Culture Areas circa 1600 in N. Am.

Native peoples were organized at a tribe level. Multiple tribes that shared a common language have been recognized here as a ‘tribal grouping’. The alliances among tribes were based firstly on language and common cultural features. These groupings have been recognized as living in geographic areas on these maps.

The concept of the Iroquoian grouping as a “League of Five Nations” was originally a European concept. These tribal language groups were largely a number of independent bands that had little central coordination or organization which European societies ascribe to the concept of a “nation”.