Tribal Independence Era Prior to 1491

1000 BCE

Ancestors of peoples of the Southeast develop major trading centers

Wall painting at Cahokia Mounds, Illinois. Image: Good Free Photos
Wall painting at Cahokia Mounds, Illinois. Image: Good Free Photos

The Adena (1000 BCE-AD 200) and Hopewell (300 BCE-AD 700) agricultural societies build large earthwork mounds and cities from the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley floodplains to the southeastern shores. Like other communal farming societies in the Southwest, they produce and grow mainly corn, beans, and squash. Mississippian Moundbuilder peoples establish metropolitan centers (Native Voices, "1000 BC–AD 1550: Urban gardeners build earthen mounds in Ohio River valley").