INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF NORTH AMERICA

Many Americans still believe that when Europeans arrived in North America the continent was empty. What to you think?
How long ago were people using tools in the Bluefish Caves in Canada?
When were the Watson Brake mounds in Louisiana built? (Hint: They were built before the Egyptian pyramids.)
Were the “three sisters” Native American women?
How large was Cahokia at its peak?
How did the Hohokam grow crops in the desert?
What’s a longhouse?
Along the coast from Alaska to California, Native peoples didn’t need to farm. Why not.
How many languages were spoken in the northwest coast region?
Some Americans believe “all the real Indians are gone.” What do you think?

• Read •

INDIGENOUS PEOPLES OF NORTH AMERICA

Long Before Europeans Arrived…

People lived across North America for thousands of years before Europeans ever set foot there.

This land was not empty.

It was full of life, with different groups of people building cultures, cities, and traditions that fit their environments. They created their own ways of farming, building, trading, and living together.

The Paleoindian Period (about 24,000 – 8,000 BCE)

Scientists found human tools and bones in the Bluefish Caves in Canada that are around 24,000 to 30,000 years old. This is the oldest known site of humans in North America!

The Paleoindians were early people who hunted animals and gathered plants. They were called hunter-gatherers. They moved around in small groups, usually with about 30 to 50 people. They hunted huge animals like mammoths and mastodons, as well as deer, moose, and bears.

These groups likely egalitarian, they treated each other equally. They believed nature was full of powerful spirits. Fire, water, mountains, and animals were all seen as sacred and alive with energy.

The Archaic Period (about 8,000 – 1,000 BCE)

The Earth warmed after the Ice Age, so the land changed. Big glaciers melted, oceans rose, and the land looked very different.

People began eating more types of food, like nuts, seeds, fish, and shellfish. They started planting crops and stayed in one place longer. Some groups even built big villages along rivers.

One of the most amazing sites from this time is Watson Brake in Louisiana. It has giant earth mounds — huge piles of dirt shaped into circles and ridges. These were built more than 5,000 years ago — older than the pyramids of Egypt!

Later came Poverty Point, another community in Louisiana, where people built even more mounds.

It became a major trading center where people swapped goods like copper, shells, stones, and special rocks used for tools.

The Woodland Period (about 1,000 BCE – 1,000 CE)

During this time, people started farming more seriously. Corn, beans, and squash became important — they were known as the “Three Sisters.” These crops helped people grow larger communities and stay in one place longer.

This was also the time when people invented the bow and arrow, which made hunting easier and safer.

Villages became larger, and some had 20 to 200 people living in them. These villages were often built near rivers. People also created clans — family groups with special roles and responsibilities.

One amazing culture from this time was the Hopewell Culture.

These people built giant earth shapes, some in circles or animal shapes, and lined them up with the sun and moon. This means they studied the sky and understood how the seasons worked!

The Hopewell people also traded goods across long distances, from the Atlantic Ocean to the Rocky Mountains.

The Mississippian Culture (about 900 – 1500 CE)

This culture reached its height just before Europeans arrived. It began around 800 CE and lasted until about 1600 CE.

The Mississippians built big cities with large mounds for ceremonies, leaders, and gatherings. Their biggest city was Cahokia, near today’s St. Louis, Missouri.

At its peak, Cahokia had tens of thousands of people and over 100 earth mounds. The largest, Monks Mound, is about 100 feet tall!

Mississippian people were expert farmers. They grew lots of corn, which allowed their cities to grow. They also had wide trade networks with other groups across the continent.

Their society had different classes: leaders, priests, and warriors were at the top. Most people were farmers, and there were also slaves who had been captured in wars or had debts.

Different Regions, Different Cultures

North America was full of different groups who each lived in their own ways.

Let’s look at some of these amazing civilizations:

The Southwest

In the dry Southwest, people like the Ancestral Puebloans started as nomadic (moving around) but later built farming villages. They planted corn, beans, and squash.

