Topic #1 – Pre-Columbian America

1. Topic #1 – Pre-Columbian America

2. How and why did the first Native Americans come to the western hemisphere?

3. Native Americans were Asians who crossed Beringia during the last ice age, circa 20,000-30,000 years ago

4. As the Native Americans migrated southward, large mammals were not afraid of them, which may have contributed to diminished populations or the extinction of these animals. In the very least, the Native Americans’ hunting and animal domestication, as well as their planting, tremendously altered the ecosystems they encountered

5. Noting some similarities between certain Polynesian cultures and South American native cultures, some suggested that the Pacific Oceans’ currents and winds made it possible for people to have migrated to South America that way

6. In 1947, the Norwegian adventurer Thor Heyerdahl proved that this theory was at least possible with his “Kon-Tiki” expedition

7. Why were North American Indians so diverse culturally?

8. By 10,000 years ago at the latest, Native Americans had populated all of the Americas. The cultures they developed varied tremendously because the environment in which they settled varied tremendously

9. In North America at the time of European discovery in the 1400s, there were hundreds of different Native American languages and cultures.

10. What were the Eastern Woodland Indians along the Atlantic Coast like, and what shaped their culture?

11. There were diverse and abundant environmental amenities – wildlife and foliage – in the eastern woodlands of North America, all along the Atlantic Coast. Because these areas were relatively sparsely settled, there was little competition for resources and little motivation to develop the land.

12. Certainly the Native Americans along the eastern coast of the Atlantic were well adapted to their environment, and all were excellent hunters

13. Adding to this, the eastern woodlands Native Americans were animists, and saw spirits in nature. Disturbing nature more than necessary risked angering spirts that could hurt you.

14. If you killed a deer to survive it was okay but killing more when you did not need it risked spirts and nature turning against you

15. Environmental challenges such as a bad drought or an epidemic of some disease was often interpreted as the result of the spiritual world. A “Medicine Man,” therefore, had religious and environmental knowledge and performed the functions of both priest and physician

16. This is not to say that east coast woodland Native Americans did not impact their environment. Especially in the south, where there was a longer growing season and a larger, more fertile tidewater, agriculture was important – and the Native Americans would use fire to help clear the land.

17. The southern east coast woodland Indians were very good at fire control, using water and ditches to contain and direct the blaze

18. Native Americans would place several type of crops into a mound and let them grow together. They did not grasp the idea of a single crop depleting the soil of nutrients, but they had learned that using the same crop over and over meant that eventually the crop would not grow. Mixing multiple crops in one mound solved this problem by replenishing the soil

19. East coast Indians grew a number of crops, including a wide variety of beans, strawberries, watermelons, pumpkins, and corn. Corn was not indigenous to the east coast of North America but from Central America. By 2000 BC, an Indian trade network had brought corn cultivation to the east coast

20. One of the most popular crops in the south was tobacco, which the Indians would smoke through a pipe, believing it had medicinal and social benefits

21. All east coast Native Americans were also excellent fishermen, using nets and harpoons and long canoes hollowed out by hand and by the use of fire

22. In the southern east coast with the warmer summers and longer growing season, villages tended to be larger and more permanent.

23. Clothing was well adapted to the environment. In summers, many Native Americans in the hot south wore little more than breechcloths and moccasins

24. In the northern east coast, where it was colder, villages were less permanent and entire families would live in one large “longhouse.” When the winter came the villages would often break up, individual families surviving by hunting and gathering on their own

25. In the colder north, fur trapping was big as winter clothing was made from animal hides and fur.

26. East coast Native Americans waged war on each other, often brutally – including scalping – but as all tribes tended to live in an environment of abundance, the wars were often over honor as much as control of natural resources

27. What were the “Mississippian” or Mound Builders like, and what shaped their culture?

28. Further inland, extending from the Great Lakes southward along the Mississippi River, were the “Mound Builders” or Mississippian Culture. The mounds had many functions, including ceremonial, burial, and housing for important leaders.

29. Some of the mounds were constructed in the shape of animals important to the culture, such as the serpent, shown above

30. The Mound Builders were a little more advanced in developing the land, their large mounds and cities engineering marvels. The Mound Builders thrived from circa 3500 BC to 1500 AD, and at one point the culture included the city of Cahokia, now near St. Louis. At its peak around 600-1400 AD, Cahokia had up to 40,000 inhabitants, larger than almost all cities in Europe at the time. Cahokia included more than 80 mounds. Cahokia (then, above and below, and now, right)

31. The construction of large mounds and cities also meant that the society had provided for sufficient fresh water, sewage removal, and food supplies to sustain the population

32. The city of Cahokia, most scholars believe, was finally abandoned due to a combination of overhunting, deforestation, disease, and flooding.

33. What were the Great Plains Indians like, and what shaped their culture?

34. Further west on the Great Plains, the lack of trees and water, together with the hard soil, meant that the Indians had little agriculture and were nomadic, moving their people following the animals they hunted, most notably the American bison or buffalo

35. Buffalo herds could include thousands of buffaloes and stretch for miles. Still, the shortage of water and other environmental amenities meant hard competition between the Native Americans. As a result, the Great Plains Indians were some of the most warlike and fierce of all Native Americans

36. In an environment of scarcity, the Great Plains Native Americans used all parts of the buffalo – hide for clothing, bones for cooking and other implements, and muscles and other internal organs for meat.

37. The Great Plains Native Americans lived in “tepees,” which could be disassembled and used as sleds when roaming. Again, these Native Americans were well adjusted to their environment and its demands

38. What were the Southwest Anasazi or Pueblo Indians like, and what shaped their culture?

39. In the American Southwest, which was hot, arid and included mountains and deserts, the Native Americans were known as the Anasazi or “Pueblo” Indians. Pueblo was the name of their houses they constructed of adobe or baked clay, which was prevalent in the area. These pueblos were perfectly adapted to the environment, the thick walls providing insulation and they were often built into the sides of mountains for protection and shade

40. Because of the scarcity of the environment, the Pueblo Indians were famous for their decorated weaved baskets and painted bake clay jugs, used obviously to help store limited supplies of food and water. In fact, the early Pueblo Indians were known as the “Basket Makers”

41. The Anasazi or Pueblo Indians adapted well to their environment, making use of elaborate and impressive irrigation canals for scare water and below ground basements to beat the heat and preserve food.

42. In the Southwest today you can still see many modern homes modeled on the old pueblo style.

43. You may be familiar with the Native American nations in Central and South America, such as the famous Maya and Inca Indians. In fact, Central and South American Indians were generally more advanced than those in North America and comprised approximately 90% of the total Native American population. This was also due to the environment, since these regions were warmer than many parts of North America. We will not discuss these Native Americans in this class because the focus is on the United States.