Pre-Columbian Unit- Michigan 5th (Indigenous Peoples’ Lives in the Americas )

Life in the Americas UNIT: PRE-COLUMBIAN WEEK 25 MICHIGAN There is no cellphone footage. There are no objects and later, more advanced ones. They When combined with other forms of documentaries. There’s not even a photograph may find evidence of trade by tracking the evidence, artifacts can tell a story. to prove that native people had been living in movement of similar artifacts. For example, the Americas for thousands of years before Knife River flint comes from what is now North One of the oldest archaeological sites we European explorers arrived. Dakota. Artifacts made from this flint have been know of in North America was found in Cactus found throughout the western United States. Hill, Virginia. It is here archaeologists found How do we know that people were here for They have also shown up as far east as Ohio evidence of a people known to have lived about so long? How do we know anything about their and Pennsylvania. This evidence suggests that 14,000 years ago. lives? native peoples traded the material all across the country. As archaeologists dug deeper, layer by layer, People leave clues that help us understand into the earth of Cactus Hill, other artifacts them long after they are gone. Sometimes, ancient But archaeologists don’t only study objects. were uncovered. These pointed to another group peoples left clues about how they saw the world of people dating back around 18,000 years. in stories passed down to their descendants. They At archaeological sites, or places where there is What evidence suggested a different group of also left behind innovations we still use. Some evidence of past human activity, they also study American Indians living there? The tools were of these include crops, like corn, and medicines. structures and features. Structures like native not the same as the ones found in the earth People left objects they made, too. We call these peoples’ homes can suggest whether a certain above them. archaeological evidence! group had more of a close-knit community or a complex, sprawling society. Features like That means 4,000 years earlier, people An archaeologist studies things left behind fireplaces or storage pits can also help scientists camped and cooked and fished in the same by those who have lived before. Some objects imagine what native cultures looked like. place as those who came after them! called artifacts are covered by earth or water for thousands of years. Many become fragile. Archaeologists study these artifacts Continued study proves that the early people To avoid damaging them, archaeologists rarely who lived in the Americas were skilled. They use their hands to observe artifacts. Instead, carefully. It’s important to show respect to the built complex societies. They had families they they use dry brushes and other tools to clean people from the past and their descendants. loved. They traded goods with other American artifacts. This helps make sure that they won’t Sometimes when archeologists dig, they unearth Indians. They adapted to harsh weather. They remove things like leftover paint and food sensitive things. They may find places where lived off the land. They were successful. Their from them. For example, stone tools that people are buried. Some people think burials descendants survived through hard times and are archaeologists find can reveal traces of foods should be examined for evidence. Others think still an important part of American society today. they should be left alone. New technology has that native peoples ate. helped archeologists with this problem. Today, Archaeologists often they can often scan areas without digging. Not having to dig allows them to show more respect recognize patterns. They may for burial places. see differences between earlier Knife River Flint sample Lynch Knife River Flint Quarry

Life of Indigenous People in North America Groups of people lived, moved, and changed in the Americas long before Europeans and Africans arrived. As people adapted to their environments, they came up with different ways to meet their wants and needs. Native ways of life were different in each tribe or nation. Still, cultures that developed by the 1400s had many similarities. Northwest peoples lived in a plentiful land. They ate bear, elk, and deer. They fished in the rivers for salmon and captured whales and sea lions from the sea. Their strong homes were built on the seashore. People carved trees into totem poles to tell their clans’ history. Clothing was made from local materials like woven grass and animal skins. The landscape of the Far West was varied between deserts, valleys, and coasts. People on the coast fished for food.. People who lived in the plateau areas ate ground acorns. They hunted for antelope, rabbit, and deer. Many lived in tepees. Peoples of the Plains lived on grasslands. They were a hunting culture that followed bison herds. They used every part of the bison to meet their needs. Bison skin was used in tepees and bison dung for fuel. They lived in tepees because they could be packed up and moved easily. Southwest cultures lived in a hot, dry area. Some built homes of dried clay called adobe. Some built hogans of wood and packed dirt. Water was scarce, so Southwest peoples found ways to irrigate farmland. They gathered plant fiber, like cotton and wool shed by wild sheep to weave blankets.

