Pre-Columbian Societies, Essential Topics Pre-Columbian Societies, European Exploration and Transatlantic Encounters

Essential Question AIM: Students will understand what the Americas were like prior to Columbus arriving and how these FIRST settlers of America developed complex societies ? Do Now – Look at the picture of the Bering Land Bridge. How did migration to early America occur? How did the first people in the Americans live? Remember Global!

Immigration has always been an American tradition

Agenda 2) What was Native American culture like? 3) Video on Aztec civilization 4) Classwork assignment: summary of native American culture.

Pre-Columbian Societies: What were the Americas like prior to Columbus?

Do Now: The First Americans Three Stages 1) Siberian hunters crossed Bering Land Bridge – Around 22,000 BC (Ice Age) These explorers hunted large animals like the willy mammoth used these large animals for food, clothes, and bones (tools and shelter) 2) After the Ice age ends 12,000 BC those who lived in the Americas lived a hunter, gatherer lifestyle. 3) Agricultural Revolution begins in the Americas 7,000 years ago Settle into villages Domesticate animals Grow crops Do Now: The First Americans

Diverse American Societies Some settlers remained nomadic – moving from place in search of food, water, and shelter. Others built civilizations of complex societies and empires

Empires of Central and South America Maya 400 BCE-1500 CE Known for developing “zero,” their own writing system, and religious pyramids Aztec 1200-1521 CE Known for their large empire and tributary system, huge capital Tenochtitlan, and human sacrifices Inca 1200 – 1572 CE - empire that stretched nearly 2,500 miles along the mountainous western coast of South America (largest empire in the world)

Aztec Sacrifice https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i3kWJfkqT0g

Earliest North American Cultures Different environments led to different types of societies Desert Farmers Anasazi 200 BCE-1300 CE Multistory adobe buildings called pueblos These dessert farmers introduced crops in the Southwest (Arizona)

Mound Builders Adena, the Hopewell, and the Mississippian societies Excelled at trade and at building Built huge burial mounds filled with finely crafted objects.

Eastern Woodlands Iroquois (GrPE-kwoiQ) - built villages in forest clearings and blended agriculture with hunting and gathering. They traveled by foot or by canoe. Used woodworking tools to craft everything from snowshoes to canoes. In the Northeast, where winters could be long and harsh, people relied on wild animals for clothing and food.

North American Cultures in the 1400s Over 2,000 different tribes Population between 1- 10M Villages organized by kinship Some villages headed by chiefs, others by a council of elders Shared land Spiritual connection to natural world Large trade network based on bartering system Exchange of goods and services without money.

Native-American Trade Those living in fertile regions traded surplus food… Native-Americans in the southwest traded cotton seed and cloth… Some traded desirable minerals like flint, copper, turquoise… Others would trade crafts like baskets and pottery… Native-Americans living near oceans traded shells and pearls…

Social Organization Land Use – They regarded the land as a source of life, respected the land, it was not something to be sold Religious Beliefs – Believed the natural world was full of spirits, believed in a supreme being “The Creator,” “Great Mystery,” “The Creator” Kinship – Strong family ties, young honor elders, and chiefs. Extended family is honored Division of Labor – Assignment of tasks depended on age, gender, or status. Basic unit of organization was family and clans.

A personal voice “When we dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses we make little holes… We shake down acorns and pine nuts. We don’t chop down trees. We only use dead wood for fires… But the white people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, and the tree says ‘Don’t. I am sore. Don’t hurt me.’” -Wintu Woman [Freedom and Culture]

Classwork assignment: Write a summary about some cultural aspects of Native American society and what aspects surprised you? Homework: