i.\i)iA.\s OF Tin-: \\(Hfi)L.\.\i)s 



Decorated birchbark vessel of the 

 Penobscot Indians. 



The hall you now enter represents tliree of these cuhure ar«;i- 

 Fillhig; the greater part of the hall are 

 the tribes of the Eastern Woodlands who 

 occupied the middle portion of the North 

 American coutincMit east of the Missis- 

 sippi. In two wall cases on the left are 

 exhibits of the Mackenzie rej2;ion of the 

 North and of the related tribes in Alaska 

 west of that region. Midway of the hall 

 on the right side are represented the 

 peoples of the Southeast. 



Near the entrance of the hall will be 

 found the remains of our local Indians. 



On the left are some specimens of pottery vessels and many 

 small objects of stone and bone recovered from the Island of Man- 

 hattan and the neighboring territory of Staten Island, Long Island, 

 and Westchester. Nearby on the same side of the hall are collections 

 obtained from living Indians of the coast region north and south of 

 New York. These are the Penobscot and Passamaquoddy of Maine, 

 the Micmac and Malecite of the lower provinces of Canada, and a few 

 but rare objects from the Delaware w^ho once occupied the vicinity of 

 New^ York City and the State of New Jersey. 



On the opposite side, the north, are the Iroquois whose league 

 comprised the ]\Iohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and later 

 the Tuscarora. They dominated New York and much adjoining terri- 

 tory. The exhibits represent particularly the agriculture of the East, 

 which was carried on with rude tools by the women. 



In a case in the aisle are exhibited wampum belts which were highly 

 esteemed in this region. They served as credentials for messengers 

 and as records of treaties and other important events. Later wampum 

 beads came to have a definite value as currency, especially in trade 

 between the w^hite men and the Indians. 



In the farther end of the hall, on the left, are the collections from 

 the Ojibway, Hiaw^atha's people, who lived mainly north of the Great 

 Lakes. They had but little agriculture, hving chiefly by hunting 

 and fishing. Beyond the Ojibw^ay are the Cree, w^ho live still farther 

 north. Here is to be seen the rabbit skin clothing of our childhood 

 rhymes. 



Opposite the Ojibway are the great Central Algonkian tribes, the 

 Menomini and Sauk and Fox, who lived south and west of the Great 

 Lakes. They gathered wild rice and hunted and fished, practicing also 

 some agriculture. In one of the Menomini cases are some skin bags 



