HUNTING GROUNDS OF THE EASTERN WOODLAND INDIANS | Living Historian | Doug Wood

Doug Wood is a West Virginia living historian portraying the life of the eastern woodland American Indians. After a reading about bear hunting & raccoon trapping with Mohawks in 1755, Doug describes how a historical trail project mixed with his own Cherokee ancestry got him interested in representing the lives of the various woodland Indians of the 18th-century. We begin on captive-taking practices and West Virginia being abandoned by the time of European arrival, yet remaining as a hunting ground for more northern tribes. Then we shoot right into the details of their hunting & trapping methods as described in historical first-hand accounts: excursions of 100s-of-miles for furs & skins; uses of bear grease; catching beavers before Europeans' metal traps; deer stalking in buck hides; fire rings; smoking bears out of dens; a Cherokee bear hunting song; dogs for the chase & for food; pet raccoons, parrots & a caged bear; eating box turtles & toads; bird snaring; and finally, Doug shares a childhood story about the Indian practice of fishing with black walnut hulls. Intermixed throughout are side tangents about: pictographs on trees as a way to relay information such as the outcome of a raid; buffalo in West Virginia; Doug's uncanny memories; and visiting significant historical places. 

Reading from An Account of the Remarkable Occurrences in the Life and Travels of Colonel James Smith; 1755-1759 by James Smith

Check out Doug's schedule of living history events at appalachianlivinghistory.com

Archival Native American [Seneca, Iroquois, & Chippewa] music thanks to Drumhop.com

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