ERIE INDIANS

THE ERIE INDIANS REFER TO THE EASTERN PUMA OR PANTHER AS TUSCARORA. THESE FOLKS USE IROQUOIAN IN PRECONTACT TIMES AND LIVED FROM WESTERN NEW YORK TO OHIO. THEY WERE DESTROYED BY WARS WITH THE IROQUOIS IN NEW YORK. ERIE MEANS LONG TAIL , OR CAT PEOPLE. THEY LIVED IN MULTI-FAMILY LONG HOUSES. THEY GREW CORN, BEANS, AND SQUASH, IN SIMMER. IN WINTER THEY LIVED OFF THEIR STORED CROPS AND ANIMALS THAT WERE SMOKED. THESE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE LIVED IN THE GREAT LAKES FOR 1000'S OF YEARS IN SUCCEEDING CULTURES. COMPETITION FOR RESOURCES AND POWER ESCALATED BY THE RETURNS OF THE FUR TRADE, VIOLENCE INCREASED BETWEEN THE TRIBES. THEY ENCROACHED ON TERRITORIES OF OTHER TRIBES .IN 1650'S THE IROQUOIS WARRED AGAINST THE ERIE AND COMPETING TRIBES. THE ERIE WERE DESTROYED. THEW FOLKS REMAINING WERE ABSORBED BY THE IROQUOIS. ANTHROLOGIST MAROIN SMITH THEORIZED THAT SOME ERIE FLED TO VIRGINIA AND THEN TO SOUTH CAROLINA, AND WERE CALLED WESTCO. SOME FOLKS OF THE SENEKA IN OKLAHOMA CLAIMED TO BE DESCENDED FROM THE ERIE. THE ERIE HAD LITTLE CONTACT WITH EUROPEANS. THE JESUIT MISSIONARIES IN CANADA REPORT ON THEM IN HISTORIC TIMES. THE LITTLE THAT HAS BEEN DERIVED FROM THEM IS FROM ORAL HISTORIES AND ARCHAEOLOGISTS. WIKIPEDIA.COM ACCESS GENEOLOGY