The First AmericansKey Terms

• Bering Land Bridge• Salmon & Cedar• Longhouse• Iroquois• Hiawatha• Tipi• Wigwam• Columbian Exchange• Virgin Soil Epidemics• Horse

I. OriginsII. Pacific Northwest Coast

A. EconomyB. Society

III. Eastern Great LakesA. Confederacy/PoliticsB. Society/Women

IV. New EnglandA. NorthernB. SouthernC. Land Use

V. European Contact

Today’s Lecture Themes

• Origins • Diversity• Changing nature of Indian societies before and

after European contact

Native Americans & Origins

• Numerous theories and beliefs…

• Many Anthropologists and Historians agree humans lived in North America 30-35,000 years ago.

• How did they arrive…?

Bering Land Bridge

Indians Of The Pacific Northwest

They were hunter/gatherers, but also INCREDIBLY “wealthy.”

Cedar: The Backbone Of PNW Coast Technology

Can reach 250 feet high & 18 feet in diameter

Cedar: The Backbone Of PNW Coast Technology

• Baskets/boxes• Clothing• Canoes• Homes = Longhouse

Salmon: The Backbone Of PNW Coast Diet

Fish Traps (1894)

Rank In Society

Top

(Most Wealth)

Bottom

(Least Wealth)

Free men and women

Slaves

PNW Coast Society

Two Classes of People:

2. Free

1. Slaves

Society was VERY highly stratified

- Their “rank” was determined primarily by wealth

Key Concept:

In some cases, occupation influenced rank

Iroquois: A Confederation Of Five Separate Tribes In Eastern Great Lakes

• Mohawks• Oneidas• Onondagas• Cayugas• Senecas

“Sauvage” Iroquois (1796)

Who Started The Confederation?

Hiawatha-

A Mohawk Sachem created the confederacy to end inter-tribal warfare about 1450.

Hiawatha & Iroquois chief

Political Structure

Council Government:

1. Each tribe in the confederacy sent delegates or representatives to council meetings (50 total)

2. Tribes brought issues to the Council; action was taken by consensus

Iroquois Society

3. Division of labor between men/women:

a) Men-hunted/fished & were warriors

1. Homes-Longhouses (not very mobile)

2. Property was owned communally

b) Women-farmed & gathered and raised children

• 2/3 of their diet came from farm products

Women In Iroquois Society

1. Descent was matrilineal; Longhouses were headed by women

2. Divorce was the prerogative of the wife

3. Selected ALL delegates to the Iroquois Council & influenced policy

4. Responsible for child rearing—their practices differed from Europe’s

An Iroquois woman & child

Homes: New England

Homes• Tipi: common among

hunting communities; made of animal skin.

New England Indians

Northern New England•Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine

•Hunter-gatherers-VERY mobile; moved seasonally

•15,000-20,000 pop. in 1600

Southern New England•Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts

•Hunted AND farmed (2/3 of diet)

•55,000-80,000 pop. in 1600

Homes: New England

Homes• Tipi: common among

hunting communities; made of animal skin.

• Wigwam: common among farming communities; made of grass, bark, woven mats.

Farming Methods(Indians in Southern New England)

• Fields were cleared by girdling & with fire.

• Corn, beans & squash were planted together.

• Fall = Harvest & abundant food.

Corn, Beans & Squash

Indians Planting Corn, Beans & Squash

Indians living in Southern New England impacted the land more so than those in the North.

Columbian Exchange

• The range of items exchanged between Europeans and Native Americans following European settlement.

Columbian Exchange: Crops

Native American Plants Taken to Europe

Old World Plants Brought to America

Beans Apple

Bell & hot pepper Beet

Maize (corn) Cabbage

Papaya & pineapple Olive

Pumpkin & squash Sugarcane

Tomato Lemon

Wild rice Grapefruit

Sweet potato & white potato Plum

Tobacco

Before Access To HorsesContentment = full stomach & fire

6 Miles

6 Miles

6 Miles

After Access To Horses(Ideas about contentment change)

36 Miles

36 Miles

36 Miles

1492

500,000

Native American Population(North of Mexico)

10-12 Million

1900

These figures are approximate.

Impact Of Diseases

Diseases brought by Europeans caused more deaths destroyed more of Indian society than any other single factor.

Why So Deadly?

1. Virgin Soil Epidemics

a) A disease that hits a population which previously had no contact with that disease.

2. Multiple diseases often hit Indian populations at the same time.

3. These were tough diseases!

a) Small pox, chicken pox, influenza, measles, whooping cough are some examples.

The First AmericansKey Terms

• Bering Land Bridge• Salmon & Cedar• Longhouse• Iroquois• Hiawatha• Tipi• Wigwam• Columbian Exchange• Virgin Soil Epidemics• Horse

I. OriginsII. Pacific Northwest Coast

A. EconomyB. Society

III. Eastern Great LakesA. Confederacy/PoliticsB. Society/Women

IV. New EnglandA. NorthernB. SouthernC. Land Use

V. European Contact