adopting

agriculture the Mississippian culture became fully agrarian, as opposed to the preceding Woodland cultures that supplemented hunting and gathering with limited horticulture. Mississippian peoples often built

platform mound A platform mound is any earthwork or mound intended to support a structure or activity. It typically refers to a flat-topped mound, whose sides may be pyramidal. In Eastern North America The indigenous peoples of North America built substru ...

s. They refined their ceramic techniques and often used ground

mussel Mussel () is the common name used for members of several families of bivalve molluscs, from saltwater and Freshwater bivalve, freshwater habitats. These groups have in common a shell whose outline is elongated and asymmetrical compared with other ...

shell as a tempering agent. Many were involved with the

Southeastern Ceremonial Complex Southeastern Ceremonial Complex (formerly Southern Cult, Southern Death Cult or Buzzard Cult), abbreviated S.E.C.C., is the name given by modern scholars to the regional stylistic similarity of artifacts, iconography, ceremonies, and mythology of ...

, a multi-regional and multi-linguistic religious and trade network that marked the southeastern part of the Mississippian Ideological Interaction Sphere. Information about Southeastern Ceremonial Complex primary comes from archaeology and the study of the elaborate artworks left behind by its participants, including elaborate

pottery Pottery is the process and the products of forming vessels and other objects with clay and other raw materials, which are fired at high temperatures to give them a hard and durable form. The place where such wares are made by a ''potter'' is al ...

, conch

shell gorget Shell gorgets are a Native American art form of polished, carved shell pendants worn around the neck. The gorgets are frequently engraved, and are sometimes highlighted with pigments, or fenestrated (pierced with openings). Shell gorgets were mo ...

s and cups, stone statuary, and

Long-nosed god maskette Long-nosed god maskettes are Artifact (archaeology), artifacts made from bone, copper and marine shells (Lightning whelk) associated with the Mississippian culture (800 to 1600 CE) and found in archaeological sites in the Midwestern United States a ...

s. The

peoples, of southern Florida, carved and painted wood in exquisite depictions of animals. By the time of European contact the Mississippian societies were already experiencing severe social stress. Some major centers had already been abandoned. With social upsets and diseases unknowingly introduced by Europeans many of the societies collapsed and ceased to practice a Mississippian lifestyle, with an exception being the

Natchez people ttps://archive.org/details/dcouverteett01marg The Internet Archive website The Natchez ( , ) are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people who originally lived in the Natchez Bluffs area in the Lower Mississippi Valley, n ...

of Mississippi and Louisiana. Other tribes descended from Mississippian cultures include the

Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, who ...

Muscogee Creek The Muscogee, also known as the Mvskoke, Muscogee Creek or just Creek, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy ( in the Muscogee language; English: ), are a group of related Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern WoodlandsTunica, and many other southeastern peoples. Image:Spiro engraved hero twins HRoe 2005.jpg, Image:Spiro ceremonial mace HRoe 2005.jpg, Image:Moundville stone pallette HRoe 2003.jpg, Image:Spiro Lucifer Pipe HRoe 2005.jpg, Image:Etowah statues HRoe 2007.jpg, Image:Calusa carved gator head on display at the Florida Museum of Natural History.jpg,

Post-European contact

During the Indian Removal era of the 1830s, most southeastern tribes were forcibly relocated to

Indian Territory Indian Territory and the Indian Territories are terms that generally described an evolving land area set aside by the Federal government of the United States, United States government for the relocation of Native Americans in the United States, ...

west of the Mississippi River by the US federal government, as European-American settlers pushed the government to acquire their lands. Some members of the tribes chose to stay in their homelands and accept state and US citizenship; others simply hid in the mountains or swamps and sought to maintain some cultural continuity. Since the late 20th century, descendants of these people have organized as tribes; in a limited number of cases, some have achieved

federal recognition This is a list of federally recognized tribes in the contiguous United States. There are also federally recognized Alaska Native tribes. , 574 Indian tribes are legally recognized by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) of the United States.

but more have gained state recognition through legislation at the state level.

Culture

Frank Speck Frank Gouldsmith Speck (November 8, 1881February 6, 1950) was an American anthropologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania, specializing in the Algonquian and Iroquoian peoples among the Eastern Woodland Native Americans of the U ...

identified several key cultural traits of Southeastern Woodlands peoples. Social traits included having a

matrilineal Matrilineality, at times called matriliny, is the tracing of kinship through the female line. It may also correlate with a social system in which people identify with their matriline, their mother's lineage, and which can involve the inheritan ...

kinship In anthropology, kinship is the web of social relationships that form an important part of the lives of all humans in all societies, although its exact meanings even within this discipline are often debated. Anthropologist Robin Fox says that ...

system,

exogamous Exogamy is the social norm of mating or marrying outside one's social group. The group defines the scope and extent of exogamy, and the rules and enforcement mechanisms that ensure its continuity. One form of exogamy is dual exogamy, in which tw ...

marriage between clans, and organizing into settled villages and towns. Southeastern Woodlands societies were usually divided into

clans A clan is a group of people united by actual or perceived kinship and descent. Even if lineage details are unknown, a clan may claim descent from a founding member or apical ancestor who serves as a symbol of the clan's unity. Many societie ...

