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American Bamboo DNA Voucher

This is a specimen of the bamboo species Arthrostylidium venezuelae. A. venezuelae is one of over 400 species of bamboo that are native to Central and South America. Most American bamboos have small stems and use surrounding vegetation to help them stand upright. This specimen is from Costa Rica and it served as one of the sources of DNA used in a 2012 research paper on the evolution of woody bamboos of the New World tropics. American bamboo diversity and evolution is one of the many research areas that MPM curators have investigated over the years.

Item Image
bamboo
Catalog Number
B162818
135

Native Games

For many Native Americans, games were a form of entertainment, but they also served important social, ceremonial, and political purposes.

Games often taught skills and values necessary for adult life, such as patience, sportsmanship, dexterity, hand-eye coordination, endurance, and critical thinking.

Great Lakes Traditional Culture

Environment

Regionally, Great Lakes Indians are part of what is called the Woodland Culture Area. The Woodlands include the forested eastern part of North America, east of the Mississippi River and north of Cape Hatteras and extending north of the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence seaway into the Canadian Maritimes. In their basic pattern and way of life, Woodland Indian cultures are broadly similar, but also include regional environmental and cultural differences.

Material Culture and the Arts

For Native people in the Great Lakes area, finding sufficient food was sometimes a challenge.

They structured their seasonal round of movements and forays to different areas to take advantage of rice, nuts, berries and other foods which were plentiful as well as travelling to good fishing spots and areas where game was plentiful.