Native American Cultures Exam 1

Upper world

sky vault, powerful beings such as sun and moon, animal archetypes, order, past

Under world

Anomalous creatures, inversion (seasons), chaos and creativity, future

Upper world and Under world relationship

Opposed to each other

Categories points

Reckoning via dualities, humans distinguished from animals, directions two sets of opposites, mixing causes chaos

Types of dualities

Purity/pollution, male/female, order/chaos, warm season/cold season

Animal categories

four-legged (this world), fliers (upper world), vermin (under world)

Directions dualities

East (Sun and life) and West (Moon and death); North (cold and defeat) and South (warm and peace)

Anomalies points

Crossing boundaries or multiple categories, examples, Uktena, reinforced order

Anomalies examples

Bear, bat, flying squirrel, kingfisher, frog, venus flytrap, Uktena

Uktena is a chimera of what animals?

Serpent, bird, and deer

Purity and balance points

Interrelated structure, supernatural justice, sun and sacred fire, mixing causes pollution, ceremonies to purify, balanced opposition, overhunting, saliva, affects village

How these elements are depicted points

Storied landscape, bears story, disease story

Unseen creatures effects on humans points

Personalized world, witchcraft, the Immortals, the Little People

Unseen forces use by humans point

In between Upper and Lower, used by everyone, specialists, upper world spirits cure diseases

Mississippian transformation time period

800-1000 CE

Aspects of Mississippian transformation

Corn agriculture, chiefdoms, military competition, social stratification, ideological elaboration

Mississippian languages

7 families, cannot understand outside family, shared symbolism

Subsistence

Corn agriculture, what it takes to grow corn, supplemented by hunting, gathering,and fishing

Settlement patterns

Small societies, 300-500 people, near rivers, fortified, consolidating populations

Kinship

Most important allegiance, matrilineal, uncle relationship

Political systems

Chiefdoms, concentrated power, food wealth, military, paramount chiefdoms

Warfare

All males warriors, specialty warriors, bow and arrow, speed and evasion, war club, one-on-one combat, improving social standing

Reasons for expedition

Expanding Spanish empire, spoils of new world (gold)

Nature of De Soto and his army

Plunder survival, turning chiefdoms against each other, natives fleeing

Order of operations for de Soto

Identify chiefdom, conquer via chief, plunder for supplies, repeats

Societies encountered

Casqui, Pacaha, Cayas (salt makers), Tula (warriors)

Results of destabilization

ecological, political, disease, religion

Spanish colonizing strategies

Florida, empire-building, converting Natives, no gun trading

French colonizing strategies

Great Lakes and Louisiana, trading with Natives

English colonizing strategies

Virginia and Carolinas, trading with Natives, plantations

Factors that made slave traders powerful

Military advantage, geo-economic location, exploitable resource, access to markets, lack of military interferance

Effects of Indian slavers

Coalescence, developed markets with Natives, spread of epidemics, forced migrations, hostile interactions

Reasons for the decline of Indian slavers

Declining supply, increased gun availability, increased European military interference, expanded markets for African slaves