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Peoples of the Arctic

In North America, the Arctic includes most of the seacoast of Greenland, northern Canada, and Alaska. The land consists mainly of tundra. In the winter, ice and snow cover the ground, and most of the Arctic Ocean is covered with ice.

Scholars classify the native peoples of the North American Arctic into three large groups: (1) the Aleuts, who live on the Aleutian Islands off the coast of mainland Alaska; (2) the Inuit; who live from northern Alaska across Canada to

Greenland; and (3) the Yuit, who live in western and southern Alaska, as well as in Siberia, in Russia. The three groups have similar ways of life, but their languages, though related, differ.

Arctic peoples probably began to migrate across the Bering Strait into the New World about 10,000 years ago. They were the last Native Americans to arrive in the Western Hemisphere. They are more closely related to peoples who currently live in Siberia than they are to many other native peoples of the Americas. As a result, many scholars do not refer to the Inuit, Aleuts, and Yuit as Indians.

Before European contact. Most Arctic peoples lived in small bands, mainly in widely scattered settlements along the seacoast. The bands moved often in search of food but usually remained within a certain

territory. Most Inuit bands did not have permanent leaders. Many Aleut and Yuit villages had chiefs.

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Arctic peoples obtained food mainly by hunting and fishing. Seals were the primary food across most of the region. Sealskin was widely used for making shelters and boats, clothes, tools, and other goods. Arctic peoples also hunted a type of deer called caribou and whales, walruses, and other sea mammals for their skin and for food. In much of the Arctic, meat was eaten raw because there was no firewood.

Men, women, and children of the Arctic wore similar clothing. They usually wore a caribou- skin parka (hooded jacket) and trousers and sealskin boots. Babies and young children often rode in the backs or hoods of their mothers' parkas.

In Alaska and Greenland, many shelters were made of wood, sod, stone, or animal skins. In much of Alaska, forests provided wood for making permanent houses. Some Inuit in Canada built snowhouses during the winter, but they lived in skin tents during the summer.

The Inuit used skin boats for travel and to hunt sea mammals. These boats were made of sealskin or walrus skin stretched over a wooden frame. In the winter, Arctic peoples often traveled across the frozen sea and the frigid land on dog sleds.

Weapons of the Arctic peoples included harpoons, spears, bows and arrows, and knives. Bones and antlers were often used to make arrowheads and spear points.

Arctic peoples believed the animals, mountains, sea, and other things around them each had a spirit. Shamans were thought to have some control over the spirit world. When hunters killed an animal for food, they thanked its spirit.

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Indians of the Northeast

The Northeast cultural area extends from just north of the Canadian border to just south of the Ohio River. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean, including the coasts of Virginia and northern North Carolina, to about the Mississippi River.

The Northeast is a region of cold winters and warm summers.

Forests cover much of the area, which is often called the Eastern Woodlands. Rolling prairies lie in the west.

Before European contact. Almost all the Northeast tribes spoke an Iroquoian or Algonquian language. The Iroquoian-speaking tribes included the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. By the early 1600's, these five groups had joined together to form the Iroquois League. The Tuscarora joined the league in the early 1720's. The Huron also spoke an Iroquoian language, but they were enemies of the league.

The Iroquois lived mostly by growing corn, beans, and squash. Slash-and-burn agriculture was the main method of farming. The women farmed and gathered wild plants, nuts, and berries. Men hunted and fished.

Among the speakers of Algonquian languages were the Abenaki in the east and the Chippewa in the west. Some of the northernmost groups depended more on hunting, gathering, and fishing than on farming. But most Algonquian groups grew corn, beans, squash, and other crops. The Chippewa and other Indians of the Great Lakes region also harvested wild rice. Some tribes collected the sap of maple trees.

Houses were made to protect people from the cold in winter. Most Northeastern Indians lived in villages of dome-shaped wigwams covered with bark. Iroquois

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villages included longhouses with separate sections for related families. Tall fences called palisades surrounded many villages and provided protection from enemies.