Week 25 of 32 • Page 3 The cold in the Arctic could be deadly. The peoples Man-Made Mounds there did not plant gardens but followed animals for food. Their homes were carved from blocks of ice. They Earthen mounds dot the land in the eastern United States ate their food raw, consuming fat to keep warm. They from the Great Lakes all the way to the Gulf of Mexico. carved slits into pieces of caribou antler to wear like sunglasses to prevent snow blindness. What could these structures be? Who could have made them? These mounds were similar in many ways. Some were shaped Subarctic groups moved where the food was. Their like cones. Some were built in huge ridges that lined the earth. winter homes were sometimes built underground. They Some were constructed like pyramids made of earth but without ate moose, rabbits, and caribou. Women made clothes the triangular top. from the animals men killed. Fur clothes kept them warm Many native peoples had passed down stories about their in harsh winters. They travelled on sleds and toboggans. ancestors who built the mounds. Not everyone believed the stories at first. Some people thought the mounds were too Eastern Woodlands peoples lived in a fertile, complex for native peoples to have made. Those people were wooded area with plenty of water. They grew corn, beans, wrong. As archeologists studied the mounds, they learned that and squash. Tribes used lumber to make canoes to travel, many were burial places. The burial items and traditions were longhouses to live in, and weapons to hunt and fight. similar to other native traditions. They hunted game and birds in the woods and fished. More study helped archeologists learn more. The mounds They wore deerskin and gathered firewood to keep warm. seem to be built from dirt carried in a basketful at a time. They were constructed without trucks or metal shovels. There were no modern tools to help with this labor. It was all done by hand. The mounds also showed that native people created huge cities. One ancient city in what is now Illinois grew to its largest size about 800 years ago. At that time, it was larger than almost every city in Europe! We don’t know its original name, but we call this ancient city Cahokia. Cahokia was linked to two other communities, and the three neighbors covered nearly 5,000 acres. They were connected by paths and waterways. Here, women grew crops like corn, squash, and beans. They made clothing. Men hunted in the surrounding woodlands. They fished the rivers and streams, and when necessary, defended their community. The people of Cahokia built a huge pyramid-shaped mound. The top was flat. The structure rose a hundred feet in the air and covered more space at ground level than the largest Egyptian pyramid. The city had individual homes, public buildings, storage pits, and hearth fires. People filled their city with art, including figures of people, beads, and pottery. One man was buried with more than 20,000 shell beads, all made by hand. One way they had fun was playing a competitive game called Chunkey. It was played with two teams. The players threw arrows at a moving stone wheel. The goal was to throw your arrow closest to where the wheel would stop. In Hopewell, Ohio, there are more American Indian mounds. Here, a large wall, built of earth, surrounded burial mounds of all sizes. Excavation revealed that the builders traded with other native peoples as far away as Yellowstone. That’s 2,000 miles away! Native peoples had complex ways to meet their wants and needs through trade.