Their homes changed over time. At first, they lived in underground houses called pithouses, then in stone buildings called pueblos, and even in cliffside homes like those at Mesa Verde and Chaco Canyon.

Another group, the Hohokam, lived in what is now Arizona. They built amazing irrigation canals to bring water to their crops. Some canals were hundreds of miles long! They also traded with people from Mexico, bringing back things like copper bells and parrots.

The Northeast

The Iroquois Confederacy, also called the Haudenosaunee, was a group of tribes in what is now New York. These tribes — the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and later the Tuscarora — made peace with each other through the Great League of Peace.

**• Haudenosaunee (Iriquois) longhouse**

They lived in longhouses, grew the “Three Sisters,” and had a strong system of government. They worked together and had rules for peace between tribes.

The Southeast

This region was home to the Muscogee (Creek) Nation and many other groups that descended from the Mississippians.

They built cities with earth mounds and traded goods with faraway places.

The Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia kept power through both war and peace treaties.

The Northwest Coast

From Alaska to California, Native people along the coast built rich societies without needing to farm. The ocean gave them fish and other food all year long.

They lived in large wooden homes and had strong cultural traditions, including storytelling, totem poles, and big feasts called potlatches.

There were many languages in this region, with over 100 different tribes speaking different tongues.

This shows how long and rich the history of this area really was.

The Great Plains

You may have heard about the bison hunters of the plains. But not all Plains people were nomadic.

Groups like the Pawnee lived in earth-lodge villages and also grew crops. They balanced farming and hunting.

The Great Basin

This dry and rough region made life harder. Groups like the Paiutes, Shoshones, and Utes moved around often in search of food.

They had smaller populations and lived in simple shelters.

Final Thought

Before Europeans arrived, North America was full of amazing, creative, and powerful civilizations.

**• Native American nations before European settlement**

These peoples were builders, farmers, artists, scientists, and explorers in their own right.

Their stories are the deep roots of the continent’s history — and they continue today.

Agriculture – The science or work of growing food like crops and raising animals.
Ancestor – A person in your family who lived a long time ago.
Archaeologist – A scientist who studies old places and objects to learn about the past.
Architecture – The style or way buildings and homes are designed and built.
Ceremonial – Something done in a formal or special way, often for tradition or religion.
Clan – A group of families that are related and share the same ancestor.
Confederacy – A group of tribes or states that join together for a common purpose.
Earthwork – A large pile or shape made from dirt for building or ceremonies.
Equality – The idea that everyone should be treated the same and fairly.
Glacier – A giant sheet of ice that slowly moves across land.
Hunter-gatherer – A person who gets food by hunting animals and collecting plants.
Irrigation – A way of bringing water to crops using ditches or canals.
Longhouse – A very long home that several families lived in together.
Maize – Another word for corn.
Mound – A hill or bump in the land, sometimes built by people for ceremonies.
Nomadic – Moving from place to place without a permanent home.
Pueblo – A kind of village made of stone or mud-brick buildings.
Settlement – A place where a group of people live together.
Society – A group of people who live and work together with rules and traditions.
Trade – Giving one thing to get something else in return.

► COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS

— please answer with complete sentences

Many Americans still believe that when Europeans arrived in North America the continent was empty. What to you think?
How long ago were people using tools in the Bluefish Caves in Canada?
When were the Watson Brake mounds in Louisiana built? (Hint: They were built before the Egyptian pyramids.)
Were the “three sisters” Native American women?
How large was Cahokia at its peak?
How did the Hohokam grow crops in the desert?
What’s a longhouse?
Along the coast from Alaska to California, Native peoples didn’t need to farm. Why not.
How many languages were spoken in the northwest coast region?
Some Americans believe “all the real Indians are gone.” What do you think?

► From EITHER/OR ► BOTH/AND

► FROM Right/Wrong ► Creative Combination

THESIS — Argue the case that the history of the United States begins in about 1500 CE with the arrival of (non-Viking) Europeans.
ANT-THESIS — Argue the case that the history of the Unites States begins in about 30,000 BCE.
SYN-THESIS — Try to bring these two perspectives together.