The Indians of the Eastern Woodlands traveled on foot or in bark canoes. Northeastern Indians made deerskin shirts, dresses, leggings, and

breechcloths. Many of these Indians rubbed their hair with bear grease to make it

smooth and shiny. In some groups, men shaved their heads almost completely, leaving only a small tuft of hair on top.

Warfare sometimes broke out among Northeastern Indians. Weapons included clubs and bows and arrows. The Iroquois were the dominant group in warfare.

Family ties were traced through the father among most Algonquian speakers.

Among the Iroquoian speakers and a few Algonquian speakers, however, family ties were traced through the mother. Many Iroquois longhouses sheltered an elderly couple with separate "apartments" for each married daughter. The couple's married sons lived in the longhouses of their wives' families.

Leaders of the Eastern Woodlands tribes were called sachems. The five tribes that formed the Iroquois League chose 50 sachems to lead their federation. The sachems were chosen from different clans. Only men could be sachems, but only women had the right to select who became a sachem. If a sachem did not do what the women wanted in council, they could remove him and select a new leader.

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When councils of the Iroquois League met, they made decisions by consensus.

Sachems would give speeches setting forth their position on an issue.

Discussions sometimes went on for hours or days until everyone could compromise and agree on the same plan.

Religion played an important part in the lives of the Indians of the Northeast.

These tribes believed in a spirit power that inhabited many creatures and forces of nature and could appear in visions as guardian spirits. In some Alonquian languages, this power was called manito. Shamans supposedly could summon helper spirits to cure diseases or to predict who would win a war.

Complicated ceremonies were common in the Great Lakes region. The

Chippewa, Winnebago, and neighboring tribes had a secret society called the Midewiwin Society. Its members had special songs, rites, and equipment that they used to reach the gods. Some groups, including the Shawnee, Kickapoo, and Potawatomi, made use of medicine bundles—bags of such objects as animal skins, pipes, dried herbs, and tobacco. Medicine bundles, sometimes known as sacred bundles, were believed to have special powers, and they were opened only during certain ceremonies. Members of the Iroquois False Face Society wore brightly painted wooden masks during their disease-curing rituals.

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Indians of the Southeast

The Southeast extends from just south of the Ohio River to the Gulf of Mexico and from the Atlantic Coast of southern North Carolina to just west

of the Mississippi River. It is a region of mild winters and warm, humid

summers. The terrain varies from the mountains of the Appalachians to the sandy coastal plain, with rolling hills and some swamps in-between.

Pine forests cover most of the region.

Before European contact. The tribes of the Southeast included the Catawba, Cherokee, Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Seminole. The Alabama, Coushatta, and a number of other tribes belonged to a federation called the Creek Confederacy. Southeastern Indians spoke many languages, including ones belonging to the Algonquian, Muskogean, and Siouan language families.

Southeastern Indians generally had an abundant supply of food. The adequate rainfall and long growing season enabled them to grow large quantities of corn. A favorite food was sofkee, which was made by grinding and then boiling corn. Today, sofkee is known

as grits. Southeastern Indians also grew beans, squash, pumpkins, and sunflower seeds, and raised turkeys. The women farmed and gathered nuts, berries, and wild plants. Men cleared the land and did most of the hunting and fishing.

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People of the Southeast traveled either on foot or in wooden dugout canoes. Dugout canoes were made by burning out the centers of fallen trees with embers and then chopping out the charred wood with stone axes.

Most Southeastern Indian villages had a central plaza with a council

house, a public square, and a ceremonial ground. Most houses were made of wattle and daub—that is, a wooden frame covered by reed mats with plaster spread over them. Palisades enclosed many villages.

The Indians of the Southeast made deerskin shirts, dresses, leggings, and breechcloths. Women sometimes wore wraparound skirts of woven cloth made of plant fibers. Turkey feathers were sewed onto netting to make robes. The Indians in warmer areas wore little clothing, and many decorated their bodies with tattoos and body painting. Creek and Chickasaw men shaved their heads almost completely, leaving only a small tuft of hair on top. Choctaw men let their hair grow long.

