Period+2+Algonquin

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Period 2 Algonquin

**Dwellings**
written by Emily S.

The Algonquins lived in many different shelters that were made in varying ways. The most common dwelling was called a [|wigwam], this home was dome shaped and made out of birch trees, but there were other types of dwellings too. Some of them were called longhouses, or hogans, lean-to, grass house, tipi, earth lodge, pueblo, pithouse, or a chickee. They lived in more than one type of dwelling seasonally, to adjust to the temperature. All of these dwellings looked different and were made out of different materials, but some of the main materials used were, wood, bark, brush, straw, grass, reeds, clay sod, stone and hide. Wigwams were made of soft bark and animal hide to be more weather repellent. Inside, animal hide was used to make it more comfortable to live in. Wood was used to make the structure of the floor more stable to live in. The wigwams had a pole frame that typically had 13-20 poles that were about 25 feet in length. An the diameter of one wigwam ranged from 7-20 feet wide, enough to be able to fit two or more families per dwelling. Then creating a steep passageway leading to an angled door that led up into the floor of the house, allowed for a more weatherproofed environment. Since there are so many different types of homes that this tribe lived in it occurred to me that dwellings were a very important part of the Algonquin lifestyle.

** Lifestyle **
written by Liana T.

The Algonquins were a type of Native American that lived as far north as Canada, as far south as Virginia, and as far west as Wisconsin. They lived in villages in the “plaza.” The Algonquins were forest hunters and fishermen. To get food they hunted in the wood and by rivers. They hunted moose bear and rabbits with a bow and arrow. Tho hunt they canoed down the river to catch all types of fish including shellfish. They used the fur from minks and beavers. Food was grown in fields. They combined hunting, fishing, and gathering some agriculture, using digging sticks to plant fields of corn, squash, beans, and sunflowers. The Algonquins grew corn, squash, beans, sunflowers, wild rice, and tobacco. The wild rice was grown on the muddy banks of a river. They made maple syrup from groves of maple trees. They created memory scrolls or dream catchers to remember stories and to protect children from bad dreams, they wrote down dream memories and ceremonies As tools the Algonquins chipped stone, bone, shell, and pottery. The [|Shawanees], an Algonquin tribe, believe that the founder of their tribe was a woman. All the other tribes believe the founder was a man. The Algonquin’s had a lifestyle that was different from all other Native Americans.

**Religion**
written by Emily F.

The Algonquin religion was influenced by many things including conflicts and their lifestyle. Their religion has one main supreme being they call Kokumthena, which is known to be the creator of the world. Algonquins call Kokumthena “The Grandmother”, and her features are portrayed as gray hair and varying sizes. She is known to be a depicted and [|anthropomorphic] female. She lives in the sky and the only people who can understand her language are kids under the age of four. Kokumthena had created the world and is expected to one day end it. There are many prophets in the Algonquin religion who have tried to search for Kokumthena, but have not succeeded. Stories in this religion reflect on past events and are influenced by the conflicts with Europeans, and the Virgin Mary story in Christianity. The division in the Algonquin tribe that’s in charge of religion is the Pekowi division. The Algonquin tribe is very unique and was influenced on many different things.

