The Distribution of the Natives Before the Arrival of the Europeans

Mr. Wilson - LMAC

Chapter 1: Dossier I

What the Earth Looked like during the last Ice Age…

How do we know that “man” crossed into North America during the last Ice Age through the Iberian Peninsula?

Bones…But more importantly – burials!Paintings (HA! Art yet again!)Carbon Dating – not very exact, but gives us a good

idea.

What kind of sources are these? (Primary or Secondary?)

Primary Source = direct source to whatever it is you are examining.

Secondary Source = Someone else’s account of events.

The Last Great Ice Age

Migration Routes…

How do we know what they were doing?

And what exactly were they following?

In Quebec, the Natives had split themselves up based on their respective styles of living.

The Iroquois settled on the banks of the St-Laurence, which worked with their

sedentary lifestyle.

The Algonquians lived mainly up on the Canadian Shield and in the Appalachians. This worked well with their

Hunter/Gatherer lifestyles.

The Inuit remained in the North and were also nomadic, just like most of the Animals in the North.

Distribution of The Natives

The IroquoisWhere did they live?

The fertile soil along the St-Lawrence River , building huge communities and their famous “Long Houses.”

How big were their villages?1500-2000 per village – that’s pretty big.

How did they collect their food?They grew some of it (agriculture,) gathered some ,

hunted when they could and TRADED!

How did they trade?They often traded with the Algonquians, who were

more nomadic – thus, had access to other things.

An Iroquois village

Where did they live?The upper Canadian Shield, mainly in the forest.

How big were their villages?15-20 in the winter – over 100 in the summer.

How did they collect their food?Because of their nomadic lifestyle, they were

hunter/gatherers.

How did they trade?They would hunt all winter and then trade with the

sedentary Iroquois for food (corn, beans, vegetables, etc.)

The Algonquians

The Algonquians

Where did they live?Much further North – Hudson and Ungava Bay

area.

How big were their villages?Small in the winter – big the summer.

How did they collect their food?The Inuit were traditionally hunter/fisherman –

hunter caribou and elk on land, seal, fish and whales in the water.

How did they trade?Because the were more isolated, they tended to

trade amongst themselves.

The Inuit

Are North American Natives “all the same?” Explain.

There were many, MANY different tribes, languages, cultures, histories, etc. that may have been lost over the years.

The native populations were very spread out, and they had good and bad relationships with other tribes.

Individual tribes did not always get along with others – this could lead fighting over land = food.

Or, they could have good trading relationships, like the Huron (part of the Iroquois) who regularly traded food with the Algonquians, who could acquire more luxurious furs from the forests.

Native Relations

Wars between tribes - sometimes for land, for politics or for wounded pride.However that once a war or a fight was over,

everything was forgotten and life went back to normal (i.e.: getting food!)

The main thing to remember is that Native Relations were very much like anyone else– usually based on fairly selfish reasons!

Native Relations

Define: what does it mean to be “Objective?”

Define: what does it mean to be “Subjective?”

Is the study of history Objective or Subjective?

Let us discuss, firstThen write your opinion and WHY you think you

are RIGHT (as in you have to give me FACTS.)

Activity #1: in your notebook

Look at your Workbook, how many pages was Dossier 1 as compared to Dossier 2, 3 or 4?

Who, then, is controlling the information that is in your workbook?

What conclusion can you make from this information?

Activity #2: Criticizing our

Workbook?

Thank-you (pp. 11-12)“What do you mean: ‘WE’ - White Man?”

- Old joke from the Lone Ranger