Chapter One A Continent of Villages
A Continent of Villages What does the chapter title suggest about North American Indian societies before 1500?
Chapter Focus Questions Who were the migrants that peopled the Americas? How did native cultures adapt to the regions of North America? How did the development of farming increase the complexity of native societies? What was the nature of Indian culture in the three major regions of European invasion and settlement?
Who Are the Indian People? The name Indian came from Christopher Columbus belief he had reached the Indies. Enormously diverse group of people 2,000 separate cultures Several hundred different languages Many different physical characteristics Theories arose over the origins of the Indian peoples. Native societies were the degenerate offspring from a superior Old World culture. Joseph de Acosta believed that since Old World animals were present in the Americas, they must have crossed a land bridge used by humans as well.
Cahokia An urban complex along the Mississippi that flourished from the tenth to the fourteenth century Populated by about 30,000 people by mid-1200 Farmers with highly productive cultivation techniques Craftsmen producing goods for continent-wide trade Center of long-distance trading system City-state sponsored by tribute and taxation Mounds were monuments to the elite Priests and governors could look down on people Huge temple covering 15 acres and reaching 10 stories high showcased city wealth and power
A forensic artist reconstructed this bust from the skull of Kennewick Man, whose skeletal remains were discovered along the Columbia River in 1996. Scientific testing suggested that the remains were more than nine thousand years old. James Chatters/Agence France Presse/Getty Images.
Migration from Asia Map: Migration Route from Asia to America New genetic research links American Indians and northwest Asians. Beringia land bridge between Siberia and Alaska Glaciers locked up enough water to lower sea levels, creating grasslands 750 miles wide from north to south. Three migrations from Asia beginning about 30,000 years ago Traveled by land (ice-free corridor) and along coast Settlements on Great Plains have been dated as early as 10,000 B.C.E.
MAP 1.1 Migration Routes from Asia to America During the Ice Age, Asia and North America were joined where the Bering Straits are today, forming a migration route for hunting peoples. Either by boat along the coast, or through a narrow corridor between the huge northern glaciers, these migrants began making their way to the heartland of the continent as much as 30,000 years ago.
Clovis: The First American Technology Clovis tradition was a new and powerful technology. More sophisticated style of making fluted blades and lance points. Named for site of first discovery: Clovis, New Mexico Clovis bands were mobile, foraging communities of 30 50 individuals from interrelated families. Clovis bands migrated seasonally to the same hunting camps.
These Clovis points are typical of thousands that archaeologists have found at sites all over the continent, dating from a period about 12,000 years ago. When inserted in a spear shaft, these three- to six-inch fluted points made effective weapons for hunt-ing mammoth and other big game. The ancient craftsmen who made these points often took advantage of the unique qualities of the stone they were working to enhance their aesthetic beauty. SOURCE:Photograph by Warren Morgan. Warren Morgan/CORBIS.
Hunting Traditions Massive climate shift beginning about 13,000 B.C.E. placed stress on big game animals Great Plains hunters concentrated on American bison (buffalo), requiring fast, accurate weapons. Folsom tradition was a refinement of Clovis. Hunters used spear-throwers to hurl lances at bison. Sophisticated hunting techniques included stampeding bison herds over cliffs. Required sophisticated division of labor and knowledge of food preservation techniques
MAP 1.2 Climatological and Culture Regions of North America Occupying more than a third of the continent, the United States is alone among the world s nations in encompassing all five general classes of global climate: tropical jungles, arid deserts and grasslands, temperate woodlands, subarctic forests, and frozen polar tundra. All peoples must adjust their diet, shelter, and other material aspects of their lives to the physical conditions of the world around them. By considering the ways in which Indian peoples developed distinct cultures and adapted to their environments, anthropologists developed the concept of culture areas. They divide the continent into nine fundamental regions that have greatly influenced the history of North America over the past 10,000 years. Just as regions shaped the lifeways and history of Indian peoples, after the coming of the Europeans they nurtured the development of regional American cultures.
