Abenaki Indians As Environment :: Free Essay Writer

Many people be under a false impression that early Native Americans argon the original environmentalists. This is an impression that many people share. The Abenaki tribes that resided in Maine from 3700 BP were not by our traditional definition, environmentalists. In fact they were far from ecologically sound. This paper is meant not to criticize the Native Americans of the age, but to clarify their roles in the environment. To better deduce this subject most background is needed.The Abenaki People of the Northeast led a non-permanent exististance based mostly on the seasonal flux in the region. The knowledge domain of land now referred to as Maine especially. Maine has always had abrupt seasons and the Abenaki used these seasons to their advantage. Their kitchen-gardening is one of direct appropriation with nature. This meaning that they were a culture in which nothing was permanent. Their survival depended on mobility. The Abenaki did not utilize storage as we do now, or even as the early Europeans of the time did. For separately of the four seasons they stayed in areas where they would successfully survive. For instance, the summer months were spent on the coastal regions fishing and foraging while in the winter they pulled back into the intragroup forests for protection and hunting. However, they did return to the same part of the forests, coasts and waterfalls where their former camps had been.Although the Abenaki culture readiness to the seasons, they dramatically shaped their surrounding environments. The Abenaki tribes would change the location of the campsites every go to fifteen years due to a variety of reasons. The southern Abenaki tribes who performed some sort of agriculture would experience severe soil exhaustion later on a decade of farming that particular piece of land. The Abenaki required abundant amounts of wood for campfires, smoking meat, building homes and cooking to name but a small few. Pest infestation was also another reas on that the Abenaki would run short the camp. Fleas and vermin would become extremely bothersome after time had departed by and they had become accustomed to environments. They practiced a form of clearcutting cognise today as anthropogenic fire, anthro meaning &8220human and pogenic meaning &8220induced. They would purposely heat massive forest fires around their encampment for a variety of reasons. These areas would burn underbrush and smaller trees but not ignite the foliage of the wide trees. This burning was good for some forms of agriculture.