In Need of a Subject Matter Expert

I’m writing a story right now, and it requires that I know many things I don’t actually know. For instance, I know frightening little about the native cultures that were on the east coast when the europeans first started arriving. Names! I need names, at least. The exact tribe is not so important, I can hand-wave around that, although the Seminoles or another tribe in Florida would be the most historically accurate but not very convenient for the unfolding of my story.

I do pledge, however, to NOT perpetuate the “Jamestown is America’s oldest city” myth. Have I ranted about that on these pages yet?

Anyway, I could use some advice about an east-coast tribe that greeted some of the first settlers, and what names they might have used (transliterated is acceptable, maybe preferable). Other details, like how they got along with their neighbors, their architecture, and diet would be extra-awesome.

Less important, I have some physical chemistry hand-waving that, while believable, could be better – more clever.

It’s a fun story to write, but as it progresses I suspect I won’t be hitting it out of the park with this one. I’ll settle for a solid base hit, however. Any offers of help either email me directly or leave a comment. I look forward to hearing from you!

4 thoughts on “In Need of a Subject Matter Expert

  1. Feh. The indians in my part of Back East were “The Standing Stone People”, anglishly translated as the Juniata. They were massacred by the Iroquois early on as the Iroquois coveted the land as hunting grounds. Yum for “native civilizations.”

  2. The area around Jamestown included the Mataponi tribe. IN NC there are the Lumbees and also the Cherokees – the later commonly thought of as an Oklahoma tribe, but that was after the “Trail of 10,000 tears” a forced march from NC to OK.

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