Native American History

Apache

Athapascan

Navaho

Athapascan

The Athapascan grouping consists of...

Apache

Navaho

The Salishan grouping consists of...

Flathead

Spokane

Nez Perce

Flathead

Salishan

Spokane

Salishan

Nez Perce

Salishan

The Siouan group consists of....

Sioux

Crow

Ho-chunk

Sioux

Siuoan

Crow

Siouan

Ho-chunk

Siouan

The Shoshonean grouping consists of...

Shoshoni

Utes

Comanches

Shoshoni

Shoshonean

Utes

Shoshonean

Comanches

Shoshonean

The Agonquian group consists of...

Ottawa

Shawnee

Chippewa

Cherokee

Cheyenne

Arapaho

Blackfoot

Ottowa

Agonquian

Shawnee

Algonquian

Chippewa

Algonquian

Cheyenne

Algonquian

Arapaho

Algonquian

Blackfoot

Algonquian

The Iroquoian group consists of...

Iroquois

Huron

Cherokee

Iroquois

Iroquoian

Huron

Iroquoian

Cherokee

Iroquoian

The Eastern Region Languages

Iroquoian

Algonquian

The Plain Region Languages

Siouan

Shoshonean

The Pacific Northwest Languages

Salishan

The Northwestern Languages

Athapascan

When did Native Americans arrive?

16,000 years ago, before the Bering Strait was iced over (trip took about 1,000 years)

What was the population size before Europeans arrived?

10-100 million (majority lived in Latin America-- Tenochtitlan)

About 1-2 million lived in North America

How did tribes differ?

Language

Religion

Morals

Economics

What was the biggest language east of the Mississippi River?

Algonquian

What was the first language group the Europeans encountered?

Algonquian

Economics of the Eastern Region

farmers and hunters

permanent settlements

longhouse made out of bark and poles

Economics of the Plains Region

hunters

nomads

hide lodges made out of buffalo and poles

Economics of the Pacific Northwest

fishing

wooden plank housing

larger communities

expressive art-- totem poles

What region is known for the totem pole?

Pacific Northwest

Economics of the Northwest region

nomads

hunt and gather

wickiup made out of high brush that is bent over and topped with blankets

"Life was better before the Europeans arrived"

False... You had warfare, Aztecs sacrificed many people

"Little disease"

True! NA gave Venerial disease to Europeans

"Everyone got along"

Apache were previously named Dine meaning "the people"

There was rascism and superiority

Sioux means "enemy"

"Aren't we evil? How could we have done that to Native Americans?"

We are just people! It is common all around the world. It is a fundamental truth of our sinful nature. You can talk about Roman Empire, the Zulu, the Mongols... same situation! It is not right, but it does not mean the Europeans are evil.

"Native Americans lived at one with nature"

They wasted, damaged the environment (slash and burn), they didn't use every part of the buffalo every time, there weren't many of them so they couldn't actually do much damage

What were the effects of the Europeans on the Native Americans

Cultural- the arrival of Christianity, new value systems

Economic- capitalism, trade and land

Social- communities were disrupted because Europeans wanted THEIR morals resulting in a lack of independence, infusion of alcohol in Native American societies

Disease- Native Americans did not have immunity to diseases

The Scandinavians were also known as...

Norse

Vikings

Leif Ericson

Norse man from Iceland who discovered North America

Named North America Vinland

Vinland

the name that Leif gave to North America meaning "Vine-land"

Thorvald Ericson

brother of Leif who decided to settle Vinland

first to encounter Native Americans

Skraelings

the name the Norse gave to Native Americans meaning "savage" or "screechers"

Thorfinn

man who travelled to the New World and got along with Native Americans

brought cows

Freydis Ericson

sister of Leif and Thorvald who was crazy, told husband she was raped, killed many Native Americans

Los Indios

the name that Columbus gave the Native Americans in the Caribbean because he thought he was in the Indies

Group of Indians living on the Caribbean islands who got wiped out

Arawak

Spanish establish...

St. Augustin

French Establish...

Quebec in 1608 for trade

English establish

Jamestown in 1609 for land and mineral wealth

English establish

Plymoth in 1620

Dutch establish

Amsterdam in 1625

Who did the French encounter?

Algonquian

What were the tribes in the Iroquois Alliance?

