Culture of the eastern woodland Indians

[mangaman]

The gift was just to show the parents that the man was a good provider. The final say went to the girl. In the end, she could marry who ever she wanted to.

The "trading" ceremony was the only thing that the women were not in control of. As I said earlier, women owned everything in the Patowomac tribe.
1) As soon as two people were married, the husband forfeit all of his possessions to his wife, keeping ony his clothes and weapons.
2) The tribal blood line was descided by the mother, whatever tribe she belonged to was the tribe her childeren belonged to.
3) Women dominated the Cheif's Council, so they decided when to go to war.

I short, the life of a man was in the hands of the woman he married.

[Rider of Rohan]

The gift was just to show the parents that the man was a good provider. The final say went to the girl. In the end, she could marry who ever she wanted to.

The "trading" ceremony was the only thing that the women were not in control of. As I said earlier, women owned everything in the Patowomac tribe.
1) As soon as two people were married, the husband forfeit all of his possessions to his wife, keeping ony his clothes and weapons.
2) The tribal blood line was descided by the mother, whatever tribe she belonged to was the tribe her childeren belonged to.
3) Women dominated the Cheif's Council, so they decided when to go to war.

I short, the life of a man was in the hands of the woman he married.

That wouldn't be so bad.

[mangaman]

The Fall of the Patowomac:

By 1623, the Patowomac had become quite used top the white-men and weht about their daily tasks in peace with them. They traded and intermarried with the white-men, some even spoke broken-English, though Algonqian was still the dominant language.
Most white-men did not mind the Patowomac, but there were some that viewed them as a nucence. Some wanted the Native's land, others were just racist, but they wanted the Patowomac gone. These men would find any excuse to persicute the Natives, taking charges against them and having them arrested, though most legal charges were found to be false and were dropped. That is not to say that the Natives never broke any laws or that all the charges were unfounded. On one occassion, the cheif of the Patowomac was taken to Jamestown, VA to be tried for a crime that is unknown today. The judge threw the case out and the cheif was set free. The man who had taken the charges against the cheif sturred up hatred among the people by saying that the cheif "was granted amnesty for his crimes in an attempt to maintain peace". A few days later, the cheif was killed.
After this, the raciest men formed a militia and marched on the Patowomac village. They drove the villagers into the nearby lake and burned the village. They then got into boats and killed as many of the villages as they could. Few escaped this massacre. Some of the village childeren ran into the woods and were taken into the homes of friendly white-men. From that day forward, the Patowomac childeren were unable to speek Algonqian and had to hide their heritage from the racist men, who they feared would kill them. This same fear existed until well into the 20th century (my grandfather was told by my great-grandfather to never tell anyone that he was a Native)
Thus the number of Patowomac was reduced to nearly zero. The only remaining members of my tribe were those who maried into other tribes or were taken in by white families.

[~Rose'de'Lima~]

Becoming a Warrior: Part I, Youth

From the time they could walk, Patowomac childeren, boys and girls alike, would be taught the necessary skills to survive. This included hunting, fishing, farming, trapping, and, of course, fighting.
As infants, childeren would be dunked in the frozen rivers in the winter to toughen them up.
From the time they were toddlers to the day they turned thirteen, childeren would be forced to hold heated rocks in their hands to build callusses on thier hands. This may seem cruel, but without these calluses the skin of their hands would not be able to withstand the work they would face as adults. The skin would tear and possibly become infected.
However, not all training was as unforgiving as these practices. As soon as the childeren were strong enough to pull back a bow, they would be old to lie under a tree or bush and shoot at every bird that went by. This was to mae them better shots with a bow so that they would be productive hunters.
Another popular training game was "leg wrestling". Two people would lie on their backs next to eachother foot-to-head, lock their legs together, and attempt to pull the other's leg to the ground. This built strong legs, which would be needed for the work they would face as adults.
A game similar to darts was used to improve the childeren's skill with a hunting spear. A wooden hoop with a pattern woven into it would be rolled along the ground and the childeren would attempt to throw spears through the center.
Playful wrestling and fighting was encourages amoung the childeren as a pass time. This was because the Patowomac style of hand-to-hand combat was wrestling with open handed strikes.

