<P> In December, when the snows began, the people created larger winter camps in sheltered locations, where they built or reconstructed long houses . February and March were lean times . The tribes in southern New England and other northern latitudes had to rely on cached food . Northerners developed a practice of going hungry for several days at a time . Historians hypothesize that this practice kept the population down, according to Liebig's law . The northerners were food gatherers only . </P> <P> The southern Algonquians of New England relied predominantly on slash - and - burn agriculture . They cleared fields by burning for one or two years of cultivation, after which the village moved to another location . This is the reason the English found the region relatively cleared and ready for planting . By using various kinds of native corn (maize), beans and squash, southern New England natives were able to improve their diet to such a degree that their population increased and they reached a density of 287 people per 100mi as opposed to 41 in the north . </P> <P> Even with mobile crop rotation, southern villages were necessarily less mobile than northern ones . The natives continued their seasonal occupation but tended to move into fixed villages near their lands . They adjusted to the change partially by developing a gender - oriented division of labor . The women cultivated crops, and the men fished and hunted . </P> <P> Scholars estimate that, by the year 1600, the indigenous population of New England had reached 70,000--100,000 . </P>

Native american tribes in the new england colonies