Among the semisedentary peoples, much of the above structure was missing. Without well-defined permanent local political units, strong rulers, or tax mechanisms, they did not offer the Europeans the same kind of potential foothold. They lacked social classes, depending on gender and age for their primary social distinctions. Even their household and family structures were different. Settlements or villages shifted over time both in location and in membership; the largest strongly defined unit was a household often containing scores of people related by blood and marriage, headed by the eldest male, and the best-defined duties in the society were internal to the household.

Among the sedentary peoples, men did most of the heavier agricultural work, with help only at times of peak workload from women, who were principally involved in processing and distributing the product, much as in Europe. Among the semisedentary peoples, men mainly hunted, only clearing the fields for the women, who did the bulk of the agricultural work. Warfare was highly developed among both the sedentary and the semisedentary peoples, but the semisedentary were more mobile, were better able to protect themselves in forests and other hazardous environments, and had more effective weapons. Their foods were less attractive to Europeans, and in any case they had less surplus and were fewer in number. They offered Europeans less incentive to invade and more effective resistance when they did.