Champlains Journals, Maps, and Illustrations
"For archeologists, cultural anthropologists, and
ethnohistorians studying early historic period Native American cultures along
the Northeast coast and the interactions between these groups and Europeans,
Champlain’s text, maps, and illustrations are an information treasury… Even
farther south there was a language and ethnic shift that is described by
Champlain. He writes that the more southern group is called the
“Almouchiquois,” a people who were horticulturalists.
“They till and cultivate the land; a practice
we had not seen previously. In place of ploughs they use an instrument of very
hard wood made in the shape of a spade…We saw their grain, which is Indian
corn. This they grow in gardens, sowing three or four grains in one spot…they
heap about it a quantity of earth. Then three feet away they sow as much again;
and so on in order. Amongst this corn they plant in each hillock three or four
Brazilian beans, which come up in different colors…they keep the ground very
free from weeds. We saw there many squashes, pumpkins, and tobacco, which they
likewise cultivate (Champlain 1922:327-328).”
Based on his observations of the “fixed abodes” of the
Indians and the cultivated fields, along with nut-bearing trees, Champlain
inferred that the climate in this area was milder than that of the St. Croix
River. He reported that “the Indians remain permanently in this place, and have
a large wigwam surrounded by palisades formed by rather large trees placed one
against the other; and into which they retire when their enemies come to make
war against them” (Champlain 1922:329-330).
Mallebarre Harbor (Nauset Marsh, Eastham, Massachusetts),
July 1605
On 20 July, de Monts and his party managed to ride over the shoals and
sandbanks at the entrance to Nauset Harbor, which Champlain named Mallebarre
(“bad bar”) for these obstacles, and into the large embayment. The land around
the embayment was densely occupied. Champlain noted: “…all around it little
houses about which each owner had as much land as was necessary for his
support…There came to us from all sides, dancing, a number of Indians, both men
and women” (Champlain 1922:350).
On 21 July, de Monts, Champlain, and nine or ten companions, all armed, set off to visit the Indian settlement. The remainder of the French party stayed with their ship, guarding it and its contents. In his journals, Champlain describes a landscape with many cultivated fields, filled with the same crops he noted along Saco Bay. He noted several fields that were not cultivated, being left fallow and suggesting a multi-year strategy for cultivation by the natives..."
The first written account of the area was by Samuel de
Champlain, who sailed in on July 21, 1605, and saw a bay with wigwams bordering
it all around. He went ashore with some of the crew: “before reaching [the
Indians’] wigwams, [we] entered a field planted with Indian corn…[which] was in
flower, and some five and a half feet in height. ... We saw Brazilian beans,
many edible squashes…tobacco, and roots which they cultivate … .” He also
described the round wigwams, covered by a thatch made of reeds, and the
people’s clothing, woven from grasses, hemp, and animal skins. As the
expedition cartographer, Champlain has left us an informative map of the Nauset
Harbor area (Figure 1).
Later the same day:
This image caught my eye, got me thinking,
“On shore, Verrazzano noticed that the Narragansett’s
“fields extend for 25 to 30 leagues; they are open and free of any obstacles or
trees, and so fertile that any kind of seed would produce excellent crops.”
Apparently, the Narragansetts used controlled burns to clear the land of trees,
brush and briars, and making the land open for grazing for wildlife and for
cultivation…”
http://smallstatebighistory.com/verrazzano-visits-the-narragansett-indians-in-1524/
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