Desert Culture Desert Culture was a way of life based on small-game hunting and intensified foraging. Foraging followed seasonal routes. Skills included: producing fiber baskets for collecting; pitch-lined baskets for cooking; nets and traps; and stone tools. Spread to Great Plains and Southwest West coast developed first permanently settled communities in North America
When, in 1927, archaeologists at Folsom, New Mexico, uncovered this dramatic example of a projectile point embedded in the ribs of a long-extinct species of bison, it was the first proof that Indians had been in North America for many thousands of years. SOURCE:Courtesy of the Denver Museum of Nature and Science.
Forest Efficiency Eastern North America was a vast forest. Developed during Archaic period and included: small-game hunting; gathering seeds, nuts, roots, and other plants; burning woodlands and prairies to stimulate growth of berries, fruits, and roots; burning created meadows to provide food that attracted grazing animals for hunting; and fishing Populations grew and settlements became permanent. Men and women held different roles.
Mexico People living in central Mexico developed farming of maize about 5,000 years ago. Other American crops included potatoes, beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers, avocados, chocolate, and vanilla. Agriculture stimulated sedentary lifestyle and rise of large, urban complexes. Teotihuacan had 200,000 inhabitants. Mesoamerican civilizations were characterized by an elite class of rulers and priests, monumental public works, and systems of mathematics and hieroglyphic writing.
Mesoamerican maize cultivation, as illustrated by an Aztec artist for the Florentine Codex, a book prepared a few years after the Spanish conquest. The peoples of Mesoamerica developed a greater variety of cultivated crops than those found in any other region in the world, and their agricultural productivity helped sustain one of the world s great civilizations. SOURCE:American Museum of Natural History.
Increasing Social Complexity Farming stimulated increasing social complexity. Families were grouped into clans that bound people together into a tribe. Tribes were led by clan leaders of chiefs and advised by councils of elders. Chiefs were responsible for collection, storage, and distribution of food. Gender strictly divided labor. Marriage ties were generally weak. Growing populations required larger food surpluses and led to war.
The creation of man and woman depicted on a pot (dated about 1000 CE) from the ancient villages of the Mimbres River of southwestern New Mexico, the area of Mogollon culture. Mimbres pottery is renowned for its spirited artistry. Such artifacts were usually intended as grave goods, to honor the dead. SOURCE:National Museum of the American Indian/Smithsonian Institution.
The Resisted Revolution Adoption of farming was a gradual process taking hundreds of years. Climate, abundant food sources, and cultural values sometimes led to rejection of farming. People often adopted farming simply as a way to increase food production. Foraging could provide more varied diet, was less influenced by climate, and required less work. Studies have shown that farmers were more subject to different diseases and famine than foragers. Favorable climate was pivotal to the adoption of farming.
The Religions of Foragers and Hunters Foraging and farming shaped religious traditions. The Hunting Tradition was: centered in relationship between hunter and prey; had the vision quest as a ritual; and organized around individual shamans. The Agrarian Tradition was: centered on idea of fertility; employed ritual festivals to mark changing of seasons; and organized into cults and priesthoods.
Farmers of the Southwest Farming began to emerge in the Southwest during the first millennium B.C.E. The Mogollon The first to practice settled farming way of life growing maize, beans, and squash Lived in pit houses in permanent villages near streams along the Arizona New Mexico border from about 250 B.C.E. to C.E. 1450 The Hohokam: Grew maize, beans, squash, tobacco, and cotton Villages in the floodplain of the Salt and Gila rivers between C.E. 300 to 1500 Developed the first irrigation system in America north of Mexico Shared many traits with Mesoamerican civilization.
Human figures dance on this characteristic piece of red-on-buff pottery of the Hohokams (dated about 1000 CE). The Hohokams, located on the floodplain of the Gila River near present-day Phoenix, Arizona, were the first irrigation farmers of North America. The Pima and Tohono O Odham people of Arizona may be descended from them. SOURCE:Arizona State Museum,University of Arizona.Photo by Helga Teiwes.
The Anasazis Anasazi farming culture arose on the plateau of Colorado River around Four Corners area where Arizona, Utah, Colorado, and New Mexico meet. Built densely populated, multistoried apartment complexes (pueblos) clustered around kivas Grew high-yield maize in terraced fields irrigated by canals Supplemented vegetable diet by hunting with bow and arrow Culture consisted of 25,000 communities that extended over area larger than California Declined because of extended drought and arrival of Athapascan migrants, leading to abandonment of Four Corners area.
