Tasks for Indian Men and Women
Amanda
The Indians of Maryland got most of all their food by farming. First they cleared the trees by building fires around the bottom or trunks of the tree. When the flames had killed the tree, the leaves fell to the ground. A few years later the trees would fall to the ground or the Indians would burn them the rest of the way. Then the land was ready for farming. These are some of the foods that were planted by Indian women: beans, peas, squash, pumpkins, sunflowers, tobacco, maize just to name a few. Another word for maize is corn. To loosen the earth they used crooked tree limbs for hoes. After that about three or four feet apart, holes were dug and seeds of corn and beans, or corn and squash were put in the same holes together. Woman and children took care of the weeding of the crops.
The men took care of the Fishing and Hunting. The men caught fish from the bay. They caught crabs, shrimp, eels, fish, and shellfish, such as oysters and clams. The Algonquins fished in a couple different ways. One way is to use a bone hook fastened at the end of a line. Another way is to kill the fish with spears or arrows shot from bows. Another way is to catch the fish in a net. The Indian Men trapped fish by building fences in the river made of stakes driven into the bottoms of streams and rivers. That is how they caught the fish.
The Indian Men also took care of the hunting. The Indians hunted all the following animals: wild turkeys, partridges, pigeons, squirrels, raccoons, beaver, opossum, deer, bear, ducks, and geese. The wild turkey, partridges, and pigeons were found by looking in the forests and the open fields.
Indians hunted deer by several different ways. One was to sneak up on the deer disguised in deer skins and bend over looking like a deer. They were careful not to alarm the deer. The Indians were sometime in groups. When the Indians got close enough to shoot the deer with bows and arrows they shot the deer. The Indians killed the rather large animals with spears and bows. Another way to hunt deer is to scare a lot or a little deer to a piece of land that was almost surrounded by water. That way the only way the deer could get off the land was to swim. But the Indians were smart. They had other hunters out in the water. That way if the deer tried to swim of the land they would still get killed. You see the Indians had hunters out in the water.
Yours Truly,
Amanda