; the most common from pre-contact Hopewellian times into the present include Bear, Beaver, Bird other than a raptor, Canine (e.g. Wolf), Elk, Feline (e.g. Panther), Fox, Raccoon, and Raptor. They observe strict incest taboos, including taboos against marriage within a clan. In the past, they frequently allowed

polygamy Polygamy (from Late Greek , "state of marriage to many spouses") is the practice of marriage, marrying multiple spouses. When a man is married to more than one wife at the same time, it is called polygyny. When a woman is married to more tha ...

to chiefs and other men who could support multiple wives. They held puberty rites for both boys and girls. Southeastern peoples also traditionally shared similar religious beliefs, based on

animism Animism (from meaning 'breath, spirit, life') is the belief that objects, places, and creatures all possess a distinct spiritual essence. Animism perceives all things—animals, plants, rocks, rivers, weather systems, human handiwork, and in ...

. They used fish poison, and practiced purification ceremonies among their religious rituals, as well as the

Green Corn Ceremony The Green Corn Ceremony (Busk) is an annual ceremony practiced among various Native American peoples associated with the beginning of the yearly corn harvest. Busk is a term given to the ceremony by white traders, the word being a corruption of ...

Medicine people A medicine man (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwinini'') or medicine woman (from Ojibwe ''mashkikiiwininiikwe'') is a traditional healer and spiritual leader who serves a community of Indigenous people of the Americas. Each culture has its own name in ...

are important spiritual healers. Many southeastern peoples engaged in

mound building Many pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to specific people or archaeological culture but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks that in ...

to create sacred or acknowledged ritual sites. Many of the religious beliefs of the

or the Southern Cult, were also shared by the Northeastern Woodlands tribes, probably spread through the dominance of the

in the 10th century. The main agricultural crops of the region were the Three Sisters:

winter squash Winter squash is an annual fruit representing several squash species within the genus '' Cucurbita''. Late-growing, less symmetrical, odd-shaped, rough or warty varieties, small to medium in size, but with long-keeping qualities and hard rinds, ...

(corn), and climbing

bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

s (usually

tepary bean ''Phaseolus acutifolius'', also known as the tepary bean, is a legume native to the southwestern United States and Mexico and has been grown there by the native peoples since pre-Columbian times. It is more drought-resistant than the common bean ...

s or

common bean ''Phaseolus vulgaris'', the common bean,, is a herbaceous annual plant grown worldwide for its edible dry seeds or green bean, green, unripe pods. Its leaf is also occasionally used as a Leaf vegetable, vegetable and the straw as fodder. Its Pla ...

s). Originating in

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...

, these three crops were carried northward over centuries to many parts of North America. The three crops were normally planted together using a technique known as

companion planting Companion planting in gardening and agriculture is the planting of different crops in proximity for any of a number of different reasons, including Weed control, weed suppression, pest control, pollination, providing habitat for beneficial ins ...

on flat-topped mounds of soil. The three crops were planted in this way as each benefits from the proximity of the others. The tall maize plants provide a structure for the beans to climb, while the beans provide

nitrogen Nitrogen is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol N and atomic number 7. Nitrogen is a Nonmetal (chemistry), nonmetal and the lightest member of pnictogen, group 15 of the periodic table, often called the Pnictogen, pnictogens. ...

to the

soil Soil, also commonly referred to as earth, is a mixture of organic matter, minerals, gases, water, and organisms that together support the life of plants and soil organisms. Some scientific definitions distinguish dirt from ''soil'' by re ...

that benefits the other plants. Meanwhile, the squash spreads along the ground, blocking the

sunlight Sunlight is the portion of the electromagnetic radiation which is emitted by the Sun (i.e. solar radiation) and received by the Earth, in particular the visible spectrum, visible light perceptible to the human eye as well as invisible infrare ...

to prevent

weed A weed is a plant considered undesirable in a particular situation, growing where it conflicts with human preferences, needs, or goals.Harlan, J. R., & deWet, J. M. (1965). Some thoughts about weeds. ''Economic botany'', ''19''(1), 16-24. Pla ...

s from growing and retaining moisture in the soil.

Notes

References

*Carr, Christopher and D. Troy Case
''Gathering Hopewell: Society, Ritual, and Ritual Interaction.''
New York: Springer, 2006. . * *Hann, John H. "The Mayaca and Jororo and Missions to Them", in McEwan, Bonnie G. ed. ''The Spanish Missions of "La Florida"''. Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida. 1993. . *Hann, John H. ''A History of the Timucua Indians and Missions.'' Gainesville, Florida: University Press of Florida, 1996. . *Hann, John H. (2003). ''Indians of Central and South Florida: 1513-1763''. University Press of Florida. * Jackson, Jason Baird and Raymond D. Fogelson. "Introduction." Sturtevant, William C., general editor and Raymond D. Fogelson, volume editor. ''Handbook of North American Indians: Southeast''. Volume 14. Washington DC: Smithsonian Institution, 2004: 1-68. . * Pritzker, Barry M. ''A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples.'' Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2000. . *Roark, Elisabeth Louise
''Artists of Colonial America''.
Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2003. .

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southeastern Tribes Mississippian culture

Indigenous peoples in Mexico Indigenous peoples in the United States Native American tribes Southeastern United States

Southeastern Woodlands Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, Southeastern cultures, or Southeast Indians are an Ethnography, ethnographic classification for Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans who have traditionally inhabited the area now ...

List of peoples

Federally recognized tribes

History

Poverty Point culture

Mississippian culture

Post-European contact

Culture

See also

Notes

References

External links