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Menominee Along with the Winnebago and Ojibwe (Chippewa), the Menominee were one of the original tribes of Wisconsin and Upper Michigan. Their residence in this area extends back beyond human memory and may have been for at least 5,000 years. Their earliest known location was on the Menominee River which forms the current border between northeast Wisconsin and Upper Michigan with their original territory extending north to Escanaba, Michigan and south to Oconto, Wisconsin. Other tribes occupying Wisconsin before 1600 were the Dakota (Sioux) in the northwest, the Illinois in the south, and, in what may be a surprise for some, the Cheyenne in the west-central area of the state. The Menominee traditionally had what is classified as an Eastern Woodland Culture which in manner and dress resembled the neighboring Ojibwe long buckskin pants, breechcloth, and long hair usually adorned with fur roach and feathers. The most noticeable difference would have been a distinct Algonquin dialect related to that spoken by the Cree or Fox. They were too far north for reliable corn cultivation - a fact of life the refugee tribes quickly discovered after they had relocated to the area during the 1650s. Instead, the Menominee provided for themselves through a combination of hunting, fishing, and gathering (particularly wild rice which was a staple of their diet). In fact, they relied so heavily on wild rice they referred to themselves as Wild Rice People which in its French form became Folles Avoines. Like most Native Americans, the Menominee adapted to their circumstances, and after they had spread south into areas with better soil and longer growing seasons, they practiced a limited amount of agriculture.
Metoac It was the Metoac's grave misfortune to occupy the northern shore of Long Island which was the source of the best wampum (beads of shells strung in strands and used by American Indians as money) in the Northeast. Each summer, the Metoac harvested clam shells from the waters of Long Island Sound which, during the winter, were painstakingly fashioned into small beads. Strung together in long strands, they were called "wampompeag" - shortened somewhat by the English colonists into the more familiar form of "wampum" ...the Dutch called it siwan (sewan). The Metoac traded this painstakingly crafted product to other tribes (most notably the Mahican) and prospered as a result. Passed from tribe to tribe, Long Island wampum made its way as far west as the Black Hills of South Dakota. The strings of shell beads were sometimes employed as a rudimentary currency in native trade, but it was also valued for personal decoration. Arranged into belts whose designs could convey ideas, wampum was also employed in native diplomacy to bind important agreements such as war and peace. |
