Americans before European Contact

“Native American” Refers to all indigenous peoples living in North and South America “Indian” label because of a mistake From Spanish indio Columbus thought he had reached “the Indies” (“the east” = Asia) in 1492

Pre-Columbian Native Americans Pre-Columbian = “before Columbus” = pre-1492 “Pre-contact” = before European contact (extends into 20th century for some groups) People living in societies Politics, economics, conflict, change No more “lacking” than any other societies (No such thing as “primitive” or “advanced” societies)

Summary Pre-contact natives lived in societies not fundamentally different from other global societies. They had: Economics, including economic inequality Settlements, on landscape transformed by people Politics, conflict, war, cooperation, diplomacy Innovation, experimentation, creativity Changes over time, sometimes rapidly They were not “closer to nature” or “more dependent on the environment” than anyone else. They were not affected by their landscape more than anyone else.

North American Migrations Insert Map M1.1 North American Migrations © 2011, The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Pre-Columbian Native Americans More diverse than Europe or Asia Foragers and agriculturalists Majority practiced some farming Majority NOT nomads City-states, empires, population centers Central America, Central Andes

Native American History Still highly stereotyped history Positive and negative stereotypes together “Historical Myth” Story about past told primarily for effect, independent of accuracy Not always false, but always oversimplified More about the storyteller than about actual events What people *want* to be true Depends on assumptions of the storytellers and audience Sometimes a counter to other myths

Native American History “Noble Savage” myth: Natives more spiritual, more natural, “what humans are supposed to be like” Simple, innocent Garden of Eden before whites Peace and harmony with each other Traditionalist, environmentalist culture Reality – very similar to other societies in 1492: War, slavery, empire, invasion, genocide, ecological destruction, social inequality, economic competition, political conflict, shortages

Native American History “Noble Savage” myth Modern simplistic environmentalist version Example: Chief Seattle’s famous speech in 1854 Most famous quotes:

Native American History Chief Seattle’s famous speech of 1854 Actually written in 1971 By a white screenwriter from Vermont (with little background or interest in N-A history) Reads the 1970’s backwards into the 1850’s Influenced by American Indian civil rights movement, 1960’s-70’s Influenced by modern environmentalism More about what white social activists in 1960’s-70’s wanted to be true

Native Americans respected nature. An example of well-meaning “green racism” (from a WA K-12 Social Studies module): Native Americans respected nature. They took care of the earth and only used what they needed.

Native American History “Noble Savage” myths, modern versions “romantic holism” = a negative label for this idea: Native Americans believed everything is sacred and interconnected “romantic” = idealized, heroic, Hollywood-like “holism” = everything is connected, everything is valuable “conservationist culture” = N-A’s consciously decided not to overuse resources

Pre-Contact Americans Myth: “Lived in perfect harmony with nature” Reality: certainly not perfect harmony Sometimes starvation, overhunting, depleted topsoil Towns and cities Deforestation  Mayan collapse Domestication of plants and animals Maize (“corn”) dependent on humans Basically, genetic engineering Designed to “improve upon” wild species NOT “just accepting nature the way it is”

Precolumbian Native American biotech: Corn (Zea mays)

Native American societies Active, transformative land use Natives also “settlers” America NOT just already inhabited but already settled NOT “settlers vs. natives” but “native settlers vs. other settlers” “Settler” should not just refer to white people! Burning undergrowth, draining swamps, etc. America before European contact was NOT a wilderness

Reality: ALL human societies are dependent on the environment. ALL human societies are shaped by their climate, landscape, and resources. ALL human societies have: economics, politics, technology, environmental impacts, etc. Native Americans were/are NOT more dependent on the natural world than any other group. Pre-Columbian Native Americans were NOT “closer to” or “more respectful of” nature than anyone else.

Native American societies Myths “Used every part of the animal” Reality: waste piles, middens Reality: impossible in buffalo hunts Reality: not every single part of every single animal Reality: Many PNW native cultures killed owls whenever they could, for religious/spiritual reasons Myth from 1960’s-70’s anti-litter campaigns

Shell midden, Maine coast cave midden, desert Southwest

P Provincial Park, Alberta, Canada

Pre-Contact Native Americans Reality: active, transformative land use “Unused land” a convenient myth Used by European Americans to rationalize displacement: “The savages aren’t using it anyway.” Ignores the reality of native settlement European Americans often took over prepared farmland. Key to survival of Plymouth colony in 1620’s 1830’s – U.S. applied this myth to Cherokee plantations in Georgia!