Library introduction case studies biographies timeline in the news faqs		Frequently Asked Questions: The Land and the People How many people lived in a Woodland Indian Village? I heard that the Bay isn't as healthy as it should be. Can that be true? How many Native Americans live in Maryland today? How did the Woodland Indians start their fires? Where did the engraving in Visit a Woodland Indian Village come from? Were the Maryland colonists the first Europeans to see the Chesapeake Bay? What would happen if the roof of a witchott started leaking? What would happen if another tribe attacked a village? How did the Woodland Indians make their canoes? How do archaeologists know where to dig? What did the Woodland Indians wear? How many people lived in a Woodland Indian Village? The size of a Woodland Indian Village depended on the size of the tribe and its location. Large, "capital" towns where the werowance, or chief, lived could have upwards of 50 longhouses. Each longhouse might have 2-10 people living inside. Between the people who lived in the village and those who lived just outside it, the largest Woodland Indian town could have over 500 residents. On the other extreme, small tribes (especially on the Eastern Shore) could have as few as 2-5 longhouses. Experts estimate that about 175 people lived in the village you see in Visit a Woodland Indian Village. I heard that the Bay isn't as healthy as it should be. Can that be true? Land development and pollution have caused huge changes in the Chesapeake Bay. Think of it this way: in 1600, before any colonists arrived from Europe, the only people living around the Bay were native Indians. As you probably know, most Indians hunted, gathered, and planted small farms. There were few people to use up resources. There were no large towns like London. And the native people lived off the plants, trees, waters, and animals around them, using only what they needed to survive. Flash forward to the present. Today, over 15 million people live in the Chesapeake Bay watershed (the land with streams and rivers that flow into the Bay). Pollutants like automobile exhaust, sewage, factories, farm chemicals, and runoff from communities leak into the Bay each day. The Chesapeake Bay Foundation, a group that works to protect the Bay, describe it this way: Since colonial times, the Bay has lost half of its forested shorelines, over half of its wetlands, nearly 90 percent of its underwater grasses, and more than 98 percent of its oysters. During the 350 years between 1600 and 1950, approximately 1.7 million acres of the Bay watershed were developed. During the 30 years between 1950 and 1980, the Bay watershed lost an additional 2.7 million acres to development. — Chesapeake Bay Foundation Fact Sheet So, to answer the question, it all depends on what you mean by healthy. The Chesapeake Bay will never be as healthy as it was before colonists arrived. And pollutants are hurting the Bay every single day. But people are working to protect and preserve the Bay too. If you'd like to learn what you can do to help, ask your parents or teachers what you can do. Or you can visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation Student BaySavers page to learn more. How many Native Americans live in Maryland today? About 12,000 American Indians lived in Maryland when the European colonists arrived. Today there are approximately 16,000 American Indians in the state, which represents only 0.3% of Maryland's population of more than 5 million people. How did the Woodland Indians start their fires? First, the man or woman would find a branch from a hardwood tree (trees that bear leaves, like oak). The branch would be sharpened to a point. Next, they would find a larger piece of dried softwood (from trees that bear needles, like pine or cedar). Using stone tools, a small indentation would be made in the softwood. Finally, they would gather a small pile of dry wood shavings, small twigs, and dried grasses called kindling. With all their materials gathered, they could begin. Placing the hardwood sharpened stick in the softwood indentation, the Woodland Indians would rub the stick between the palms of their hands. If they rubbed fast enough, they could create enough friction to produce a smoking coal. When the wood began to smoke, they would carefully put the kindling on the coal and blow. With luck, the grasses and wood shavings would burst into flame. Where did the engraving in Visit a Woodland Indian Village come from? Two English explorers named Thomas Harriot and John White explored the villages of what would later be North Carolina and Virginia in 1585-86. White was an artist. His watercolor drawings are some of the earliest pictures of Woodland Indian life we have. Harriot made notes on the pictures, and later wrote an entire report entitled "A Briefe and True Report of the New Found Land of Virginia." Upon returning to England, an engraver named Theodor de Bry was hired to create the metal plates to print copies of White's drawings. While there are some differences between White and de Bry's works, they are generally very similar. If you'd like to know more about Harriot, White, and de Bry's pictures, click here. Were the Maryland colonists the first Europeans to see the Chesapeake Bay? No. The colonists from Maryland arrived in March of 1634. Their trip into the Bay was actually lead by a Virginian named Henry Fleet, a captain who explored the Bay and met the native peoples. Captain Fleet was one of many trackers and traders who explored the Chesapeake. Before Fleet, Captain John Smith (yes, the John Smith of Pocahontas fame) lead several voyages to explore for Virginia. And before Captain Smith, explorers from Spain, Italy, and England has sailed by and through the Bay. The earliest known explorer was John Cabot, an Italian sailing for England in 1498. If you'd like to learn more about events before the Maryland colonists arrived, visit the Maryland Archives Historical Chronology pages at: 10,000 B.C.E. - 1599 A.D.E. -- http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/chron.html 1600 A.D.E. - 