Chapters 1 and 2: State Symbols and Evidence from the Past

BCE

Before Common Era, it replaces B.C. (before Christ)

CE

Common Era, it replaces A.D. (Anno Domini, or¨year of our Lord¨)

Glacier

Heavy sheets of ice that move under their own weight that once covered parts of our state

Petroglyph

A rock carving made by people

Atlatl

An ancient launching tool that launched a spear or a dart

Elder

An elder member of a community who is respected for his or her knowledge and wisdom.

Archaeologist

A scientist who studies past human life and activities by examining physical evidence such as tools, fire pits, and ruins from dwellings. They study artifacts.

Oral History

The purposeful retelling of stories about the past events and legends of a group in order to teach about that group's culture.

Grand Mound

This was the site of a fishing community in Minnesota where people gathered over 2,000 years ago to fish sturgeon with harpoons in the spring and to bury their dead. Built by the Laurel Indians around 200 BC
and is the largest surviving prehistoric structure in the upper Midwest, it is a serpent mound with 2,000-5,000 people buried in it.

Scientific Method

A process using experiments and careful observations to test ideas and theories.

Hypothesis

An assumption, educated guess, or theory

Native American Graves Protection and
Repatriation Act (NAGPRA)

A federal law that protects the burial sites of Native Americans which passed in 1990

Biome

Ecological System - Coniferous Forest , Deciduous Forest, Prairie Grassland, Tallgrass Aspen Parkland

Primary Source

An actual item that has survived from the past, such as a letter, photo, tool, or article of clothing. Historians use primary sources as evidence.

Secondary Source

An account created after the fact, often by someone who was not present during a particular event.

Perspective

the way a person sees and understands the world

Lakes and Rivers

formed by the movement and melting of glaciers

Repatriation

returning something to its original place

Jeffers Petroglyphs

location of about 5,000 petroglyphs that give us information about some of Minnesota's earliest people

Milk

State drink

Loon

State Bird

Honeycrisp Apple

State Fruit

Walleye

State Fish

Blueberry

State Muffin

Lady Slipper

State Flower

Monarch

State Butterfly

Hail Minnesota!

State Song

L'Etoile Du Nord

State Motto

Grace

State Photograph

Norway (Red) Pine

State Tree

Lester

State Soil

Lake Superior Agate

State Gemstone

Hockey

State Sport

Wild Rice

State Grain

Morel

State Mushroom

7,000 to 5,000 BCE

A major archaeological investigation in 1937 near Lake Itasca uncovered a massive collection of stone tools and animal bones as well as evidence of a varied diet of fruits, nuts, fish, turtles, and birds. The large mammoths and mastodons became extinct as the climate grew warmer and drier.

10,000 to 8,000 BCE

Ancient humans hunted herds of giant mammoths and mastodons that traveled north as glaciers receded. The climate was much colder and drier that it is today. Archaeologists have found human remains and artifacts from this time period in different parts of MN: Cedar Creek site, Brown's Valley site, and the Bradbury Brook site.

200 BCE to 1,300 CE

People created burial mounds all over Minnesota during this time period. Grand Mound, near International Falls, is the largest at 25 ft tall and 100 ft wide at the base. At the Bryan Site village, located near Red Wing, archaeologists found human remains, farming tools made from animal bone, food storage pits, and pottery.

3,000 to 500 BCE

A burial site near the Mississippi River in Winona County was found to contain the remains of several humans. Also found were copper pieces, clam shells, bone and stone tools, a beaver tooth, animal bones, and red ocher.

The Bryan Site

This was a farming community that lived on a high terrace overlooking the Cannon River. People here stored food for future use in clay pottery sunk into storage pits. The various styles of pottery suggests that the community had contact with other people and traded with them. Evidence of the wall surrounding the site indicates that they built it to protect themselves from other people or animals.

The Itasca Bison Kill Site

This was a site where people hunted large and smaller mammals, birds, and caught turtles and fish as the bones of these animals were found here. A skull found here may indicate they had domesticated dogs to help them hunt.