S WANTON 1 IND-IAl^B OP THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 803 



still live there raised the crop. We must suppose the abstinence of 

 the earlier peoples was due in part to the greater attractions of fish- 

 ing and partly to the extent to which they resorted to the flour 

 of the Zamia. If the truth were known, however, I think we should 

 find that the corn complex did not reach central Florida until a 

 comparatively late date. Kecent studies of varieties of corn have 

 demonstrated a marked difference between those of the West Indies 

 and those of North America, the implication being that the cultiva- 

 tion of this plant was introduced from Mexico. Sunflowers were ap- 

 parently cultivated by most of the horticultural tribes. PVom Vir- 

 ginia to Louisiana the methods employed in clearing the ground and 

 in caring for the crops were very similar. 



The stalking of deer is described from all parts of the area in 

 much the same terms. Surrounds may have been used oftener by 

 the northern tribes, as if the custom had emanated from that quarter, 

 but it was not of much use in this region, since bison were scattered 

 in relatively small bands and it was not as necessary in hunting deer. 

 If the devices used in hunting small animals and birds differed re- 

 gionally, our data are not suflficient to prove it. Fishing customs 

 were variable, but mainly because conditions varied. Fishing on the 

 sea coast was naturally carried on in a different manner from 

 fishing on inland streams, and the same regional demands were, so 

 far as we can see, met in the same way. Thus fishweirs of similar 

 pattern seem to have been employed indifferently by the Algonquian, 

 Muskhogean, and Floridian peoples, and probably by the Siouans also, 

 though we do not happen to have a description of this industry from 

 the Siouan tribes of the coast. In the interior, fish poisoning is re- 

 ported from the more important interior tribes of different stocks, 

 the only omission where we might have expected it being among 

 the Caddo. Tribes like the Natchez along rivers having a continuous 

 flow all the year round would be less likely to resort to the practice. 

 Similarly^ inland fish traps would naturally be used in regions where 

 the rivers had a fairly rapid current, and the principal area answer- 

 ing to that description is the southern Appalachians and the terri- 

 tories immediately adjoining. Here, however, we find the same indif- 

 ference to stock affiliation in the use of the device. It occurs in 

 the country of the Algonquians, Siouans, and Iroquoians, and at 

 least close to that of the Muskhogeans. All of the tribes had dogs, 

 and so far as we know they were of the same breeds. The treatment 

 of animal and vegetable foods seems to have been practically the 

 same everywhere. House types varied but with certain limits, and 

 all consisted of a framework of poles covered with withes, wattle, 

 grass, or palmetto, and nearly everywhere we find the same sort of 

 bed, a raised shelf inside along the wall. Smoke holes were usual but 



