A fourth grade review of Woodland Native American history

Wisconsin Native Americans

Tribal Native Americans have lived in Wisconsin since before 1100 A.D.

Some of the earlier tribes settled in the area because of the natural resources that could be found easily.

Many groups set up extensive villages, some that can still be visited today.

Aztalan - The First Settlement

Aztalan was one of the earliest settlements in Wisconsin. It was settled approximately 1100-1300 A.D.

The area was located on a rolling oak prairie along the Crawfish River. Because this prairie had few trees, little chopping was necessary to clear the site.

The prairie soil was very good for agricultural purposes but was initially hard to work up because of the deep roots of prairie plants.

Aztalan - Continued

The village was 21 acres in size and was surrounded by a wall equipped with towers. Within the wall were houses, earthen platform mounds, and agricultural fields.

The local area was rich in wildlife. The stream supplied water, mussels, fish, water fowl, and wild rice.

There was a good canoe landing in the southeast corner of the site along the clear stream.

Other Tribes - Location

Other tribes, such as the Menominee, Sauk, Chippewa (Ojibwe), Potawatomi, Huron, Kickapoo, Winnebago and Fox settled much later.

Many of these tribes were nomadic. They moved around to places where they could easily find resources they would need.

•Many tribes would set up villages near water in the summer.•During the winter, they would settle within the forests for protection from the sometimes harsh conditions.

Other Tribes - Clothing

Their clothing was commonly fringed buckskin, which was frequently decorated with beautiful designs created from porcupine quills, feathers and beads.

Summer clothing was covered with outer garments of fur for winter. Both men and women wore leggings. Moccasins were the distinctive foot coverings of many tribes.

Other Tribes - Food

Summer settlements were used for fishing, finding berries, harvesting wild rice, and a fresh water supply.

The northern great lakes has a short growing season and poor soil so many Native Americans were hunter-gatherers who hunted forest animals and harvested wild rice and maple sugar.

These later woodland tribes had no salt to preserve food. Some mixed everything with maple syrup as seasoning.

Some tribes did successfully grow corn together with beans, squash, and tobacco during the short growing seasons.

Other Tribes - Shelter

Large villages of rectangular longhouses or domed wigwams in fixed locations were favored in the summer.

When a family moved, the covering of the wigwam was rolled up and taken along leaving only the framework.

Many tribes used dugout canoes or the lighter birchbark canoes for rice gathering and travel.

Other Tribes - Fun

Many Native Americans often passed time and entertained each other with stories.

Long, cold winters were spent confined inside their wigwams; however, it gave them time to add intricate quill and moose-hair designs to clothing or moccasins.

Other fun was had playing ball games and holding races of any kind.

Dancing was usually saved for spiritual ceremonies or other special occasions.

Where Are They Now?

White settlers ultimately took most of their land and forced them onto reservations because they considered them savage and feared their life-style.

Following several treaties and land cessions, many tribes were confined to small reservations throughout Wisconsin.

Some tribes were driven across the Mississippi river into eastern Iowa, or relocated to southern Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, or Kansas.