Eve of Contact.

Like Europeans, the eastern woodland Indians of North America engaged in near-constant fighting during the centuries prior to first contact. Native American warfare differed dramatically from European hostilities, however, in terms of its roots, aims, and nature. Old World wars of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries such as the Spanish Reconquista or the Hapsburg-Valois Wars were costly, large-scale affairs that had religious or dynastic origins, produced comparatively high casualties, and were fought to achieve territorial or economic gains. The indigenous peoples living throughout the eastern half of North America, in contrast, engaged in low-intensity, low-casualty conflicts known as blood feuds or mourning wars. Through these wars tribes such as the Mahican, Cofitachequi, Susquehannock, Petun, Oneida, and Micmac retaliated for the deaths of relatives and clan members by taking captives or killing Indians from rival bands...