Warfare sometimes broke out among Southeastern Indians. Weapons included bows and arrows and a variety of clubs. Warriors fought for glory and often tattooed their bodies with signs of brave deeds. Elaborate

ceremonies accompanied most warfare. Before battle, the warriors

gathered in a council house. They painted themselves, performed religious rites, and took special medicines. Sometimes, two tribes would play a stickball game to settle a dispute and thereby avoid a war.

Women had much power and influence among most Southeastern Indians.

In most cases, family ties were traced through the mother, and extended families in which all the women were related formed the basic social unit.

Cherokee women could attain the position of war woman and participate in war councils. A few Cherokee women fought as warriors.

The Southeast had the most complex forms of government north of

present-day Mexico. The Natchez, who are now extinct, had a king called the Great Sun. He and his family formed the highest class, the Suns.

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Below them were two other upper classes, the Nobles and the Honored Men and Women. At the bottom were the commoners. The Natchez built temples and the Great Sun's house on large, flat-topped, earthen mounds.

Many Southeastern tribes had ascending ranks of chiefs. Nearly all chiefs were men. A chief could head a village or a whole region of villages or, in the case of a chiefdom, a whole tribe. Typically, some chiefs represented the peace faction. Others represented the war faction. Councils of

assistants, advisers, and shamans helped each chief. In most cases, a man inherited his position of chief from his mother's brother, not from his own father.

Religion played an important role in the lives of the Southeastern Indians.

The people honored their ancestors and held elaborate funeral

ceremonies. Many of the dead were buried with grave goods—that is, pottery and other objects—for use in the afterlife. A number of groups worshiped the sun.

The green corn dance was the most important ceremony of the

Southeastern Indians. This annual harvest celebration lasted several days and was a time for giving thanks. The dance was thought to maintain harmony and to make things pure again. A new year began when a community fire was lit during the ceremony and a woman from each household took some fire for her hearth.

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Indians of the Plains

The Plains stretch from just west of the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to Mexico. Few Indians lived in this vast grassland region before the arrival of the Europeans. But after the

Spaniards brought the horse to the region in the 1600's, a new way of life appeared on the Plains. On horseback, the Indians could follow the great

herds of buffalo. After new tribes and white settlers arrived on the Plains, fighting broke out.

Before European contact. Most of the original Plains tribes lived in

villages along the rivers and streams where the land was fertile and easily cultivated. Out on the grasslands, the tough sod was hard to farm. The women tended crops of beans, corn, squash, and tobacco while the men hunted deer, elk, and sometimes buffalo. During the summer, the Indians left their villages to hunt the vast buffalo herds on the Plains. The huge beasts were difficult to hunt on foot, and so the men tried to stampede herds of them off cliffs or into areas where they could be killed more easily.

In the fall, the Indians returned to the villages and harvested their crops.

They pulled the slain buffalo home on travois, which were made by

fastening a platform to two poles. Sometimes the Indians used dogs to pull the travois.

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The early Plains Indians wore deerskin breechcloths, leggings, and simple shirts. They used buffalo hides for winter robes and moccasin soles. While in their villages, the tribes lived in earth lodges, frames of logs covered with brush and dirt. Out on the Plains, they lived in tipis made of animal skins.

Indians of the Great Basin

The Great Basin includes Nevada and Utah and parts of Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, and California. Much of the area is desert, with scattered grasses and sagebrush. Pine forests rise in the mountains and along streams and lakes.

Summers are hot. In the northern part of the Great Basin and in the mountains, winters can be cold.

Before European contact. The tribes of the Great Basin consisted of many small bands, some no larger than extended families. Family ties were traced through both parents. Each band had a home territory near a lake or a stream that provided a reliable supply of water and fish.

Pine nuts were the most important single source of food for Great Basin Indians. Other wild plants used for food included acorns, beans, a type of lily called camas, mesquite, ricegrass, wheatgrass, and wolfberries. A few

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groups grew corn, beans, and squash. Great Basin Indians fished in the area's lakes and streams, where they caught mainly salmon, trout, and whitefish. They also hunted such game as pronghorns and rabbits.

