I. The First Americans

-American History Origins

• Native Americans’ creation stories shape indigenous belief

• diverse traditions from various tribed explain their origin

Creation Stories

• salinan tradition

  • bald eagle forms first man and woman

• lenape traditions

  • sky woman creates turtle island (north America)

• choctaw tradition

  • origin within the mother mound, nunih waya

• nahua tradition

  • emergence from the seven caves in central Mexico

-Indigeonous Narritives

• numerous accounts of creation and migration

migration habits

-archaeologic histories

• archaologic insights

  • artifacts and genetic evidence inform migration narratives

• being land bridge

  • low sea levels during the last ice age exposed land connecting asia and north America

• migration patters

  • hunter gatherers (nomads) travelled in small bands

  • pause in beringia for around 15,000 years

  • evidence of early human activity in chile and other regions

cultural diversity

• geographic adaptations

  • diverse diets based on regional resources

• agricultural development