Week 25 of 32 • Page 4 Name ________________________________________ Land and Natural Resources Each American Indian tribe, wherever balanced diet. They called these crops native people feel they are related to they lived, used the land and natural the Three Sisters. Men fished and hunted the world around them. This connection resources to survive. They learned to deer, rabbits, and other animals. The to the environment helped native people use plants for food and medicine. They people used deerskin to make winter survive and feel at home. learned to track animals, and to use those clothing. animals to make food, clothes, and tools. Three Sisters They built homes from what they found Far to the north, the Inuit adapted in their environments to defend against differently to their environment. Their Longhouse snow, rain or sun. world was one of snow and ice. They used the ice to make houses. The men Eastern Woodlands peoples lived were patient hunters, waiting for seals, between the Great Lakes, the Atlantic walruses and elk to come close ocean, and the Mississippi River. The land enough to kill. They ate fat was filled with trees, rivers, and streams and blubber from animals for cutting through the woods. The soil was energy and warmth. The women good for crops. The water drew deer and carefully sewed caribou skins buffalo for hunting. The people made into garments. Even the smallest birchbark canoes to travel the waterways. hole in clothing meant exposure to the weather and that could The Seneca, Mohawk, and Oneida mean freezing to death. built longhouses from young trees. As many as 20 families stayed together The land, water, and animals in a longhouse. They also built smaller were and are a part of native wigwams for single families. Women beliefs. Rivers, mountains, modified the environment to make trees and other natural gardens. Corn, squash, and beans grew features are often believed well together in the soil and made a to be alive with spirits. Many We Were There Identify the natural resources available in your area such as land, naturally occurring plants and trees, water sources, wildlife, etc. You have read about how some American Indian groups used the natural resources in their environment to meet their needs. Get together with two or three other students and brainstorm to fill in the chart. Then compare your list with another team. Were there ideas you didn’t think of? Could you survive using what is in your environment? What other resources would you need to survive? Now analyze how you could use the resources you listed to meet the following needs: shelter food clothing protection Innovations of American Indians What is science? We might imagine enough to chew. They had created corn! a calendar with pictures, helped record scientists in white lab coats holding test Many native cultures also invented their histories. tubes. Science means more than that, though. Science is the study of the world systems to water their crops. Two Inventions around us. Technology means applying thousand years ago, the Hohokam built We still use many inventions from science to solve a problem. Native canals, pipelines, reservoirs, and dams. peoples in the Americas carefully studied native peoples today. The Olmec their world and applied that knowledge to Medicine developed rubber. They made rubber develop many technologies. Native peoples found many ways to soles for sandals, thick rubber bands to strap handles onto tools, and rubber balls Agriculture use plants as medicine. When brewed for games. The Taíno made hammocks and Native farmers studied wild plants into tea, black willow bark produces the canoes. The Inuit invented kayaks. chemical used to make aspirin. Native and learned which foods would grow well. healers also used thin, hollow bird bones They also learned how to create new to inject medicine into their patients. plants from old ones. Great Lakes peoples cultivated wild rice. The Iroquois grew Astronomy crops in small mounds called milpas to Native peoples studied the stars and prevent soil erosion. Ten thousand years ago, farmers in Central America started the night sky to understand time. Many breeding wild grasses. They did so over groups developed calendars to know and over until the kernels were soft when to plant and harvest crops. The ancient Maya calendar was extremely accurate. The Plains Indians’ winter count,

UNIT: PRE-COLUMBIAN American Indian Institutions WEEK 26 MICHIGAN GOVERNMENTS OF AMERICAN INDIANS American Indians had many systems for together. Grand Council of the Chiefs. The Iroquois organizing their communities. Some native A chiefdom is a group of tribes under created a constitution called the Great Law peoples lived in small independent groups. of Peace. This agreement included a balance Others built huge empires or confederacies. one leader, or chief. The chief’s authority of power between bigger and smaller groups, often stayed in the same family. Some a two-branch legislature, procedures for The smallest native political structures cultures passed authority down through the passing laws, and more. Today, the Iroquois are the band and clan. A band is a group father’s side of the family. In other cultures, Confederacy is the world’s oldest living of people who are closely connected, often authority is passed through the mother’s democracy. by family ties. Bands