The Native Americans of the Northeast were known as the Woodland Nations.  They were sustained by hunting, fishing, and some raising of maize (corn). 
The Northeast culture area is defined as covering the following territory:  East-to-West, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River;  North-to-South, from the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley, including the Chesapeake Bay and Tidewater region.  
Around 1600, the Northeast Nations that lived along the Lawrence River, formed a league of ‘Five Nations’ or ‘League of the Iroquois.’  They included the Mohawks, Oneida, Onondaga, Seneca, and Cayuga.  Because of this, they survived the French attempts to destroy their power in the 1700s.  Nevertheless, during the colonial period internal disagreement on whether to support the French or English finally destroyed their alliance.