1. Section 1 The Native American World Marie Beals
The Atlantic World to 1600
Section 1
The Native American World
Marie Beals

2. How did people settle the Americas and adapt to the environment of North America?
The Pleistocene Epoch is defined as the time period that began about 1.8 million years ago and lasted until about 11,700 years ago
Glaciers trapped much of the Earth’s ocean water, causing sea levels to drop.
Low sea levels exposed a “land bridge” called the Bering Strait, connecting Russia and Alaska
Theory is Asians walked across the bridge to North America, although earlier migrations may have occurred 3,000 to 5,000 years prior.

3. Possible Bering Strait Migration

4. Why Migrate?
Migration is the movement of people for the purpose of settling in a new place.
Do you know anyone who has migrated?
Can you think of anything else that migrates?

5. Population spread across Western Hemisphere, from Artic Circle to the tip of South America.

6. Population
These ancient Americans and their descendants are called Native Americans
By the late 1400’s, some 2 to 10 million people may have been living in America. Some scholars believe it was just 700,000 to 800,000, most popular figure is about 2 million
Today’s (2014) population: around 319 million

7. Life in North America
Native Americans adapted to the different climates of America
West Coast- ?
Midwest & Canada - ?
New England ?
Many, but not all of early Americans were nomads, meaning they moved their homes regularly in search of food, or moved seasonally. Some groups developed farming techniques and formed permanent communities.

8. The Northern Inuit & Aleut Peoples
Skilled at hunting on ice and snow, on shores and plains.
Fished and gathered food in huge forests and off the shores of the lakes and waterways of Canada and Alaska
The Aleuts lived in longhouses and traveled in skin-covered boats. They used stone tools and villages had high lookout points for spotting enemies and whales.
The Inuit were nomadic, living in igloos built of snow in the winter and tents made of bone and skins in the summer. They bred huskies and used dog sleds to transport them over the icy terrain.

9. The Northwest Coast
Most densely populated area because of the access to rivers and oceans of fish and other natural resources that Native Americans developed sophisticated fishing and food storage technologies.
They were hunters/gatherers who did not need to cultivate crops.
They domesticated wholly dogs for hunting and for their fur.
Some of the groups included the:
Coos
Coast Salish
Makah

10. California
During the 1400’s, about 300,000 people lived in the mountains and valleys of modern day California.
The spoke more than 100 variations of 20 basic languages and lived in small bands.
Their diet included deep-sea fish, flour made from acorns and beans.
Some groups living along the Colorado River practiced farming.

11. The Plateau
The area between the Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountain stretches an area of dry plains crisscrossed with rivers.
More than 2 dozen groups lived in this area.
They fished the rivers for salmon and dug in the plains for edible roots.
They built villages that looked down from high river banks and dominated the water below.
Some of the Plateau tribes included the Nez Perce, Flathead, Kutenai, Palus, Coeur D'Alene, Cayuse, and Kalispel

12. The Great Basin
The area between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada.
Very dry land, hard to find food.
Most people lived together in small groups.
Members hunted small game like rabbits and gathered insects, roots and pine nuts.
Tribes included the Paiute, the Ute and the Shoshone.

13. The Southwest
Just 4 inches of rain fall a year in some parts of the Southwest, and groups like the Hopi and Zuni lived in groups and developed farming techniques for the very dry climate.
Some, like the Apache and Navaho, were nomads.
The Anasazi built their chambered cliff homes starting around AD In the late 1200’s they left these dwellings, possibly because of drought. They are the descendants of the Pueblo people.

14. The Plains
In villages along the rivers that drain into the central area of America, the Mandans, Wichita and Pawnees planted corn, beans and squash.
They also used dogs as pack animals and hunted buffalo.
The buffalo helped fill their needs for food, clothing and shelter.

15. The Northeast
This area stretched from the Atlantic Coast to the Great Lakes.
Native Americans took advantage of the vast woodlands and ample rainfall to gather wild plants, hunt, fish and grow corn and other crops.
Women managed the home and gardens while men hunted deer, bear, moose and other game.
Some of the tribes included the Seneca, Lenape, Iroquois and others.

16. The Southeast
Vegetation ranged from swamp to seacoast, and the region was mostly wooded.
Native Americans hunted and grew corn, and used native plants to make rope, medicine, and clothing.
The emergence of mound building.

17. The Mound Builders – 1000 B.C.
In the Ohio and Mississippi Valleys, around 1000 B.C. the Hopewell and other groups build large earth work “mounds”. Some may have been as burial sites, and some animal-shaped mounds might have served some symbolic purpose.
You can still see some of these today.

18. The Iroquois League
In the late 1500’s, five Iroquois groups with similar cultures and languages formed a spiritual alliance called the Iroquois League.
It was also knows as the Iroquois Confederacy or the Five Nations.
Its purpose was to put an end to the constant warfare among the tribe and to provide a united force against invasions.
It was governed by a council of family members and village chiefs.
It was very successful and lasted for more than 200 years.
In 1722, the Tuscarora joined and it became known as the Six Nations

19. Mississippian Culture - 800 A.D.
Included a variety of groups from Louisiana to Wisconsin with a shared way of life.
By 1200, the largest city was called Cohokia which is in present day Illinois. It had a population of about 40,000 and more than 60 mounds.
The Natchez people lived in towns by the 1000’s with others like the Creek and Cherokee. In the Cherokee town of Etowah they built a pyramid more than 60 feet high.

20. Shared Customs and Beliefs
Despite different lifestyles, early Native American peoples shared a common social structure and religion.
SOCIAL STRUCTURE: Not organized by social class, wealth, location or wealth but by
KINSHIP – family relationships
Kinships acted as government, church, and school of today. Settled disputes, provided medical care, education and child care.

21. Clans Native American kinship groups were organized by CLANS
A CLAN is a group of families who are all descended from a common ancestor.
Could be maternal or paternal.
ARE YOU part of a clan? Can you be part of more than one clan? Explain

22. Religion and Preserving Culture
Early Native Americans believed that the most powerful forces in the world are spiritual.
When planting crops, choosing a mate, or burying their dead, they followed traditional religious practices or rituals.
They believed failure to perform these rituals would lead to disasters such as invasions, disease or bad harvests.
To keep customs and beliefs alive, they relied on ORAL HISTORY – passing down information by word of mouth, stories and songs.

23. Native American Trade

24. Native Americans and Land

26. How the Early Europeans Viewed Land
They frequently did not understand Native American attitudes and interpreted references to land use as meaning land ownership.

27. End