AS INFANTS?Are you serious?Is this still in practice today?

[mangaman]

No, most old traditions have been left in the past or at least modified. Now, parents just teach their childern how to be hard workers and let them toughen up on their own.

[Shadowfax's Rider]

I short, the life of a man was in the hands of the woman he married.

Was that so bad? I guess if the Patowomac line survived they couldn't have been that bad at making judgements!

[mangaman]

I probably should have said that the QUALITY of a man's life was in the hands of his wife. He only got what she gave him.

[dogcrazy]

Oops....I realized I wrote the same thing twice. I don't know how to delete this though....sorry for the uneccesary post

[dogcrazy]

Becoming a Warrior: Part I, Youth

From the time they could walk, Patowomac childeren, boys and girls alike, would be taught the necessary skills to survive. This included hunting, fishing, farming, trapping, and, of course, fighting.
As infants, childeren would be dunked in the frozen rivers in the winter to toughen them up.
From the time they were toddlers to the day they turned thirteen, childeren would be forced to hold heated rocks in their hands to build callusses on thier hands. This may seem cruel, but without these calluses the skin of their hands would not be able to withstand the work they would face as adults. The skin would tear and possibly become infected.
However, not all training was as unforgiving as these practices. As soon as the childeren were strong enough to pull back a bow, they would be old to lie under a tree or bush and shoot at every bird that went by. This was to mae them better shots with a bow so that they would be productive hunters.
Another popular training game was "leg wrestling". Two people would lie on their backs next to eachother foot-to-head, lock their legs together, and attempt to pull the other's leg to the ground. This built strong legs, which would be needed for the work they would face as adults.
A game similar to darts was used to improve the childeren's skill with a hunting spear. A wooden hoop with a pattern woven into it would be rolled along the ground and the childeren would attempt to throw spears through the center.
Playful wrestling and fighting was encourages amoung the childeren as a pass time. This was because the Patowomac style of hand-to-hand combat was wrestling with open handed strikes.

That's interesting . I wish people were a little tougher today . It seems as if everyone complains about the tiniest things (not saying that I'm without blame). Thanks for the info !

[Weasley est Rex noster]

After this, the raciest men formed a militia and marched on the Patowomac village. They drove the villagers into the nearby lake and burned the village. They then got into boats and killed as many of the villages as they could. Few escaped this massacre. Some of the village childeren ran into the woods and were taken into the homes of friendly white-men. From that day forward, the Patowomac childeren were unable to speek Algonqian and had to hide their heritage from the racist men, who they feared would kill them. This same fear existed until well into the 20th century (my grandfather was told by my great-grandfather to never tell anyone that he was a Native)
Thus the number of Patowomac was reduced to nearly zero. The only remaining members of my tribe were those who maried into other tribes or were taken in by white families.

wow, that's horrible. im so sorry. thanks for taking the time to write all this stuff mangaman, its great to hear a different perspective!

[Weasley est Rex noster]

The gift was just to show the parents that the man was a good provider. The final say went to the girl. In the end, she could marry who ever she wanted to.

the patowomac seemed really forward-thinking for their times!! it found it really interesting that women were in charge of things too, because in just about every other older civilization, men were the rulers and women were little more than property. i mean, women couldnt even vote in the USA until the early 1900s!

[mangaman]

Dogcrazy:
I wish I was a bit tougher to, but I don't think I need to be THAT tough

Weasley est Rex noster:

I actually just learned about that myself 2 days before I posted the info, there are a lot of blank-spots in the Patowomac history. Yes, it was pretty bad, but most of us don't have any bad feeling about it. We understand that it was just a few greedy people with a bad idea that were at fault.

Thanks to everyone that has read my posts!

[black_lionesse$$$]

NP

- Jasmine

[dancer611]

Absolutely! Thank you for posting them..I learned a lot!

Monica