Post on 15-Jan-2016
transcript
North America Before Columbus15,000 BC to 1492
The First People in North America Who were the first? It’s hard to
say 12,000 to 16,000 years ago are
widely accepted time frames Recent Evidence suggests
people may have been here for 50,000 years
Most Accepted Theory to Date Theory: people from
Asia crossed the “Bering Land Bridge” to get to North America
This bridge was “Open” between 25,000 and 11,000 years ago
Clovis People Is the name given to the first
peoples to settle North America
Dates from 13,000 to 11,000 for their arrival
Clovis people left behind many artifacts that have been scientifically dated
Clovis People Continued… There are many sites
throughout North America Identified as “Clovis sites”
Sites are identified usually by the types of arrowheads found
They lived by hunting big game, most of which is now extinct
Pre-Clovis People? There have been sites found that date
earlier than Clovis People—15,000 years ago in South America
Evidence is found in arrowheads that are not as well made as Clovis
They are thought to have survived by hunting, gathering and fishing
Pre-Clovis sites have caused a great deal of controversy
Megafuana This is the name given to the many large
animals that went extinct at the end of the last ice age—about 10,000 years ago
These large animals went extinct at the same time humans arrived in North America—coincidence?
Mastodon Similar to Wooly
Mammoth, but had different teeth and tusks
Lived in cold forests
Wooly Mammoth Lived in colder climates Had thick, greasy hair Probably used tusks to shovel
snow off of vegetation Many frozen specimens have
been found It is rumored that members of
the National Geographic's Society once ate preserved mammoth
Some scientists are trying to create one using preserved DNA
Saber Tooth Tiger While it’s in the cat family,
it’s not really a tiger Probably did not run very
fast Most likely a social animal
that lived in groups, as do lions and tigers
Could open it’s mouth 120 degree (modern cats can only go 60 degrees)
Giant Beaver Can you imagine the
dam a 900 pound beaver could make?
Giant Ground Sloth One of the largest land
mammals ever Could get to 20 feet tall
and weighed 8 tons (same as an African Bull Elephant)
Was a vegetarian Had no real enemies—their
huge claws could easily fend off Saber ToothTigers
Human hunters could have easily caused their extinction
Glyptodon Large relative of the
armadillo About the size of a
Volkswagen Beetle They were herbivores
that grazed on grasses It is believed that
humans hunted them and used their shells for shelter
Hagerman Horse Related to the African
Zebra Was a grazer, just like
modern horses
Camelops You guessed it, it was
just like the camels alive today
Many Clovis sites show signs that these animals were frequently butched
After Clovis Prevailing theory is that Clovis People are the
ancestors of all Native American groups The Clovis way of life ended with the extinction of
the animals they hunted Different groups split off from one another, forming
their own cultures in different locations throughout North America
Genetic study suggests that all Native American groups can be linked to a single “founding population”
It is Worth Noting… While scientific evidence points in favor of the “Bering Land
Bridge” and “Clovis-first” theories, most present-day Native Americans do not accept these theories
Native Americans generally believe that they have always been in North America
Their evidence—all Native American groups have rich oral traditions
There are no known Native American oral histories that refer to ancestors crossing a land bridge or leaving Asia by other means to come to North America
Native American Before Columbus Today there are 562 Federally recognized
Native American tribes There were probably many more before
Columbus We will now look at the major groupings of
Native American tribes throughout the United States
Cherokee The Cherokee lived in the mountains
and valleys of the southern Appalachian Mountains
Lived in domed houses in villages along riverbanks
They were farmers, hunters, and fishermen
Held festivals to celebrate planting and harvesting of corn
Invented Lacross
Algonquin These are Great Lakes tribes that
include Ojibwa, Delaware, Powhatan, and Massachusetts tribes
Lived in wigwams Wore very little clothes in summer,
dressed in animal skins in the winter They were hunters, gatherers,
trappers, and planters Traveled in birch bark canoes
Iroquois Included Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,
Cayuga, and Seneca tribes Lived in what is now New York state
along the St Lawrence River They lived in Long Houses that held 30
to 60 people Wore mostly buckskin clothes They grew “The Three Sisters”—corn,
squash, and beans They used snowshoes in the winter
Seminoles They settled in the Southeast,
mostly in Florida Their lived in “Chikee”
homes, the homes were usually placed in swamplands
They wore clothing woven from Palmetto
They were hunters and gatherers who traveled in dugout canoes
Navajo Included in this group are the Pueblo, Zuni,
Rio, and Hopi tribes, as all had similar cultures and beliefs
Lived in what is now New Mexico and Northeastern Arizona
Their homes were called “Hogans”—these were round houses built with forked sticks and covered with brush, packed earth, hides, and whatever they could find
Their clothing was made from rabbit skins and the Yuka plant
They were raiders (they usually stole crops from the Pueblos), gatherers, and hunters, and eventually farmed for themselves
They are well known for their turquoise jewelry
Apache Also lived in what is now New Mexico and
Arizona They were nomads who did not stay in one
place for very long They lived in “Wickiups,” small dome-
shaped homes that were not very sturdy, and women made them in a few hours
They wore deerskin clothes They did not farm, but women gathered
plants, mostly yucca and mescaline (tasted like cabbage)
They are known for their well-made and intricate baskets
Northwest Coastal Native Americans Includes tribes such as the Tlingit and Chicook Lived along the Northwest coast from Alaska to
Northern California The Northwest Coastal Indians wore little clothing.
They wore fiber rain capes and skin robes They lived in large plank houses in groups of 30 or
so The men tattooed their arms and hands for
measuring dentalium. Dentalium was a shell that was strung together and used as money
Of all tribal groups, these people enjoyed the most abundant natural resources
They were hunters, gatherers, and fishermen, and they took slaves. Slaves were a sign of wealth. Children were kept close to their camp for fear that they would be stolen by another tribe and become a slave.
Plains Native Americans Group includes Sauk, Fox,
Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, Blackfeet, Comanche, and Pawnee tribes
They lived in the area from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to Mexico
Most lived in Teepee They wore buffalo skins They used “Peace Pipes” in
ceremonies
Inuit Lived in the Arctic region of North
America Their homes were igloos in the winter
and skin, wood, mud, or sod homes in the summer
Their clothing was sealskin in the summer and in the winter they wore caribou skin
They made the most out of very limited resources, particularly of use were all parts of whales and seals
Never in Anger—they were a very peaceful people
Map of Pre-Columbus Tribes
About Pre-Columbian Native Societies Native Americans spoke over 300 languages Many Native societies had urban settlements,
farming, architecture, and complex societies Native Americans domesticated plants that constitute
50-60% of all crops now grown world-wide Prior to Columbus’ arrival, there were between 10
and 100 million people who live in the Americas