Men in the south typically wore animal-skin breechcloths, and those in the north wore moccasins, leggings, and fringed shirts. Women in the south generally wore animal-skin skirts, and those in the north wore dresses, knee-length leggings, and moccasins. In the winter, rabbit-skin robes provided warmth for men and women in both the north and the south.

Shelters varied with the season. In warmer weather, Great Basin Indians built brush windbreaks. In the winter, they constructed a conical shelter of pine poles covered with such materials as sod, bark, grass, and animal skins.

Great Basin Indians believed the world around them was inhabited by spirits. Shamans were thought to have the ability to heal people and

improve hunting. Guardian spirits were important. Initiation ceremonies for girls reaching adulthood were common. Great Basin Indians also

frequently held round dances. In these dances, dancers linked arms and circled a central pole or tree. Round dances were held to ask for rain, to make the plants grow, to ensure a good hunt, and for many other reasons.

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Indians of the Plateau

The Plateau covers most of the southern half of British Columbia east of the coastal mountains. It also includes parts of Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana, as well as a small section of northern California.

Forests and grasslands cover most of the north.

The south is semidesert.

Before European contact. The tribes living in the Plateau consisted of bands of extended families. Each band lived in its own territory but was related through marriage to other bands in the tribe. During the summer, bands traveled their territory in search of food. In the winter, they lived in villages. Each village had one or more respected leaders, most of whom were men. These leaders gave advice and helped settle disputes.

The main foods eaten by Plateau Indians were wild bulbs and roots, including camas and bitter root; such berries as blackberries and

huckleberries; and salmon and other fish. Women gathered the berries and dug the roots and bulbs. Men did the fishing. They also hunted rabbits and other game.

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Plateau Indian men often wore robes, and women wore dresses. These garments were typically made of the skins of deer or mountain sheep or goats, but they could also be made of woven bark fibers. The clothing of some groups included buckskin leggings, moccasins, shirts, and dresses.

Nez Perce and many other Plateau Indian women became famous for the basket hats that they wove out of dried leaves.

In the winter, most Plateau Indians lived in warm pit houses. These shelters were typically built by digging a large, round hole in the ground and placing posts in a circle to form the walls. The cone-shaped roof was covered with dirt. People often entered the dwelling through the smoke hole in the roof. In the summer, Plateau Indians lived in temporary brush or mat-covered shelters that were easy to build and take apart.

Plateau Indians believed shamans could heal people and had some control over the spirit world. Both boys and girls went on vision quests to seek out guardian spirits. During round dances, the dancers sometimes went into trances and had visions.

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Indians of the Southwest

The Southwest, a huge, dry region, includes Arizona, New Mexico, southern Utah, southern Colorado, and northern Mexico. In the northern area of the

Southwest, wind and water have formed steep- walled

canyons, sandy areas, buttes, mesas, and other landforms. In the south, the mountains give way to flat, desert country.

The Rio Grande and the Colorado, Gila, and Salt rivers cut through the Southwest region.

Before European contact. The early Indians of the Southwest included several tribes. The Anasazi built cliff houses in the northern area. The Hohokam dug long irrigation canals in central Arizona. The Mogollon hunted and farmed along the rivers of eastern Arizona and western New Mexico. The Pueblo tribes, most of whom were descended from the early Anasazi Indians, had one of the most highly developed civilizations in North America. Most Pueblo lived in villages and farmed along rivers that provided enough water for irrigation. Their name—

Pueblo—comes from the Spanish word for village.

The Pima, Quechan, and Tohono O'odham (also known as Papago) also farmed, though hunting and gathering provided much of their food. They lived in villages

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but moved from place to place with the changing seasons. The Navajo and Apache were other hunting and gathering tribes that traveled about in small bands in search of food. These groups came to the Southwest much later than the Pueblo. They often raided the Pueblo people.

The Pueblo depended on corn, beans, and squash for most of their food. They also raised turkeys. Water was important to them because enough rain meant the difference between plenty of food and starvation. Throughout the year, the Pueblo held religious festivals and ceremonies that were aimed at bringing rain and making their crops grow.