1699 A.D.E. -- http://www.mdarchives.state.md.us/msa/mdmanual/01glance/html/chron16.html What would happen if the roof of a witchott started leaking? If a leak developed in the roof, children would climb up the outside using rope or wood ladders and replace the leaky mat. The rope ladders had to be long enough so that they could reach from one side of the house to the other. One (heavier) person would stand or hold the ladder on one side while the child climbed up the other side. Children had to do the climbing and mending because the bent saplings that formed the frame of the witchott weren't very strong. The family would probably have made a few extra grass and reed mats ahead of time and kept them in their witchott in case a leak developed. What would happen if another tribe attacked a village? It all depended on how strong and well-defended the village was. Some villages had fierce warriors and would try to attack back. Other tribes were weaker and had to run into the woods. Early explorers noticed that the Woodland Indians didn't keep all their valuable goods, like axes and rope, in their witchotts. This was in case another powerful tribe, like the warlike Susquehannocks to the North, attacked the village. Many Woodland Indians had secret stashes of supplies buried in the woods. When attacked, the villagers could flee to the woods, and live safely until the attackers decided to move on. How did the Woodland Indians make their canoes? Building a canoe was a time-consuming process. The early European explorers, like Thomas Harriot, were amazed by the process. Here is how he described it: The manner of making their boats in Virginia is very wonderful. While they don't have instruments of iron like ours, they still make them so handsomely that they can lift them into rivers and fish as well as ours. First, they choose some long and thick tree, according to the bigness of the boat they would frame and make a fire on the ground about the roots, kindling the flame with dry moss of trees and chips of wood, so that the flame does not mount too high and burn the entire tree. When it is almost burnt through and ready to fall they make a new fire, which they let burn until the tree falls down on its own. Then, burning off the top and the boughs of the tree in such a way that the body of the frame may retain his full length, they raise it upon poles laid across other forked poles, at a reasonable height as they may handsomely work upon any part of the boat. On the other side, they make a fire according to the length of the body of the tree, except at the two ends. When they think it is burned sufficiently, they quench the fire and use shells to scrape away the burnt section. Then, making a new fire, they burn it again, and so they continue, sometimes burning, sometimes scraping, until the boat has a sufficient bottom. Thus, god endows sufficient reason to these savage people to make things necessary to serve their needs. Note: The above text is a modern translation of Thomas Harriot's description. Click here to see what English looked like in 1585. How do archaeologists know where to dig? Lots and lots of clues help archaeologists know where to look for artifacts. Usually, a search starts in history and record books. The archaeologists learn where buildings and structures used to be. This works well for towns and buildings within towns. Using the descriptions, the researchers will go to the site and rope off large grids, or rows of squares. Then, the archaeologists can begin testing the area. Sometimes, metal detectors reveal items under the surface. Sometimes, they use chemical tests to see if anything unusual is in the soil. Other times, archaeologists dig "test holes" in some or all of the squares. If they find something interesting, they dig more in that square. If they don't find anything, they move on to the next square. The digging can take a very long time. But using a grid makes sure important discoveries aren't missed. What if there aren't any books or records to give clues on where to look? Archaeologists can use other clues as well. For example, a person with sharp eyes might notice a small patch of dirt that is much darker than the dirt around it. An archaeologist might test this dirt and discover that was where a wooden post once stood. Wooden posts held up both Woodland Indian and early Colonial houses. The posts rotted over time, leaving the dirt a different color. You can still see these post holes, even after 300 years. Like detectives, archaeologists use the tiniest clues to solve the biggest mysteries. If you'd like to know more about how archaeologists find things, be sure to check out Go on an Archaeological Dig and Solve the Mystery of the Three Lead Coffins. What did the Woodland Indians wear? Both men and women would usually wear deerskin aprons around their waist. During the summer, this was enough to keep warm, even at night. Young children might wear small deerskin cloths, or nothing at all. In the winter, men would wear capes made of deerskin that draped over their left shoulder. This left their right shoulder and arm free to shoot their bows. Women would wear a form of cape as well. In the middle of a deerskin, the women would cut a hole big enough for their head. Then they would slip the cape down over their heads so it covered their entire top, but left their hands free to work. Making clothes was an interesting process. Men would kill a deer and use stone knives to cut off its rough skin and scrape away the fir. The skins would soak in water for a few days, loosening the fibers. Then, the women would take the deer's brain and mash it into a gooey paste. They used the brain because it was filled with fats and oils, and because they didn't want to waste any part of the deer. The paste was spread across the skins, and then rubbed in with smooth pieces of wood. Slowly, the skins softened. When the women decided the skin was wearable, they would use needles and punches made of deer antlers and thread made from deer sinews, or tendons, to make an outfit.
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