might fish, hunt, and side. For example, Navajo children belong grow food together. Bands had leaders for to the mother’s clan. Authority and property Other groups, like the Aztec and different duties. For example, some bands traditionally passed through the mother’s Inca, formed empires. In an empire, a had one chief for war and a different one side of the family. single central government rules a large for peace. Clans are larger groups of distant territory. Sometimes, it is a mystery which relatives. For example, the Ojibwa have Some tribes also joined together to government a group had. For example, some clans named for different animals. Clan form confederacies. One example is the archaeologists think people in Cahokia were elders were often chosen to make decisions Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois. Hundreds of brought together by religion and led by for the group. years ago, the Mohawk, Onondaga, Cayuga, priests. Other scholars wonder if the sports Oneida, and Seneca fought many wars. To the people played in Cahokia might have Bands or clans join together to form end the wars, a woman named Jikonhsaseh, a drawn people there and even served as the tribes. Today, for example, the Shawnee chief named Hiawatha, and a prophet called political system. tribe is made up of three bands from across the Great Peacemaker convinced the tribes Oklahoma. A tribe is a group of people to unite. Each group had its own leadership, connected by a common language, belief, but the leaders made big decisions in the land, and culture. Tribes don’t usually have one specific leader, but they all work Sovereignty in the Americas Native people had different this authority recognized by those sovereignty was not respected, war forms of government, but one thing outside the nation. If a government’s weakened one or both societies as each group needed to govern was sovereignty is not respected, outside they tried to overpower one another. sovereignty. Sovereignty is the groups can easily take the power to Today, nearly 600 tribes in the U.S. authority of a state or nation to govern away. are considered sovereign. They are govern itself or another. Nations recognized as “domestic dependent get this authority from those within Sovereignty was usually respected nations” by the United States the nation. However, they also need to maintain peace and allow for government. trade between native groups. When

AMERICAN INDIAN TRADE ROUTES Columbia, and other rivers allowed travel by boat or raft. Along the way, tribes traded with each other. Trade also followed natural routes like buffalo paths across the plains and prairies. Humans made and named other paths. One well-known route stretched from the forests by Lake Erie to the South Carolina coast. This trail, called the Trading Path, appeared on maps in the 1700s. Parts are still marked today. Trails often followed the “military crest” of the ridge. Trails ran alongside, but not on, the ridge tops. This way, a person could travel along the trail without being seen by those on the other side of the ridge. American Indians disciplined themselves to walk heel-to-toe in single file. This left the smallest mark on the ground and allowed them to travel without being seen. Governments help people organize their Hohokam traded buffalo hides for seashells. TRADING SITES society within an area, but what happens when Neither comes from Arizona! The hides came people want things from outside that area? For from tribes on the Plains. Plains tribes often Two types of trading sites existed. The first thousands of years, American Indians operated traded bison robes, dried meat, and tallow with was in permanent farming villages. For example, huge trade networks to get what they needed other tribes for corn and squash. The shells tribes came from the north, west, and south to from other people in the Americas. For example, came from the Mojave tribe in California. trade in Mandan and Hidatsa villages in what is people in what is now North Dakota quarried a By trading with both groups, the Hohokam now North Dakota. kind of hard stone called flint near Knife River. became middlemen within a larger trade route. The stone was so good that, even 4,000 years ago, Middlemen took goods from one group to another The second type was a trade fair, or it was being traded far from the quarry. Copper during trade. rendezvous. Tribes met at a site away from and obsidian also spread, proving a trade system any permanent village. Fairs were often held existed. RIVERS AND TRAILS at convenient spots for the nomadic tribes. The Dakota Rendezvous was one of the major trading Another example of trade comes from the Large rivers made travel easier for trade fairs. It was held on the James River in present- Hohokam tribe in what is now Arizona. The between tribes. The Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, day South Dakota. A Universal Language KeTeitplieng a Record Buying, selling, By the 1400s, there were more than 300 American Indian languages spoken in North America. Each language was unique and and trading goods complex. As people traveled and traded, they learned languages from each other. To communicate even better across tribes during trade gets complicated or to give warnings, a shared American Indian sign language was developed. This sign language was used by a