Native America Tribes Pre-Contact Native American Project

Bell Work Estimate the approximate populations of the following places in 1500: Paris London British Isles France

Answers! The populations were as follows: Paris: 200,000 London: 50,000 British Isles: 3 million France: 16 million

North America vs. Europe North America (before contact) had between 2 and 18 million people, probably about 15 million—about the same as France. (Central America was the most densely settled area in the world with between 90 and 112 million people, and one-fifth of the world’s populations lived in the Americas, more than lived in Europe.) Cities: Cahokia, at its peak in 1200 A.D. had as many as 40,000 people (some sources say 60,000), the same as Medieval London. It was the largest settlement north of the Rio Grande until the late 1800s. (Philadelphia, the largest city in America had only 23,000 people in 1763, and only surpassed the historic size of Cahokia in 1800.) Chaco Canyon had between 5,000 and 15,000 at its peak in 1100 A.D. Pueblo Bonito, an Anasazi pueblo, had between 650 and 800 rooms and hundreds of people. At its peak it housed more than 1,000 residents. Built between 919 and 1085, it was “the largest apartment building in North America until New York City surpassed it in the nineteenth century.” Chaco Canyon had 400 miles of roads leading from it to other areas. By 1300 it had been abandoned

What were Native American populations like before 1492?

Historical Interpretation Read the two differing accounts from Charles C. Mann and Kennedy, Cohen and Bailey. As you read, note the differences between the two accounts in a chart like the one to the right. Mann Kennedy

Table Discussion Questions 1. What is the major difference between the types of sources contained in the excerpts you read? What are the major similarities and differences between the ideas in the two excerpts? 2. Based on the information in the excerpts explain whether you think the authors used a preponderance of primary or secondary sources to help them write their books. Where can you go to discover the sources used? 3. How might you account for the differences in the authors’ interpretations? 4. Which interpretation of early Native American History do you find most plausible? Explain.

What might be some reasons why there was such a shift in the amount of land held by Native Americans before and after 1492? Explain your answer.

Look at the chart to the left and answer the following questions. 1.Why do you think there is such a wide range of estimations of Native American population around 1492? 2.What evidence may have been found to support this shift in estimation? Discuss your answers with your partner.

1.Choose two regions of the United States; Midwest, southeast, northeast, southwest, northwest, etc… and identify 1-2 species that are either no longer populating the region or have drastically decreased in size. 2.How and why do you think this happened?

Agriculture, especially corn growing, accounted for the size and sophistication of the Native American civilizations. The cultivation of corn transformed many tribes from nomadic hunters to settled agricultural villages (nation- states).

List three Indian tribes that lived in each of the following regions of North America a.) Southwest, b.) Great Plains, c.) Northeast, d.) Southeast.

Why do we assume the continent was so sparsely populated? Brainstorm. Wanted to believe that it was unoccupied—less guilt. Disease HAD changed the population by much of contact. (The book, 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, has a great section on why disease occurred at such a high rate—a combination of lack of immunity, homogeneity of blood type, no domesticated animals, etc.)

1.What is the message conveyed in the cartoon? 2.Do you agree or disagree with this message? Explain your response in 1-2 well-developed sentences.

Some disease statistics: In the first 130 years of contact about 95 percent of the people in the Americas died from disease. Disease killed as much as 90 percent of the people of coastal New England. Compare the following quotations from European observers and note the dates: Las Casas (1542): “it looked as if God has placed all of or the greater part of the entire human race in these countries.” Sebastián Vizcaíno (1602): “I have traveled more than eight hundred leagues along the coast and kept a record of all the people I encountered. The coast is populated by an endless number of Indians.” New England colonist (1630s): “And the bones and skulls upon the several places of their habitations made such a spectacle” that the Massachusetts woodlands “heavily urbanized populations were wiped out.”

Contributions of Native Americans 1. Chewing Gum The first over-the-counter gum was spruce sap, introduced to New England colonists by Native Americans. But even Wrigley's fortune traces its roots to Indian innovation, in the form of the key ingredient chicle. The Aztecs chewed this latex, found in the sapodilla tree. 2. Freeze-Drying The Inca of South America froze potatoes atop high mountains, which evaporated the moisture inside the tubers. Freeze-drying preserved the potatoes for years and helped Spanish colonists to ship "fresh" potatoes all the way back to Europe by boat. 3. Chocolate Two thousand years ago the Maya cooked up Earth's first chocolate from cacao beans. The chocolate of the Maya, Toltec, and Aztec Indians generally took the form of a bitter drink. Sugar was added later to suit European palates. 4. Vanilla Indians in what is now Mexico were the first to figure out how to turn the pods of the vanilla orchid into the flavor that launched a thousand soft-serve cones. In fact, Indians were so attached to the taste that they kept the recipe under wraps for hundreds of years after the Spanish arrived.

5.Popcorn Having developed varieties of corn that exploded into a taste sensation, some Native Americans developed equally intriguing methods of cooking the snack. Some Indians shoved a stick through a dried cob and held it over the fire, weenie-roast style. And in South America the Moche made popcorn poppers out of pottery. 6.Potatoes, Peanuts, and Corn Nearly half the world's leading food crops can be traced to plants first domesticated by Indians. Native farmers introduced Europeans to a cornucopia of nutritious plants, including potatoes, peanuts, manioc, beans, tomatoes, sunflowers, and yams. Maize, or corn, was by far the most significant contribution, now grown on every continent except Antarctica. 7.Parkas Today's ski jackets owe their origins in part to hooded coats Inuit [Eskimo] women fashioned from layers of skins that trapped air for greater insulation. Many parkas were made from caribou, a fur favored for its heat- holding properties.

8. Snow Goggles Some 2,000 years before goggles became an Alpine fashion must, the Inuit [Eskimos] created their own versions. Some examples are carved from walrus tusks, with narrow slits that helped thwart glare from snow and the sea. 9. Camouflage Throughout the Americas, Indians mastered the art of blending in as a tactic for both hunting and warfare. Many hunters would paint their faces and/or wear the skins of the animals they were stalking. And like many bird hunters today, some Native Americans concealed themselves behind blinds. 10. Syringes We're not sure how they said, "This won't hurt a bit." But we do know that some ancient North American native healers injected medicine beneath the skin. Making the most of the materials at hand, they fashioned hypodermic needles out of hollow bird bones and small animal bladders. 11. Dental Care North American Indians scrubbed their teeth with the ragged ends of sticks, while the Aztec Indians applied salt and charcoal to their choppers.

Possible Tribes to Consider Numiipu (Nez Perce), Shumash, Dakota (Lakota), Natchez, Pueblo, Creek or Iroquois

to Research for Pre-Contact Socratic A. Social structure 1. How is the society organized? 2. Is it communal or hierarchical? 3. Is it matrilineal or patrilineal? B. Political structure/leadership 1. Who has power? 2. How are tribal decisions made? 3. What role do religious leaders play in decisions? C. Economic subsistence and trade 1. How did they survive? Agriculture/hunter-gatherer 2. Did they trade with other groups? Who? D. Dwellings 1. Where geographically did they dwell? 2. What were the structures like? Were they mobile, semi-permanent or permanent?

The Columbian Exchange