The Hopewell tradition (also incorrectly called the "Hopewell culture") is the term used to describe common aspects of the Native American

Native Americans in the United States

Native Americans in the United States are the indigenous peoples in North America within the boundaries of the present-day continental United States, parts of Alaska, and the island state of Hawaii. They are composed of numerous, distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of which survive as...

 culture that flourished along rivers in the northeastern and midwestern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 from 200 BCE to 500 CE

Common Era

Common Era ,abbreviated as CE, is an alternative designation for the calendar era originally introduced by Dionysius Exiguus in the 6th century, traditionally identified with Anno Domini .Dates before the year 1 CE are indicated by the usage of BCE, short for Before the Common Era Common Era...

. The Hopewell tradition was not a single culture

Archaeological culture

An archaeological culture is a recurring assemblage of artifacts from a specific time and place, which are thought to constitute the material culture remains of a particular past human society. The connection between the artifacts is based on archaeologists' understanding and interpretation and...

 or society, but a widely dispersed set of related populations. They were connected by a common network of trade routes, known as the Hopewell Exchange System.
At its greatest extent, the Hopewell exchange system ran from the Southeastern United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 into the southeastern Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 shores of Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south by the American state of New York. Ontario, Canada's most populous province, was named for the lake. In the Wyandot language, ontarío means...

.