Lecture Notes: Native American Societies before European Arrival

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms and concepts from the lecture notes on Native American societies and early European contact.

Cahokia

Largest mound-building city of the Mississippi River Valley near present-day St. Louis; peak population 10,000–30,000 around AD 1050; evidence of centralized governance and long-distance trade.

Mound builders

Mississippi River Valley cultures known for earthen mounds; Cahokia is the best-known site.

Maize (corn) cultivation

Intro from Mesoamerican societies; enabled larger communities and trade in the Cahokia region.

Monk's Mound

Largest mound at Cahokia; about 100+ feet tall; symbol of the city’s ceremonial and political center.

Pueblo Bonito

One of the largest ancestral Puebloan great houses; ~600 rooms; emblem of Pueblo architecture.

Mesa Verde

Major ancestral Pueblo site in the Southwest known for cliff dwellings.

Kiva

Underground or semi-subterranean Pueblo religious/ceremonial room for rituals and community gatherings.

Ancestral Puebloans

Ancestors of modern Pueblo peoples; built cliff dwellings and complex settlements.

Three Sisters

Intercrop of maize, beans, and squash; staple crops for many Native communities.

Cliff dwellings

Pueblo-style housing built into cliff faces for defense and climate; prominent at Mesa Verde and other sites.

Ute

Plains Native group; semi-nomadic with seasonal movement and relatively uniform language groups.

Plains Natives

Diverse, often nomadic or semi-nomadic tribes across the Great Plains; mobility and bison hunting central to life.

Bow and arrow

Weapon adopted after contact or later developments; complemented or replaced wooden spears in hunting.

Horse introduction

Horses introduced by Europeans; transformed Plains hunting, mobility, and warfare.

Eastern Woodlands Natives

Natives along the Atlantic seaboard; diverse languages and cultures, including Algonquin groups and the Iroquois.

Algonquin language group

A major language family in the Eastern Woodlands.

Iroquois

Northeast Native power with a loose political structure; engaged in region-wide diplomacy and conflict.

Cherokee

Eastern Woodlands tribe with a leadership system featuring a War Leader (red) and a Peace Leader (white).

Catawba

River people of the Carolinas; first Spanish contact; allied with English in later wars; known for lacrosse and unique religious beliefs.

Lacrosse

Sport that originated among Eastern Woodlands tribes, particularly noted with the Catawba.

He Who Never Dies (Patores)

Catawba deity worshipped within their religious beliefs.

Bear root (Osha)

Tree bark used by Plains Natives with antiviral/antibiotic properties; early medicinal use.

Slash-and-burn agriculture

Land-clearing method used by some Eastern Woodlands groups to manage resources and fertility.

Smallpox

European-introduced disease that devastated Native populations due to lack of immunity.

Pocahontas

Eastern Woodlands figure often depicted in European artwork; actual appearance and life differ from popular Disney portrayal.