group of nations in the in large societies. Great Plains. Tracking who owes When the first Europeans arrived in the Americas, sign language was already in use. In fact, the Spanish conquistador Álvar Núñez money, where goods Cabeza de Vaca recorded the American Indians’ use of sign language. However, the origin of the language is unknown. It is possible that are stored, or taxes signing started in the Gulf Coast Region and spread into the Plains over time. Further evidence suggests that sign language became that need to be a common language among American Indians. Its use reached into present-day Canada. paid requires very Sign language was not only used in trade. It was used for hunters detailed records. to communicate with each other, in storytelling, and by people who were hearing impaired. Over time, American Indian sign language has The Inca used Inca knotted quipus nearly disappeared from use. a system of knotted strings called quipus to keep records. The number and type of knots used on a string meant different things. Knots could show tax records, census numbers, or the number of goods sold. Using different lengths and colors of strings had different meanings. Combining multiple strings in a row could reflect multiple figures. The Aztec were very precise in their records. To measure land, they used an eight-foot unit called a land rod. Aztec records reported the number of land rods, plus an arrow, a bone, or a hand to represent a fraction of a land rod’s length. Being exact showed how many taxes to collect! The Maya had a written language to keep their records. Instead of letters, they wrote with glyphs, or pictures. Glyphs represented words or syllables that would be combined to express ideas. From all these different types of record keeping, it is clear that there is more than one good way to approach a complicated problem.

TRADE ROUTES’ IMPACT TODAY Week 26 of 32 • Page 3 We still use a lot of native trails and trade Eastern Woodland Trade routes. Many major city roads and U.S. When it’s time to go shopping, you might hop in the car and highways follow the same paths American drive to a grocery store. When you need new clothes, you might Indians took thousands of years ago! For take the bus to the mall. And when you just feel like hanging example, some roads in Chicago follow routes out with a friend, you might ride your bicycle over for a visit. native people used 11,000 years ago. Also, portions of Interstate 40 follow the Cherokee The roads or sidewalks you take may follow a path from Trail. If you drove from North Carolina long ago. The first path makers were animals, like the woolly toward Tennessee and Arkansas, you’d follow mammoth and bison. But they weren’t the only ones to create a native trade route. intricate trails all over the Eastern Woodlands. American Indians traveled these same animal paths and developed miles and miles of their own trails. These were used to hunt, to trade with other cultures, and to visit with other tribes. They didn’t disturb the trails. American Indians traveled widely. Their paths and trails stretch from New York all the way into Alabama. The Cumberland Gap route took the tribes over mountains. These trails linked the Midwest to the West. These trails show there was a tremendous amount of trade between native peoples. When searching through mounds in Ohio, archaeologists discovered copper that came from the Great Lakes area. They found mica that originated in the Appalachian Mountains. They even found obsidian that would have been brought by people living in the Rocky Mountains. That was a trip, on foot, of more than a thousand miles. The people of the Midwest also loved seashells that came from the eastern and southern coasts. They traded deerskins for these treasured shells and for fish. American Indian trails were also used for war. One trail was called the Great Warrior’s Path. On these footpaths, the Cherokee and Shawnee fought each other. Today, many highways and interstates follow the same routes that the American Indians wore into the ground thousands of years ago. A System of Security ETxcihtlaenge of Ideas Trade didn’t just mean an exchange of things like deerhide and One of the strongest securities was groups working together! seashells. It was also the exchange of technology and ideas. During People who traded together often cooperated for security. trade, traditions helped people share ideas. For example, Eastern People from one clan or tribe often married someone from trading groups would sit together to eat, smoke small amounts of another to strengthen relationships. Marriages between the tobacco, and participate in rituals. Customs and ideas were shared tribes would create strong family ties. Tribes also had chiefs during these pre-trade gatherings. whose job was to secure peace. These peace chiefs would hold councils, or meetings, with other chiefs to talk things over before Shared ideas included farming techniques. The technology of going to war. corn farming moved north from what is now Mexico. Ways of life spread along with the crop. Growing corn meant that tribes could live in Native peoples had warriors in their communities to defend farming villages instead of moving to find food sources. their people, lands and resources if needed. These warriors carried weapons to defend themselves. In times of war, a group Different