Mohawk, Oneida, Seneca, Onondaga, Cayuga

When was the Iroquois Alliance formed?

1525 by Hiawatha

Mohawk

"Guardians of the East Door"

Seneca

"Guardians of the West Door"

Onondaga

"Keepers of the Council Fire"

Religion of the Iroquois Alliance

origin: flood and woman Creator, understood a force of good and evil

animism

Orenda

rituals- masks, healing power

Animism

The belief that bodies of water, animals, trees, and other natural objects have spirits

Orenda

A supernatural force believed by the Iroquois Indians to be present, in varying degrees, in all objects or persons, and to be the spiritual force by which human accomplishment is attained or accounted for.

When was the height of the Iroquois power?

1630, population of 22,000

What happened in 1634 to the Iroquois?

Smallpox hit, Europeans came reducing numbers to 5,000-6,000

Who did the Iroquois fight with?

Huron

Government of the Iroquois

loose alliance

council of elders: each tribe has 10 elders who go to meet to discuss issues of alliance and they convene in autumn

2 generals would lead alliance in a big war

Economy of the Iroquois

3 sisters: corn, beans, squash

men would clear fields, women would plant, how, and harvest

fall hunt

spring fishing

mid winter ceremony: dancing, speeches, giving of thanks

Family System of the Iroquois

Matriarchal

no polygamy, small families, spread out children

allowed abortion

no twins, too hard on mother

Longhouse

Longhouse

12 compartments, held 120 people, women controlled it

Warfare of Iroquois

good at war

could expand political control

before war... speeches, prayers, songs, dogmeat

prisoners would run the gauntlet

torture: acted nice with respect while they cut off fingers, burned skin, lasted days which reduced stress

The Powhatan Confederation

30 tribes

The Cherokee...

lived in villages, 1 tribe based on 7 clans (1 clan had 350-600 people)

Cherokee Family Life

Matriarchal

Must marry outside of clan

Cherokee Economy

corn, beans, squash

slash and burn

hunt and gather

Cherokee Government

male council and elders

2 chiefs or leaders-- Peace chief and War chief

Peace Chief

Cherokee general

domestic

"white faction"

War chief

Cherokee general

"red faction"

Before war the Cherokee...

fasted, no sex, dancing

Before returning from war, the Cherokee...

purification rituals

Cherokee fesivals

Harvest Festival

The New Fire (New Years)

English views of the Native Americans

Saw God as white

Protestantism is the one true faith

"Conquer the earth and make it fruitful"

Wilderness is a place of sin, where Satan exists (Hansel and Gretel, Little Red Riding hood)

Native Americans were "savages", satanic, and evil for living in the woods

They must be assimilated into the European culture

Assimilation

change the Native American way of doing things into the European ways of doing things-- government, religion

First interaction with Native Americans...

trade/capitalism: Europeans want fur and Native Americans want goods to make life better (guns, steel knives, iron kettles, tools, textiles, clothes)

How did English view Native Americans in their first interactions with trade?

Native Americans are rational beings- they could sign treaties to transfer land

Viewed as nations, not tribes "a chief is a king"

Dual image of Native Americans (noble savage, savage savage) (either way, still need to assimilate)

Dual image of Native Americans

Noble Savage: live a free, natural, untainted life

Savage Savage: all Native Americans are cruel, satanic, liers, lazy, live like animals (more common)

Dual view on how to deal with Native Americans

Government Approach

Frontier View

Government approach

British empire and U.S. government

Native Americans are wards of the state and inferior

Government needs to watch over Native Americans (wards) and assimilate them

Uplift and Convert-- send teachers among tribes

Governments were to protect-- regulate trade (no alcohol or trading guns)

Frontier View

whites want more land, Native Americans are inferior, move them out

"A city on a hill"-- Protestantism-- Manifest Destiny

Savage Savage view: they are dangerous

Traders: wanted profit "Get em drunk to trade, sell them what they want (weapons)

French and Dutch

came in smaller numbers compared to the English

did not want land, but to trade

French arrival

Canada

Jesuits-- lived among Native Americans to convert them

Traders-- lived among Native Americans to understand culture

Dutch arrival

Arrived in the Hudson Valley for trade and interacted with the Iroquois

French-Iroquois War

French raided Iroquois, scared of guns and fled, Champlain

Champlain

first governor of Canada