Cliff Palace, at Mesa Verde National Park in southwest Colorado, was created 900 years ago when the Anasazis left the mesa tops and moved into more secure and inaccessible cliff dwellings. Facing southwest, the building gained heat from the rays of the low afternoon sun in winter, and overhanging rock protected the structure from rain, snow, and the hot midday summer sun. The numerous round kivas, each eavered with a flat roof originally, suggest that Cliff Palace may have had a ceremonial importance. CORBIS,NY
Farmers of the Eastern Woodlands Farming culture in eastern North America was dated from the first appearance of pottery about 3,000 years ago. Woodland culture combined hunting and gathering with farming Sunflowers, small grains, tobacco Developed a complex social structure Adena culture occupied Ohio River basin from before 1000 B.C.E. to about C.E. 250. Established custom of large burial mounds for leaders
The Hopewell Culture Hopewell people settled in Ohio-Mississippi Valley between 200 B.C.E. and fifth century C.E. Hopewell culture adopted Adena custom of burial mounds. Mounds became larger and more elaborate Rare and precious artifacts from trade network were included in burial mounds of great leaders Long-distance trade network Obsidian from the Rocky Mountains Copper from the Great Lakes Mica from the Appalachians Shells from the Gulf Coast
Mississippian Society Introduction of bow and arrow, development of new maize variety, and switch from digging sticks to hoes were basis of Mississippian culture. Developed sophisticated maize farming Centered around permanent villages on Mississippi River floodplain, with Cahokia as urban center Linked by river transportation system. Built large effigy earthworks Complex division of labor headed by elite class of rulers Tasks of preventing local conflict, storing food supplies, and redistribution of food required leadership class with power to command.
The Great Serpent Mound in southern Ohio, the shape of an uncoiling snake more than 1,300 feet long, is the largest effigy earthwork in the world. Monumental public works like these suggest the high degree of social organization of the Mississippian people. SOURCE:Photo by George Gerster.Comstock Images.
MAP 1.3 Native North American Trade Networks, ca. 1400 CE By determining the origin of artifacts found at ancient sites, historians have devised a conjectural map of Indian trade networks. Among large regional centers and smaller local ones, trade connected Indian peoples of many different communities and regions.
The City of Cahokia, with a population of more than 30,000, was the center of a farming society that arose on the Mississippi bottomlands near present-day St. Louis in the tenth century CE. The Cahokians built dozens of vast earthen mound covering six square miles, evidence of their complex social organization. SOURCE:Painting by Michael Hampshire.Community Life at Cahokia.Cahokia Mounds State Historic Site.
The Politics of Warfare and Violence The late thirteenth century brought a climate change marked by 150 years of cool, dry weather. Climate change may have caused an increase in violence and social disorder Hunting communities organized small raids on farming communities. Farming communities fought to gain land for cultivation. Highly organized tribal armies developed The bow and arrow was the deadly weapon of war. Scalping originated among warring tribes. Eventually, many cities collapsed and people scattered forming small decentralized communities.
The Population of Indian America Map: Indian Settlement before European Colonization The population of the Western Hemisphere in the fifteenth century may have numbered 50 million or more. Population varied by cultural region. Largest populations were centered in Southwest, South, and Northeast--culture areas where first encounters with Europeans occurred.
This bottle in the shape of a nursing mother (dated about 1300 BCE) was found at a Mississippian site. Historians can only speculate about the thoughts and feelings of the Mississippians, but such works of art are testimonials to the universal human emotion of maternal affection. Detroit Institute of Arts
MAP 1.4 Indian Settlement Before European Colonization Based on what is called the carrying capacity of different subsistence strategies the population density they could support historical demographers have mapped the hypothetical population density of Indian societies in the fifteenth century, before the era of European colonization. Populations were densest in farming societies or in coastal areas with marine resources and sparsest in extreme environments like the Great Basin.
The Southwest Map: Southwestern Indian Groups on the Eve of Colonization Aridity central fact of life in Southwest, though a number of rivers flow out of mountain plateaus. Most peoples practiced dry farming or irrigated agriculture, living in villages. Dispersed settlements separated by as much as a mile Pueblos had a commitment to communal village life Region home to Yuman, Pimas, Pueblos, and most recent arrivals, Athapascans who developed into Navajo and Apaches.
