Native American Societies to 1490

Great Ice Age and Peopling of the Americas

  • Great Ice Age: Began 2.5 million years ago and ended 11,700 years ago.

  • The Bering Land Bridge connected Siberia to Alaska, enabling the peopling of the Americas and the diversification of flora/fauna.

  • End of the Ice Age: climate change opened new settlements but caused regional biological/technological isolation.

  • Populating the Americas: migrations along coastal or ice-free routes; 60{,}000–14{,}000\text{ years ago}; many Indo-European groups from Siberia; hunter-gatherer societies; thousands of languages.

  • By 14,000 years ago reached South America; North America population at least 100,000.

  • Agriculture develops around 9{,}000 years ago; early sites include Folsom and Clovis (New Mexico).

Pre-Columbian Native Societies

  • Many diverse societies before European contact; varied by location, language, economy, religion, customs, warfare.

  • Stereotypes vs. reality: not all natives fit common myths; complexity and urban scale existed in multiple regions.

Meso-America

  • The Mayans: Arose in Mexico. Between 300-900 CE, cities of pyramids, places, and temples surrounded by peasant villages were built throughout the region. These cities held large populations.

  • Three Sisters: beans, maize, and squash; provide a robust diet; cocoa used as currency.

  • The Mayans built eight ceremonial centers with pyramids, places, and temples. Tikal was home to the temple of the giant jaguar.

  • Social structure: hereditary nobles, priests, merchants, artisans; centralized kings.

  • The Mayan calendar operated in meaningful cycles. The solar year is 365 days. The ritual year has 264 days for daily affairs. 20 months with 13 days and 52 52-year period for everything to return to the starting point. The calendar ends in 2012 because the Maya were too lazy to finish the calendar.

  • Warfare and religion: warfare often focused on capturing captives for prestige, labor, and blood sacrifice (rituals tied to sun cycles).

  • Decline/abandonment: cities declined and forests reclaimed sites; causes debated (environmental pressure, conflict, disease).

  • The Aztecs originally came from the American southwest, but moved into central Mexico as a result of warfare and climatic shifts.

    • Living on the outskirts of their empire were subject people who the Aztecs forced to work in paid tribute, including human sacrifice.

  • The largest Aztec city was Tenochtitlan. This city was built on islands in a large lake for security. The Aztecs brought fresh water into the city via stone, illustrating their use of advanced irrigation methods.

  • Pyramid on the sun/moon

  • Mayan traditions

    • With a population of 200,000 people, it was the largest city in America at the time.

Mesoamerican Civilizations: Aztecs

  • Emerged in Central Mexico; large empire with subject peoples subject to tribute.

  • Capital: Tenochtitlan (on a lake) with causeways and aqueducts; population around (blank) in the city; larger regional population.

  • Scale: by early 16th century, region supported millions (estimates range from (blank) to (blank)).

  • Religion and practice: human sacrifice prominent; urban centers tied to military campaigns and cosmology.

  • Europeans arrived in 1519; impressions described as awe-inspiring urban landscape.

Mesoamerican Civilizations: Inca

  • The Empire stretched 1,000 miles along the Andes, highly organized administration and labor systems.

  • Agriculture/irrigation adapted to high-altitude conditions; notable urban citadels like Machu Picchu.

Mississippian Civilizations

  • Cahokia: The largest ceremonial/political center along the Mississippi River.

  • Monk’s Mound: The largest civilization. served as a wooden temple on top that housed the chief and his family.

  • Woodhenge: circular timber structure used as a calendar for seasons.

    • Agricultural societies, chiefs, and priests earned power through predicting the seasons, thus providing better harvests to support their people.

Natives of the Northeast

  • Iroquois (black snakes): Lived in the Eastern United States in upstate New York and Pennsylvania.

  • Early in the 16th century, the Nations formed the Great League of Peace, which later affected their relationship with Europeans after contact.

  • Algonquians: Chiefs ruled throughout kinship, tribute/trade, and hunting and war parties.

    • Located: Nova Scotia to Virginia

Land and Property

  • Europeans believe that you can buy land and pass it down to your descendants.

  • Natives do not see land as a commodity to be bought and sold; instead, they view it as a communal resource.

    • Conflict: This difference in conception of land ownership creates conflicts between Natives and Europeans.

Native Religion and Spirituality

  • Animism: natural world infused with spiritual power; shamans/priests conduct ceremonies, healing, and social roles.

  • Polytheistic: multiple spirits; adaptability (integration of new deities, including some Christian elements to fit pantheon).

    • Conflict: Natives had no problem incorporating Jesus Christ into their church. But Europeans were horrified by this, thus calling Natives heathens, or ones who have no religion.

  • Shamans: Priest

Gender Roles and Family Structures

  • Europeans believe in patrilineal societies. Meaning that all property rights are passed down from father to son, and that you gain heritage from the father’s side.

  • Natives believe in matrilineal societies. Meaning that men, upon entering adulthood in the form of marriage, would relocate/move to the female’s family. Property can be passed down from the female line.

    • Conflict: Natives and Europeans have different gender norms

  • Women could farm and manage domestic tasks; men hunted and prepared for war.

  • Indians believe women carried spiritual and social power in many communities.

  • Third Gender: Referred to as Two-Spirit, individuals who embodied both masculine and feminine qualities. Same sex marriage.

Warfare and Diplomacy

  • Morning Wars: Natives had raids to acquire captives and replenish their own population.

  • Linear Warfare: Means lines of mean charging at one another and fighting it out hand to hand.

  • Guerrilla Warfare: A form of non-linear hit and run tactics that aimed to harass the enemy.

  • Diplomacy: gift-giving as a central practice; gifts signified goodwill and power; trade linked to alliances and peace.

  • Trade networks: long-distance exchange of goods (e.g., European goods found with Sioux; Great Lakes copper with coastal groups).

  • Trade and war intersected with diplomacy; aiding enemies could trigger raids and conflict.

Quick Takeaways for Review

  • The peopling of the Americas occurred over tens of thousands of years via multiple routes and groups; agriculture emerged around 9{,}000 years ago.

  • Pre-Columbian Americas included sophisticated civilizations (Maya, Aztec, Inca) and large, organized societies (Cahokia) far before Europeans arrived.

  • Native land concepts emphasized communal use and collective rights rather than private ownership;
    this clashed with European notions of property and sparked conflict.

  • Native religion was diverse but commonly animist and ritual-focused, with priests playing central social roles; adaptation to new beliefs occurred.

  • Gender roles and family structures varied; some societies were matrilineal and recognized multiple gender identities.

  • Warfare and diplomacy combined ritual practices with practical power dynamics; gift exchange and trade shaped intertribal relationships.