The Pueblo were excellent craftworkers. The women made handsome pottery and decorated it with painted designs. They spun yarn from cotton that they grew and wove it into cloth. The men wore cotton breechcloths and cotton kilts.

Women wrapped cotton cloth around their bodies and fastened it under the left arm and over the right shoulder. Around their legs they wore buckskin wrappings that reached to the top of their moccasins. After the Spaniards introduced sheep to the Southwest, the Pueblo began to weave woolen cloth for clothing.

The Pueblo built large, many-storied homes of adobe and rocks. These dwellings housed many families—and some held an entire village. The people usually entered by ladders through the roof. The ladders could be removed in case of enemy attack. They provided protection from the frequent raids by the Apache and Navajo. Sometimes the Pueblo built their dwellings into the sides of steep cliffs, which provided additional protection against attack.

The Pueblo usually fought only when attacked. If a Pueblo killed someone—even in warfare—that individual had to go through a long period of self-purification before returning to live in the village.

The Apache and Navajo, on the other hand, were fierce fighters. These two groups raided the Pueblo in search of food and goods. The Navajo and Apache both learned some farming from the Pueblo, but they depended chiefly on hunting and gathering for their food. They hunted game, including deer,

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pronghorns, and rabbits, and gathered cactus fruit, roots, pinon nuts, and other plant food.

The Navajo and Apache wore skin garments, though the Navajo later adopted loom weaving and Pueblo dress. A Navajo family lived in a mud-covered log hogan. The Apache did not have permanent houses. Some of these Indians lived in brush shelters, and others lived in tipis.

Kolata, Alan L., et al. "Indian, American." World Book Student, World Book, 2017, www.worldbookonline.com/student/article?id=ar274500. Accessed 2 Sept. 2017.

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Indians of the Subarctic

The Subarctic is a large semiarctic region that includes the interior of Alaska and most of Canada. It is a land of cold winters and heavy snows.

The Subarctic has many lakes and streams, and forests of fir, pine, spruce, and other evergreen trees.

Before European contact. The Subarctic was one of the most thinly populated regions of North America. The Indians who lived in this rugged region belonged to one of two major language groups—the Algonquian speakers in the east and the Athabascan speakers in the west. In spite of their language differences, the two groups had similar ways of life.

Subarctic Indians lived in much the same way as did the first peoples to migrate from Asia to the New World. Tribes consisted of many small bands. Each band lived in its own territory but was related through

marriage to other bands in the tribe. Many Indians in the east traced family ties through the father. Subarctic Indians in the west generally traced ancestry through the mother. Most tribes did not have permanent leaders.

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Food was often scarce, and the Indians moved about hunting and

gathering wild plants, berries, and nuts. The growing season was too short for farming. Buffalo, caribou, deer, elk, moose, and musk ox were the main animals hunted. Fish and shellfish were important foods along the coasts, rivers, and lakes of the region.

Indians of the Subarctic made most of their utensils of wood. They made containers but no pottery. In the east, containers were fashioned from bark, and in the west they were made of woven spruce roots.

Subarctic tribes used caribou or moose skin to make most of their clothing.

The men wore long shirts, breechcloths, leggings, and moccasins. The women had about the same clothing but wore longer shirts and shorter leggings. In winter, everyone wore robes, mittens, and fur caps for extra warmth. The Indians decorated many of their garments with quillwork, embroidery, or painted designs.

Houses were made of wooden frames covered with bark, brush, or animal skins. The Indians also built dome-shaped wigwams, lean-tos, and sturdy log houses. Families that moved around a lot lived in tipis.

In summer, the Indians of the Subarctic used bark canoes to travel on the lakes, rivers, and streams in search of food. In winter, they used wooden toboggans and snowshoes for travel.

Weapons of the Subarctic included bows and arrows, spears, clubs, and knives. In the east, the tribes used stone to make arrow points and knife blades. The western tribes generally used bone and antlers to make tools, and beaver teeth for making knives. Wars were almost unknown.

