1. The First Civilizations of North America Chapter One

2. Pre-Colombian Indigenous Worlds I. Origins A. Creation stories B. Bering Strait Theory II. “Culture Areas” III. Populations IV. Economies V. Social Organization VI. Ancient Civilizations

3. Competing Views on Origins Native Explanations Place Religious and cultural Oral traditions Environment Morality Metaphorical, not literal Bering Strait Theory Ocean levels dropped Migrated from Asia 75,000-30,000 B.C. Traveled southward Language and biology Scientific, but “unprovable ”

4. Bering Strait Today

5. Cultural Areas Simplified diagram of Native People based on geog, lang. & env.

6. Estimated Populations Western Hemisphere A. 20 – 80 million B. Concentrations 1. Great Lakes 2. Mississippi 3. Southwest 4. California Coast 5. Central Mexico 6. Central America 7. Andean Region 8. Caribbean

7. Native Populations

8. Economies and Trade Types of Economies I. Sedentary A. Agricultural 5,000 yrs ago (Pueblos) B. Fishing (Makahs) II. Migratory A. Seasonal B. Mixed Economies (Paiutes) III. Subsistence/Hunting & Gathering A. High movement, low densities (Apaches) IV. Trade A. Luiseno– Cahuillas - Paiutes – Hopis – Navajos – Pueblos – Comanches

9. Socio-political Organization I. Kinship and Heredity II. Bands and Clans (decentralized, local) III. Confederacy (coalition) Iroquois 1200s-1780s IV. Empire (centralized hierarchy) Nahua/Aztec

10. Gender Systems Matri-lineal -Heritage follows female Matri-focal -Live with/near family of wife Matri-archy -Women have most power

11. Ancient Civilizations I. Mississippian Culture A. Mound builders B. 700-1200 C. Mid-east U.S. D. Cahokia 1. 15,000

12. Artistic interpretation of mound building culture

13. Cahokia Trading Region

14. Southwestern Peoples

15. Hsatsina / Anasazi Puebloan Ancestors Concentrated Pop Agriculture & irrigation Astronomy Historians Distinct languages

16. Extensive Civilization Chaco Canyon Pueblo Bonito Cliff Palace Trade networks Relationship with Meso-America Dispersal between 1200-1400 Pueblos Today

18. Southwest Reservations Today

20. Meso-America A. Olmec 1500 B.C. B. Mayans 300 B.C. – 900 A.D. C. Nahua (Aztec) 1350s-1500s

21. Mayans Calendars Mathematics, “0” Literacy Historians Chichen Itza 

22. “Decline” of Ancient Cultures Food shortages Resources depleted Political conflicts with others Drought or flood Internal divisions Dispersed, not “disappeared”

23. Conclusions 1. Have a pre-contact history 2. Nearly 1000 cultures 3. Cities and empires, villages and clans 4. Not all nomadic people 5. Contact/conquest from their perspectives