MAP 1.5 Southwestern Indian Groups on the Eve of Colonization The Southwest was populated by desert farmers like the Pimas, Tohono O Odhams, Yumans, and Pueblos, as well as by nomadic hunters and raiders like the Apaches and Navajos.
The South Map: Southern Indian Groups on the Eve of Colonization Mild climate with short winters and long summers proved ideal for farming. Large populations lived in villages and towns, often ruled by chiefs. Region home to Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creeks, and Cherokees. Many groups decimated by disease following the arrival of Europeans resulted in poor documentation of history
MAP 1.6 Southern Indian Groups on the Eve of Colonization On the eve of colonization, the Indian societies of the South shared many traits of the complex Mississippian farming culture.
The Natchez The Natchez lived in floodplains of lower Mississippi Delta. Class society ruled by Great Sun and a small group of nobles ruling the majority Persistent territorial conflict with other confederacies elevated warriors to an honored status. Practiced public torture and human sacrifice of enemies Chiefdoms were unstable, resulting in scattering of people into smaller decentralized communities.
The Northeast Maps: Northeastern Indian Groups on Eve of Colonization Colder part of eastern woodlands with geography of coastal plains, mountains, rivers, lakes, and valleys. The Iroquois: Lived in present-day Ontario and upstate New York Grew corn, beans, squash,and sunflowers Matrilineal family lineage centered around longhouses Formed confederacy to eliminate warfare The Algonquians: Comprised at least 50 distinct, patrilineal cultures Were organized into bands with loose ethnic affiliation in north Farmed and lived in villages in south
The New Queen Being Taken to the King, engraved by Theodor de Bry in the sixteenth century from a drawing by Jacques le Moyne, an early French colonist of Florida. The communities of Florida were hierarchical, with classes and hereditary chiefs, some of whom were women. Here, le Moyne depicted a queen being carried on an ornamental litter by men of rank. SOURCE: Neg.No.324281,Photographed by Rota,engraving by de Bry.Courtesy Department Library Services,American Museum of Natural History.
MAP 1.7 Northeastern Indian Groups on the Eve of Colonization The Indians of the Northeast were mostly village peoples. In the fifteenth century, five Iroquois groups the Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas joined together to form the Iroquois Five Nation Confederacy.
A Continent of Villages, to 1500 Media: Chronology, Chapter 1
This woodcut, illustrating a 1505 German edition of Amerigo Vespucci's account of his voyage to the New World in 1501-02, is the first image of American Indians published in Europe. As arriving European vessels appear on the horizon, a group of befeathered Indians engage in a cannibal feast. Three warriors with bows stand on the right, while under the bower a couple kisses as they share the severed human limbs. In the center a mother nurses a baby and tends children. The tender details underscore the horror of the scene.
The striking National Museum of the American Indian, on the Capitol Mall in Washington, D. C., contains nearly a million artifacts and is dedicated to depicting the native peoples of the Americas in all their complexity. Molly Riley/Reuters/Landov
The National Museum of the American Indian is dedicated to collecting and exhibiting the history of American Indians from their own perspective. Ursala Roach, a Hopi woman and veteran of the first Gulf War, embodies the contributions that Native Americans continue to make to the American experience. National Museum of the American Indian, Washington,DC
John Vanderlyn s The Death of Jane McCrea (1804) depicted an incident of the Revolution, the murder and scalping of a Patriot woman by warriors fighting with the British. Sensational in its own time, the painting perpetuated the image of Indians as inhumane savages and the enemies of white womanhood. Wadsworth Atheneum,Hartford,CT
Deloris Aitson, left, and Rita Coosewoon at opening day of the National Museum of the American Indian. Nearly two-thirds of the more than four million Native Americans in the United States live in urban metropolitan areas, and nearly a quarter are employed in management, professional, or related occupations. 383,000 are veterans of the armed forces. Andrea Bruce Woodall/ The Washington Post
James Fraser s The End of the Trail (1915), a monumental sculpture created for the Panama- Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. The subject of immediate and sustained popular acclaim, it was widely reproduced in postcard, print, and miniature form. Generally interpreted as the symbol of a noble people, to many Native Americans it was part of an enduring and vicious stereo-type of the vanishing Indian. National Cowboy Museum and Western Heritage Museum,Oklahoma City,OK