1. The Americas Before Columbus

2. Wait… Which term do I use?
What is considered “correct” by society changes often so it is important to keep up to date
The two most common and accepted terms are Native American or American Indian
Things that don’t work: Indians, natives, those people in the loin clothes, etc.
Make sure you are being polite just as you would expect someone to be to you!

3. The Ice Age
Ice ages greatly changed climates and allowed different animals to prosper
Areas that are current deserts used to be cool and have lots of vegetation
Saber tooth tigers, mastodons, and ground sloths
Ocean levels dropped due to all the glaciers

4. Best Guess How many years ago did people arrive in the Americas?

5. Arriving to the Americas
People migrated somewhere from 15,000-30,000 years ago
Migration- movement of people for the purpose of settling in a new place
People crossed a land bridge between Russia and Alaska that was exposed due to the low sea levels
The Ice age ended around 12,000 to 10,000 years ago
It is still unknown how many people were living in the Americas when Europeans arrived
Some say 8 to 10 million or 700,000 to 800,000 people

7. Imagine…
Imagine you a dropped in the middle of a forest. No food, no weapons, no electronics, etc. (Think REALLY old school)
What would you do to get food? (McDonalds is not an option here…)

8. Early Americans Survival first based on hunting and gathering
Most early Americans were nomads
Nomads moved around with weather and hunting patterns
After the Ice Age ended, people began to farm
First crop is thought to be maize (corn)
Some groups stopped being nomadic as farming let them stay in one place

9. Your Life…
Who or what organizations did you need to rely on when growing up?
Ex/ parents, school, etc.
Think outside the box!

10. Social Structure Kinship Division of Labor
They would rely on family to fulfill social needs
People would go to family to get medical care, child care, education and settle disputes
People today rely on the government, churches, and private organizations for social needs
Kinships were organized into clans
Clans are a group of families with a common ancestor
Division of Labor
Tasks were assigned to people based on gender, age, or states
Ex/ Slaves performed low jobs while nobles enforced laws

11. Social Structure (cont.)
Religion
Many early Americans believe in powerful sources that were spiritual to control the earth and believed in animism
Animism- the belief that all living things have spirits
Native Americans performed ceremonies to recognize these spiritual forces
They believed that the rituals would help them avoid disasters such as invasions, disease, or bad harvest
Additionally, many cultures believed in one Supreme Being

12. Trade As some groups settled, they began to develop specialties
Trade allowed them to share these
Many Native Americans traded for food and items both in and outside of their groups
They saw trade as a sign of respect
They utilized natural trade routes like the
Mississippi River and also built a network
of paths
Traders sometimes carried things
thousands of miles from the source

13. Land Use Land was saw as a source of life so it couldn’t be traded
They did not just leave the land untouched though
Farming required burning fields to be able to create an area to farm rich with nutrients
However, they only disturbed the land when it was necessary