From WV Archive & History:
"Paleo-Indian People "- The first people in West Virginia
were the Paleo-Indians or early hunters. They arrived sometime before 11,000
BCE. Excavations in the Kanawha and Ohio valleys, on Blennerhassett Island,
and at Peck's Run in Upshur County have uncovered stone weapons of this period.
The early hunters lived in small family units. Small nomadic groups hunted
large game, such as mastodons, mammoths, and buffalo, with spears that had
fluted points. Large numbers of these arrowheads have been discovered along
the Ohio River between St. Marys and Parkersburg. Around 6000 BCE, most of
the large game became extinct, and the early hunters either died out or adapted
to a culture of hunting small game and gathering edible plants.
Archaic People - Between 7000 and 1000 BCE, several differing
Archaic cultures developed in the Northern Panhandle, the Eastern Panhandle,
and the Kanawha Valley. Excavations at Globe Hill in Hancock County, Buffalo
in Putnam County, and St. Albans in Kanawha County have revealed simple tools,
primitive pottery, and ceremonial burials. Unlike the nomadic Paleo-Indians,
the Archaic people tended to settle in one place for long periods of time.
An archaeological excavation in the late 1960s determined the St. Albans site
to be one of the first permanent settlements in present-day West Virginia.
The Archaic people chose this site in order to gather shellfish from the Kanawha
River. The use of gardens, pottery, and ceremonial burial mounds around 1000
BCE marked the beginning of the Early Woodland or Adena culture.
Adena People - The Criel Mound in South Charleston is the largest
of approximately fifty conical type mounds of the Adena culture in an area
west of Charleston extending to Institute. The precise age of the Criel Mound
is unknown, but archaeologists believe it dates to the time of the Grave Creek
Mound in Moundsville, probably built between 250 and 150 BCE. It was the burial
ground for an Indian village located on the site of the city of South Charleston
some 2,000 years ago. It is unknown when the village disappeared, although
some have suggested it remained until as late as 1650 CE In West Virginia,
the 35-foot high and 175-foot diameter Criel Mound is exceeded in size only
by the Grave Creek Mound.3
Hopewell - The Hopewell culture apparently developed in the Illinois Valley around 500 BCE. As the Hopewell people moved east, their culture had the most significant impact of any of the early Americans. By the year 1 CE, members of the Hopewell culture began migrating into the Kanawha Valley and erected mounds in the South Charleston and St. Albans area, most notably the Murad mound. Other evidence of their presence has been found at Buck Garden Creek in Nicholas County, the Watson Farm Mound in Hancock County, and the Fairchance Mound near Moundsville. One remarkable arhaeological discovery was at Mount Carbon in Fayette County. A variant of the culture called the Armstrong people erected stone walls and earthworks around the top of the mountain, possibly as a religious rite. Most of these discoveries were later destroyed by strip mining.
Late Prehistoric period - During the late prehistoric period
(1000 CE - 1600 CE), West Virginia was occupied by Native Americans of various
tribes. They lived in small villages and hunted, fished, and cultivated corn,
beans, and squash. In addition to many burial sites and petroglyphs, one of
the largest excavations of a Native American village is Buffalo Village at
Buffalo, Putnam County.
Emergence of Tribes - By 1600, organized tribes such as the
Delaware and Shawnee had moved into present-day West Virginia. In addition,
the powerful Iroquois Confederacy began exerting its influence on the region.
The Confederacy was an alliance of five Iroquois-speaking nations -- Mohawk,
Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca -- formed in present-day New York in
the late 1500s. In 1722, the Tuscaroras joined the Iroquois Confederacy, which
became known as the Six Nations. When Europeans first explored western Virginia
in the late 1600s, they discovered few Native Americans. Historian Otis Rice
suggests this absence was due to the Five Nations, "which sought domination
of the Ohio Valley as part of their effort to control the fur trade with the
Dutch, and later the British. . . ." (WV: A History, 9). The Confederacy
controlled the valley but other tribes were permitted to settle there. For
example, a Shawnee village existed at present-day Point Pleasant and a Delaware
village flourished at Bulltown in present-day Braxton County well into the
1700s.
Native American Concept of Land
A major factor in the treaty disputes was Native Americans' concept of land.
Indians fought among themselves over hunting rights to the territory but the
Native American idea of "right" to the land was very different from
the legalistic and individual nature of European ownership. John Alexander
Williams describes this in his book, West Virginia: A History for Beginners:
The Indians had no concept of "private property," as applied to
the land. Only among the Delawares was it customary for families, during certain
times of the year, to be assigned specific hunting territories. Apparently
this was an unusual practice, not found among other Indians. Certainly, the
idea of an individual having exclusive use of a particular piece of land was
completely strange to Native Americans.
The Indians practiced communal land ownership. That is, the entire community
owned the land upon which it lived. . . .
For the complete
text follow this link:
http://www.wvculture.org/history/indland.html#settle