cultures also shared calendar systems. Calendars of warriors was called a war party. marked planting and harvesting times. The methods of measurement differed, but the idea existed in every American Indian farming culture. Many communities built defenses to stop attackers. About 700 years ago, the ancestors of the Pueblo people built their People also shared games. The Omaha played a game of chance homes high up in cliffs. Some of these homes would be 600 feet called Plum Stones with four of five plum pits or stones as the playing up the side of a mountain! Other groups built large wooden walls pieces. Each stone had a different design marked on one side. A player called palisades. The Huron built these to keep their neighbors, tossed the stones, caught them in a bowl, and counted points for stones the Haudenosaunee, from attacking their villages. Some tribes with the designed side up. The game spread in many forms. Different moved their villages to avoid attack from stronger enemies. tribes used chicken bones, small stones, or tree knots to play. Pueblo Cliff Dwellings

Week 26 of 32 • Page 4 Name ________________________________________ Storytelling and Oral History Before the 1500s, native people living in North America did not use an alphabet to communicate. Instead, American Indians typically used the spoken word to communicate and to preserve their history and common practices. Often, their speeches took the form of a story. Some stories represented actual events that happened in the tribe’s past. Some represented relationships between families and their ancestors. Others, sometimes called folktales, were stories that taught lessons to their listeners. These stories could include lessons on how to treat animals and plants or how to interact with other people. An important aspect of storytelling in American Indian culture was its sense of community. By listening to a storyteller, tribe members supported their idea of what a community should be. It reminded them of their shared customs and values. They felt connected to their past, listening to the history of their tribe. They felt connected to the present, sitting with their friends and family. They felt connected to their future because the stories often prepared them for their lives ahead. And, most importantly, they felt connected to each other and to the members of the tribe who came before them. Oral Traditions, Animals, and Creation Every culture has its stories. They help people feel secure in These stories talk about places, their new homes. This is one reason events, and people. We call these why animals are considered sacred stories history. But some stories are to many native people. Parts of different. For native people, special certain animals are considered very stories are part of their heritage, sacred, such as the feather of an religion, and culture. These stories eagle. Buffalo are sacred to the are called oral traditions. These Plains tribes, killer whales to tribes oral traditions often involve animals on the West Coast, and bears to the and the environment, tell valuable Eastern Woodland tribes. lessons, and help to explain the world. Tribes today still value their old stories as important parts of their Many native stories are about the culture. Words such as folklore, creation of the world. These creation myth, or fairytale are often not stories often discuss mountains, used by tribes to describe their oral large trees, or other landmarks that traditions. Many tribes have special are familiar to the tribe telling the rules and traditions for telling story. Many native creation stories stories. For example, many Eastern involve great floods. From these Woodland tribes only tell creation floods, a new world is born. stories when snow is on the ground because certain spirits are asleep Animals, birds and fish often during that time. play a key role in creation stories. Activity - American Indian Interactions You have read about trading _____________________________________________________________________________________________ and cultural interactions between _____________________________________________________________________________________________ various American Indian groups. _____________________________________________________________________________________________ Now you will get a chance to put _____________________________________________________________________________________________ yourself in the place of these _____________________________________________________________________________________________ people as you try to make your _____________________________________________________________________________________________ own trade deals. Your teacher _____________________________________________________________________________________________ will give you instructions for this _____________________________________________________________________________________________ activity. When you have finished _____________________________________________________________________________________________ the activity, write a paragraph describing your experience. What frustrated you? What did you do that helped you make successful trades? What did this help you understand about trading among American Indians? _____________________________________________________________________________________________