North America Before Columbus15,000 BC to 1492

The First People in North America Who were the first? It’s hard to

say 12,000 to 16,000 years ago are

widely accepted time frames Recent Evidence suggests

people may have been here for 50,000 years

Most Accepted Theory to Date Theory: people from

Asia crossed the “Bering Land Bridge” to get to North America

This bridge was “Open” between 25,000 and 11,000 years ago

Clovis People Is the name given to the first

peoples to settle North America

Dates from 13,000 to 11,000 for their arrival

Clovis people left behind many artifacts that have been scientifically dated

Clovis People Continued… There are many sites

throughout North America Identified as “Clovis sites”

Sites are identified usually by the types of arrowheads found

They lived by hunting big game, most of which is now extinct

Pre-Clovis People? There have been sites found that date

earlier than Clovis People—15,000 years ago in South America

Evidence is found in arrowheads that are not as well made as Clovis

They are thought to have survived by hunting, gathering and fishing

Pre-Clovis sites have caused a great deal of controversy

Megafuana This is the name given to the many large

animals that went extinct at the end of the last ice age—about 10,000 years ago

These large animals went extinct at the same time humans arrived in North America—coincidence?

Mastodon Similar to Wooly

Mammoth, but had different teeth and tusks

Lived in cold forests

Wooly Mammoth Lived in colder climates Had thick, greasy hair Probably used tusks to shovel

snow off of vegetation Many frozen specimens have

been found It is rumored that members of

the National Geographic's Society once ate preserved mammoth

Some scientists are trying to create one using preserved DNA

Saber Tooth Tiger While it’s in the cat family,

it’s not really a tiger Probably did not run very

fast Most likely a social animal

that lived in groups, as do lions and tigers

Could open it’s mouth 120 degree (modern cats can only go 60 degrees)

Giant Beaver Can you imagine the

dam a 900 pound beaver could make?

Giant Ground Sloth One of the largest land

mammals ever Could get to 20 feet tall

and weighed 8 tons (same as an African Bull Elephant)

Was a vegetarian Had no real enemies—their

huge claws could easily fend off Saber ToothTigers

Human hunters could have easily caused their extinction

Glyptodon Large relative of the

armadillo About the size of a

Volkswagen Beetle They were herbivores

that grazed on grasses It is believed that

humans hunted them and used their shells for shelter

Hagerman Horse Related to the African

Zebra Was a grazer, just like

modern horses

Camelops You guessed it, it was

just like the camels alive today

Many Clovis sites show signs that these animals were frequently butched

After Clovis Prevailing theory is that Clovis People are the

ancestors of all Native American groups The Clovis way of life ended with the extinction of

the animals they hunted Different groups split off from one another, forming

their own cultures in different locations throughout North America

Genetic study suggests that all Native American groups can be linked to a single “founding population”

It is Worth Noting… While scientific evidence points in favor of the “Bering Land

Bridge” and “Clovis-first” theories, most present-day Native Americans do not accept these theories

Native Americans generally believe that they have always been in North America

Their evidence—all Native American groups have rich oral traditions

There are no known Native American oral histories that refer to ancestors crossing a land bridge or leaving Asia by other means to come to North America

Native American Before Columbus Today there are 562 Federally recognized

Native American tribes There were probably many more before

Columbus We will now look at the major groupings of

Native American tribes throughout the United States

Cherokee The Cherokee lived in the mountains

and valleys of the southern Appalachian Mountains

Lived in domed houses in villages along riverbanks

They were farmers, hunters, and fishermen

Held festivals to celebrate planting and harvesting of corn

Invented Lacross

Algonquin These are Great Lakes tribes that

include Ojibwa, Delaware, Powhatan, and Massachusetts tribes

Lived in wigwams Wore very little clothes in summer,

dressed in animal skins in the winter They were hunters, gatherers,

trappers, and planters Traveled in birch bark canoes

Iroquois Included Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga,

Cayuga, and Seneca tribes Lived in what is now New York state

along the St Lawrence River They lived in Long Houses that held 30

to 60 people Wore mostly buckskin clothes They grew “The Three Sisters”—corn,

squash, and beans They used snowshoes in the winter

Seminoles They settled in the Southeast,

mostly in Florida Their lived in “Chikee”

homes, the homes were usually placed in swamplands

They wore clothing woven from Palmetto

They were hunters and gatherers who traveled in dugout canoes

Navajo Included in this group are the Pueblo, Zuni,

Rio, and Hopi tribes, as all had similar cultures and beliefs

Lived in what is now New Mexico and Northeastern Arizona

Their homes were called “Hogans”—these were round houses built with forked sticks and covered with brush, packed earth, hides, and whatever they could find

Their clothing was made from rabbit skins and the Yuka plant

They were raiders (they usually stole crops from the Pueblos), gatherers, and hunters, and eventually farmed for themselves

They are well known for their turquoise jewelry

Apache Also lived in what is now New Mexico and

Arizona They were nomads who did not stay in one

place for very long They lived in “Wickiups,” small dome-

shaped homes that were not very sturdy, and women made them in a few hours

They wore deerskin clothes They did not farm, but women gathered

plants, mostly yucca and mescaline (tasted like cabbage)

They are known for their well-made and intricate baskets

Northwest Coastal Native Americans Includes tribes such as the Tlingit and Chicook Lived along the Northwest coast from Alaska to

Northern California The Northwest Coastal Indians wore little clothing.

They wore fiber rain capes and skin robes They lived in large plank houses in groups of 30 or

so The men tattooed their arms and hands for

measuring dentalium. Dentalium was a shell that was strung together and used as money

Of all tribal groups, these people enjoyed the most abundant natural resources

They were hunters, gatherers, and fishermen, and they took slaves. Slaves were a sign of wealth. Children were kept close to their camp for fear that they would be stolen by another tribe and become a slave.

Plains Native Americans Group includes Sauk, Fox,

Cheyenne, Arapaho, Sioux, Blackfeet, Comanche, and Pawnee tribes

They lived in the area from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains and from Canada to Mexico

Most lived in Teepee They wore buffalo skins They used “Peace Pipes” in

ceremonies

Inuit Lived in the Arctic region of North

America Their homes were igloos in the winter

and skin, wood, mud, or sod homes in the summer

Their clothing was sealskin in the summer and in the winter they wore caribou skin

They made the most out of very limited resources, particularly of use were all parts of whales and seals

Never in Anger—they were a very peaceful people

Map of Pre-Columbus Tribes

About Pre-Columbian Native Societies Native Americans spoke over 300 languages Many Native societies had urban settlements,

farming, architecture, and complex societies Native Americans domesticated plants that constitute

50-60% of all crops now grown world-wide Prior to Columbus’ arrival, there were between 10

and 100 million people who live in the Americas