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Indians of the Northwest Coast

The Northwest Coast stretches along the Pacific Ocean from southern Alaska to northern California. Fish and seafood are plentiful in the ocean and the rivers of the region. Thick forests rise sharply from the beaches

and include giant

redwoods, Douglas-fir, and pine trees.

The region has a mild, humid climate.

Before European contact. Among tribes of the Northwest Coast, a few families had great influence in each village because of their ancestry and wealth. Indians in the north traced family ties through the mother; those in the south, through the father. Tribes measured wealth in terms of such possessions as canoes and blankets. Other valuable property included slaves—captured members of enemy groups or their descendants. But sheets of copper, hammered into shield shapes, had the greatest value of all. These sheets are sometimes calledcoppers.

Men—and some women—of wealth and social position proved their right to high rank at a feast called a potlatch. During a potlatch, which lasted

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several days, a host fed the guests and gave away many valuable items.

The gifts gained respect for the host and the host's clan and indicated the social rank of the individuals who received the gifts. Some potlatches were held to mark births, marriages, and deaths. During rival potlatches, hosts destroyed a valuable copper shield to challenge their rivals to outdo them at another potlatch.

Food from the sea included not only salmon and a variety of fish, but also seals, sea otters, sea lions, whales, and other animals. Plentiful land animals included bear, caribou, deer, elk, and moose.

The Northwest Coast tribes made elaborate boxes, masks, grave markers, and utensils from wood. They built houses with large posts and beams, covered with planked sides and gabled roofs. Several families lived in one of these large structures.

Great seagoing canoes—some more than 60 feet (18 meters) long—were burned and cut from the trunks of huge cedar and redwood trees. The canoes could hold as many as 60 people. The Indians carved or painted designs on many of these vessels.

The Northwest Coast people believed in a large number of gods. During the winter, secret societies dramatized various myths. These performances were mainly religious ceremonies. But elaborate costumes, masks, and settings—plus singing and dancing—made them highly entertaining as well.

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Indians of California

The California cultural area includes much of California. The area extends from the southern edges of Oregon in the north to Baja, in Mexico, in the

south. It stretches from the Sierra Nevada in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west. The

landscape of the region varies from the northern redwood forests to the southern deserts. The climate is generally mild.

Before European contact. More languages were spoken in California than in any other cultural area of North America. The Indians of the region spoke languages belonging mainly to the Aztec-Tanoan, Hokan, Macro- Algonquian, Penutian, and Na-Dene language groups.

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Tribes in the California area consisted of one or a few villages of extended families. Many of these tribes were led by chiefs, most of whom were men.

Chiefs organized ceremonies and gave advice about hunting, gathering, and fishing.

Acorns were the most important food. Women gathered acorns, washed them, and pounded them into flour. The women then cooked the flour to make acorn mush or bread. Women also gathered pine nuts, mesquite beans, grass seeds, cactus fruits, and berries. They collected clams and other shellfish along the seacoast. The men hunted such game animals as bighorn sheep, deer, elk, and pronghorns. Some coastal groups hunted seals and other sea mammals. Salmon was the main fish caught.

Housing varied greatly. Houses in the north were made of wooden planks.

Farther south, some Indians built cone-shaped dwellings that consisted of rush mats, brush, or slabs of bark on frames of poles. Others lived in pit houses.These shelters were dug several feet into the ground and had roofs and sides made of mud and other materials.

California Indians wore little clothing. Men typically wore animal-skin breechcloths, and women donned animal-skin aprons or skirts. In cold weather, men and women wore robes made of rabbit skins or feathers to keep themselves warm. California Indians often painted their bodies for ceremonies.

California Indians believed that people differed from one another because they had different amounts of spirit power. Many tribes held world

renewal ceremonies to prevent the spirit power in the universe from disappearing. These ceremonies were also designed to ensure an

adequate supply of food. Some groups of California Indians feared ghosts.

The Pomo were famous for their basket making. Pomo women crafted watertight baskets that they decorated with beads, feathers, and shells.

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