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Objectives
•
Explain how American Indians may have
come to North America.
•
Describe the process by which different
American Indian groups and cultures
developed.
•
Describe the major culture areas prior to the
arrival of Europeans in North America.
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Terms and People
•
ice age − period in Earth’s history with low global
temperatures and glaciers covering large areas
•
migrate − to travel
•
Mayas − ancient people of Mexico who lived along
the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean coast
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Terms and People
(continued)
•
Aztecs − ancient people of Mexico who lived in
the central highlands
•
adobe − sun-dried brick made from earth, water,
and straw
•
Iroquois League − loose confederation made up
of five Iroquois peoples: the Mohawks, Oneidas,
Onondagas, Cayugas, and Senecas
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How did the spread of civilization
begin in the Americas?
The earliest inhabitants of the Americas found
a land rich in resources and varied in
geographic features.
As they settled across the land, they adapted
to local environments and developed distinct
ways of life.
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Paleo-Indians were the first humans to
live in the Americas.
•
Scholars believe the Paleo-Indians came from
Siberia, a region in Asia.
•
They disagree, however, about when and how
the Paleo-Indians arrived.
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Migration to the Americas
•
Many scholars think that 15,000
years ago, during an ice age,
hunters crossed a land bridge
between Siberia and Alaska in search
of mammoths and other animals.
•
Today, some scholars think that
40,000 years ago, hunters and
gatherers arrived in small boats,
eventually working their way down
the west coasts of the Americas.
Land Bridge
Theory
Coastal Route
Theory
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The Paleo-Indians
eventually
migrated
throughout the
Americas.
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About 12,000
to 10,000
years ago,
the climate
warmed,
melting the
polar ice and
raising the
ocean level.
The warming
climate and
the skill of
hunters killed
off the
mammoths
and other
large animals.
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Paleo-Indians
adapted by
turning their
attention to
fishing, gathering
of nuts and
berries, and
hunting smaller
mammals.
Section
1
About 3,500 years ago in central Mexico,
Native Americans developed agriculture.
The expanded
food supply led to
population growth
and permanent
villages.
In Mexico, some
villages grew into
great cities ruled
by powerful chiefs.
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In Mexico, the Mayas and the Aztecs
built advanced civilizations.
From Mexico,
agriculture slowly
spread northward
into North
America.
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However, in some
places, people
continued hunting,
gathering, and
fishing.
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Diverse cultures emerged in what would
later become the United States. In
different regions, Indian tribes:
•
had different kinds of homes and clothes.
•
ate different foods.
•
developed different traditions.
•
spoke hundreds of different languages.
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The arid Southwest climate forced Native
Americans to build dams and irrigation
canals in order to grow crops.
Some Native
Americans in this
region lived in
adobe houses in
farming villages,
while others lived
in pueblos and
cliff dwellings.
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The Mississippi River Valley
•
The region had a humid and
temperate climate and generally
fertile soil.
•
The Native Americans in this region
were influenced by the great
cultures of Mexico.
•
They built towns with central
plazas, pyramids, and temples.
•
They traveled by river to trade with
other groups.
Climate
Cultural
Features
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The Great Plains
•
The region was an immense, windy,
arid grassland that is hotter in the
south and colder in the north.
•
Native Americans in this region
lived in thatched houses, log lodges,
or tepees.
•
They farmed in small villages and
hunted the plentiful bison.
•
They traded and fought with
western nomads.
Climate
Cultural
Features
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Due to the mild
winters, warm
summers, and ample
rainfall of the
Southeast, most Native
Americans in this
region were farmers.
But they also hunted in
the forests and fished in
the rivers and lakes of
the region.
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Northeastern people developed
into two major language groups:
the Algonquians and the Iroquoians.
The Algonquians
lived in wigwams on
the Atlantic
seaboard, while the
Iroquois lived in
longhouses around
Lake Ontario and
Lake Erie.
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Five Iroquois
peoples united to
form the Iroquois
League, which
promoted peace
among the member
nations.
Section
1
Native American Cultures, ca. 1500
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Despite their cultural diversity,
most Native American groups
shared several cultural features:
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decentralized political power.
•
spiritual beliefs and shamanism.
•
little private ownership of property.
•
equality among the various tribes and nations.
•
division of labor along gender lines.
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