Anthropology

played out in the New England colonies when the English arrived.

The Native Algonquian tribes of New England grew crops of corn, beans, and squash. They protected and preserved meadows where various types of berries grew wild. Some tribes were in an early stage of near domestication of deer by preserving the habitats that deer preferred in order to have a stable population of them to hunt. The only completely domesticated animals that Native people of that region had were dogs.

For animal protein, the Native people fished streams and ponds, collected clams on the ocean shore, and hunted wild animals.

English colonists let their pigs roam freely until time to slaughter them. They trampled the crops that Native people planted in clearings in the woods. English cattle grazed freely, also trampling Native crops. Mills built on creeks and rivers with large paddle wheels disrupted fishing. Native tribes used systems of weirs for fishing which were destroyed by colonists building on streams and creating their own dams. Colonists cut down trees and cleared brush that Native tribes had been preserving as deer habitats.

Native people used beavers for food as well as fur, but the colonial beaver fur trade wiped them out in some locations and some Native men began hunting and trading in them, too.

The Native people retaliated by killing rogue pigs and cattle. Colonists then retaliated back with raids on Native villages or attempts to catch and prosecute the individuals who killed the animals. Native populations resented colonial attempts to impose English laws on them.

Those conflicts resulted in the numerous battles and wars between the Native population of New England and the colonists. They contributed to the willingness of Native warriors to ally themselves with the French in Canada on their raids against New England villages and farms.

Peace in the colonies became the exception rather than the rule.