Native American Language Groups Native American Legacy

 The first people came to North America from Asia crossing a land bridge that connected the two continents during the Ice Age.  Over time, Native Americans living in different parts of the Americas developed very different cultures.  Four major culture regions in North America were the Pacific Northwest, Plains, Desert Southwest, and Eastern Woodlands.

 Five Iroquois nations united to stop warfare and form a governing council called the Iroquois League.  Scientists have learned about North Carolina’s first people from artifacts, oral histories, and accounts of European explorers.  The five largest groups living in North Carolina in 1492 were the Hatteras, Chowanoc, Tuscarora, Catawba, and Cherokee peoples.

 Throughout North Carolina, Native Americans used the natural resources of their environment.  Most Native Americans in North Carolina lived in extended family groups called clans and traced their descent through the women in their family.

 North Carolina’s Native Americans believed humans had close ties to the world of nature and saw plants and animals as an important part of the world.

Native Americans were grouped by language and divided into 3 of them with several tribes in the division: IroquoianSiouan Algonquian CherokeeCatawba Chowan CoweeWaxhaw Hatteras TuscaroraSaponi Machapunga---

Catawba: Siouan Means were the river divides They were called the “WA” which means “the people who lived on the river” They were distinguished by their burnt black pottery

Cherokee: Iroquoian Most famous Native American group The Cherokee were constantly at war with the Iroquois First settled in the late woodland period

Tuscarora: Iroquoian Means “Hemp gatherers” Had 15 large villages with about 300 – 500 people in each Infants were tied down to a board to give the child better posture They were spiritually driven

 Peanuts : A dietary staple  Potatoes: Domesticated around 8,000 B.C  Maple Syrup: Used to season fruit, vegetables, corn, meat, fish and to sweeten herbal teas  Chocolate: Domesticated around 1A.D.  Chewing Gum: For centuries Native Americans chewed the sap from plants, such as Milkweed, Marshmallow Roots, Hollyhock Root and Chicle to freshen breath and to relieve hunger and thirst

 Tobacco: Domesticated 1 A.D., used for Ceremonial, Social and Medicinal purposes  Cotton: Domesticated 3000 B.C.  Brain Surgery: Called Trephination which is a medical procedure to remove parts of the skull to alleviate disease of provide relief for trauma

 Hockey: From the Stickball Game called “Shinny”  Some other contributions are Asphalt Vulcanization Concrete Annealing

 Geometrical Education: 3000 B.C.

Roadways which we drive on today were paths, made sometimes beside rivers and other bodies of water where Native Americans traveled. Names of Native Americans are given to Roads, Streets, Buildings, Car, and Clothing etc.

 The American government used the Eagle that was a symbol for the Iroguios League. This symbol was placed on the Seal of the United States of America. The Ideology of the Iroquios League was used in the Constitution of the United States.