Native American Societies

A “New World”

• Christopher Columbus was a catalyst for the most notable development in human history after making landfall in the West Indian Islands ~ 1492

• History in the U.S. starts long before his arrival

The First Americans

• Native American communities consisted of several unique cultures and hundreds of different languages

• Most descended from groups that crossed the Bering Strait ~ 15,000-60,000 years ago

• Others may have arrived by sea from Asia or Pacific Islands

Setting Up Shop

• Early tribes across North and South America, reaching the tip of South America ~ 11,000 years ago

• Food sources became scarce due to increasing warm climate, leading to the start of agriculture and farming

• Maize (corn), squash, and beans formed the basis of agriculture

  • Absence of lives —> difficulties for trending farms

Native American Religion

• There were common traits between indigenous communities of North and South America despite their diversity

• Lives were steeped in religious ceremonies related to farming and hunting

• Believed spiritual power was found all around especially in nature

  • Known as animism

Native Ideas about Land & Property

• Village leaders assigned plots of land to individual families to use for a season or more

  • Families’ owned right to use land ≠ owning the land itself

• Tribes claimed specific areas for hunting

• Indians saw land as a common resource, not an economic commodity