Wednesday, August 21 1. Bellringer: Pick up Indian Chart from table and replicate it in your Spiral. 2. Discuss Why Do Historians 3. Native Americans Ppt (Powerpoint) 4. Two Views of Columbus reading for Thursday. Annotate.
The First Americans During the Ice Age, the Bering Sea froze over. It is believed that the first Americans walked across this frozen land bridge called Beringia to reach North America.
After crossing Beringia (the land bridge), the First Americans migrated south and spread across the Americas. It is believed that during the Ice Age, the ocean levels dropped 300 feet exposing more land beyond our current shorelines. Historians believe the ice melted, raising the level of the oceans and covering possible archeological remains of migration campsites along our west coast (red line).
The Northeastern Woodland Indians inhabited a wide area in the eastern United States - it extended eastward to the Mississippi River, through the Great Lakes region, to the Atlantic Ocean. Some of the tribes included the Iroquois Confederacy (Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora). Southeastern peoples included the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek, and Seminole.
Northeastern Woodland Indians - farmed a plot and each member of the family had an important responsibility. Women of the family gathered wild plants, such as berries, nuts, and edible plants and flowers. Men hunted and fished; felled trees to make canoes; protected. Many of the tribes were anomadic and relied upon agriculture - as expert farmers, it was the main focus of their lives. Both the Iroquois and Powhatan lived in areas that provided good farm land.
The Iroquois were the most fierce Indians located in the Northeast. Every tribe feared the Iroquois. The Confederation of included Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and eventually joining the confederation was the Tuscarora (joined after they were kicked out of the Chesapeake area). The Mohawks were located at the east end of the Mohawk River Valley and the Seneca s were at the west end next to the Great Lakes. These were matriarchal based tribes.
The Northwest Coast Indians Lived along the Pacific coast. Shelter often consisted of long houses built out of wide red cedar planks (20ft to 60ft wide and 50ft-150ft long) with the biggest houses reserved for the elite. Main food source included whale and salmon. Held Potlatches - large ceremonies that included song, dance and the giving of gifts. Some historians think that potlatches are where we got the idea of potluck dinners.
Indians of the Northwest Coast lived between the ocean and rugged mountains (Cascades). The growing season was short, and climate too wet for much agriculture. There were plenty of fish, especially salmon. There were also deer and bears. Abundance of wood to build houses and to make tools. If tribes could not get something by themselves, they could trade. People traveled by water. Northwest Coast Indians traveled in dugouts, or boats made from large, hollowed out logs. Outside each house stood a wooden pole called a totem pole. Each totem pole was carved with shapes of people and animals. Northwest Coast: Environment, Food, and Shelter
Each totem pole was beautifully carved with shapes of people and animals. The carvings showed each family s ancestry, importance and the social rank of that family. Totem poles were more abundant after Europeans visited and left iron tools.
Hunting for whale was very dangerous. The tail of the whale could flip around and crush the hunters and their boat throwing them into the cold Pacific Ocean. The whale would be harpooned then floated to the village where every part of the whale was used. The skin and meat were eaten, the blubber, or fat, was used for oil, and the tendons were used to make rope.
The Plains Indians Indians known as The Plains Indians lived in the Great Plains. Buffalo was the most important natural resource of the Plains Indians. Indians of the Great Plains lived in tepees.
Plains Indians were nomadic hunters who followed the buffalo herds: also hunted elk, deer, etc. Buffalo provided their basic needs, food, clothing, and shelter. To capture the buffalo, they would surround the herd or try to stamped the herds off cliffs or into areas where they could be killed more easily. Life for the Plains Indians was much easier after the arrival of the horse.
The Mississippian Culture also known as the Mound Builders Largest mound was located at Cahokia located close to St. Louis, Illinois. The largest mound was 10 stories high.
Most of the mounds were used as temples. However some were used as burial mounds. The temple mounds are common and similar to the Mayan mounds except the Mississippian Mounds were made of dirt and wood. The Mississippian culture flourished from 400 AD to 1400 AD. The center of Mound Builders was the Caribbean culture of the Mayans and Aztec.
Body Tattooing was prevalent in the Mound Building society. Tattoo's were generally from the neck down the body to the wrist. Tattooing looked like a body suit. Another custom was wearing a feather mantle or robe made from the hummingbird. A good mantle would take about 10,000 hummingbirds. Spiro Mounds in eastern Oklahoma was part of this culture.
A later mound building culture was around Natchez, Mississippi. The Natchez People lived until the middle of the 1700s and were the last of the Mound Builders. The French explorer Robert de La Salle traveled from the Great Lakes down the Mississippi River in 1682 and gave us our first detailed description of these people. The Natchez People were undemocratic and had a caste system.
Natchez Society Pyramid Great Sun one guy absolute power The Suns the royal family The Nobles-nobility either born into family or marry into nobles. The Honored Men the wise or brave - great warriors. Had to be born or marry into this group. The Stinkards the bottom of society. This is everyone else. Everyone had to go to the Stinkards to find a mate. This was a matriarchal society so the Sun males had to marry a female from the Stinkards so any children from this union would be Stinkards. Female Suns had to marry Stinkards and their children would be Suns.
Southeastern Woodland Indian tribes were the Cherokee Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek and Seminole. These tribes became known as the Five Civilized Tribes. The Cherokee spoke the Iroquoian language and believed to have migrated from the North. The other four tribes spoke the Muscogee language.
The Southwest Native Americans come from the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Colorado, and the northern part of Mexico. Most of the land is desert covered with cacti. The main tribes that come from the Southwest area are the Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, & Zuni. They first lived in round, underground homes called Kivas. From there they progressed to above ground unit houses.
Storage Sipapu Fire pit The Anasazi s first homes were underground. They were very small, and they exited by ladder through a hole in the roof (about 8 feet by 8 feet). All of the family slept in these homes, called Kivas. There was a Sipapu located in every Anasazi home. It was about the size of a green bean can and it was believed to be the passageway from which their ancestors came to the earth from down under. It was also a passage way for spirits.
Ventilation from the outside They sat and slept on shelves or benches like these. Ventilation Hole into the home. Anasazi underground home
Around 500 AD they moved to above ground homes called unit houses. These homes were two and three stories high. The underground Kivas became religious places. The posts holding up the second and third story floors were made of trees about the size of telephone poles. Notice the sharp angles. These were built prior to European arrival with metal tools.
Above are the ruins of Pueblo Benito the largest known Anasazi village. It is located in northwest New Mexico.
It took about 300 plus years to build Pueblo Benito. If you look closely you can see the early construction on the right and later years construction on the left. The left side shows the advancement of their masonry skills.
The Anasazi moved to cliff dwellings like the above. They would climb to the top to do their farming using hand holds in the sides of the cliffs.
They built their Unit Houses and Kivas into the sides and ledges of the cliffs. At the edge of the homes was a long drop. There were no guardrails to keep people from tumbling from the cliffs. Around the late 1200s the Anasazi abandoned the cliff dwellings. Historians speculate there was either a drought, disease, or attacks from enemies that caused them to leave these homes. Today s Pueblo are ancestors of the Anasazi.