Social Studies Chapter 4

Chapter 3 Lesson 1 People Come to the Americas

Bering StraitNarrow passage that separates Asia to North America

The land the hunters may have walked is now buried under water.

GlaciersAt that time, about 1/3 of the earth’s surface was covered with glaciers.

They were sometimes up to a mile thick.

Oceans were about 300 feet lower.

When the Bering Strait connected Asia with North America, many different groups of humans walked across.

This bridge existed until about 12000 B.C. At that time temperatures rose and caused the glaciers to melt

The water covered the bridged land

People continued to cross with boats but walking was now over

From Hunting to FarmingThe hunters who walked across the land bridge into N. America may have been the ancestors of people we now call the Native Americans

Their story can be told in 4 epochs

What is an epoch?

Beringian Epoch- When main group of hunters came to North America

13,000-9,500 B.C.

Hunters followed these animals to warmer lands.

Travel all through the Americas

Paleo- Indian Epoch

Water levels raise from melted glaciers

The N. American grasslands became hot deserts.

Grass-eating animals dies out for want food

American Indians now had to look for new sources of food.

Made better weapons

With improved weapons they could hunt faster animals

Bison, Caribou, and Deer

Archaic Epoch

Now lived in permanent settlements, built boats if they lived near water, and collected nuts and berries in forest areas.

During the archaic period, they also learned to to plant and harvest corn, beans and other crops

With agriculture, they could settle and grow food, so they (Native Americans) grew in number

Postarchaic Epoch 1000 B.C.- 1500A.D.

Many cultures developed during this period

Wore clothing made of plants and animal skin

Living in huts or wooden houses

Some live liked hunters and some lived within powerful societies

Aztecs- City of Tenochtitlan

100,000 people within the city

Canals, Temples, Islands

Hunted Caribou across the cold, bare regions of Canada.

Chapter 4 Lesson 2Four American Indian Cultures

Anasazi-People of the DesertA.D. 100

Cotton

Beans Corn

Moved from their settlements on mesa tops to cliff dwellingsHistorians believe that they may

have feared an enemy and moved homes to live where it was easier to defend themselves.

They climbed to tend to their crops

Most important food was corn, but it would not survive without rain

They learned to tend the desert land

They caught water in ditches to use on their crops

They believed in performing a rain dance to come and bring rain to their crops. If rain came, their crops would grow. They would feel alive after this process.

Rain came to a stop about the 1200’s and they moved near the water. Anasazi still live in the Southwest, but not in cliff dwellings.

These were only occupied when there was rain.

Makah- People of the Coast

From the Olympic Peninsula where they were surrounded by water. They relied on fish and other animals for food.

In the warm months they lived along streams and caught salmon

During the winter months, they would canoe out to the seas and catch whales, sea lions, otters, and more

They depended on this food they caught all year.

Lived on dried salmon and other fish

They made baskets, wooden masks, and other wooden objects made from cedar tree.

If they had extra food or projects, they had potlatch ceremonies where the wealthy gave to their guests

Each year they held a ceremony to honor the salmon and their return to the rivers of the land.

Mississippians: People of the River

Built a network of trade from The Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico

Chert- used for weapons and tools

Traded chert for shells, copper, and jewelry

Muscogee (Creek)- Very similar to Mississippians

Lived along rivers and streams and built mounds just like Mississippians

They lived in an area that is now Alabama and Georgia

They hunted, fished, gathered fruits and nuts.

Planted beans and corn

They built villages surrounded by tall wooden fences

Dozens of small houses in a village. Each family owned two.

One house was for winter and one was for summer

One was light and airy for summer, and one was warm and solid for winter

Houses surrounded a plaza where the town council met. The council was made up of men who were brave and wise.

One man was the chief

Creek religious ceremonies took place in the plaza too

People gave thanks for the harvest in mid- summer

In this, people put anger issues aside and vowed to live in peace.

Then they feasted on corn

It was living in harmony with nature

Life in an Iroquois Village

Chapter 4 Lesson 3

The Iroquois Nation began in the 1400’s. At the time five people formed a confederation

They were hoping to make peace among their members

They called themselves the Haudenosaunee- (ho DUH nuh shawnee)

“People of the Long House”

The long house is where they lived. Several families were in one.

Women- Were often the most important within the group. So when they married, they often lived with the woman’s family

If they lived together, they worked together. They divided the work equally between men and women

Men- hunted, fished, and farmed

The work they did was for everyone to share.

Men also fought in war when Iroquois went to war

Women- raised crops and took charge of the daily life. They made sure everyone in the village had their basic needs.

Squash Corn beans

Food clothing shelter

They believed every part of nature had its own spirit.

plantTree animal

They prayed to the spirits and asked for help in hunting and farming.

They also believed they should only take what was needed and nothing more.

They shared no matter how little they had. No one went hungry. Everyone helped each other. Cooperation was so important

In fact, without cooperation, they would not survive. The five people belonging to the nation were always at war with each other.

If a Cayuga killed a Seneca, then a Seneca would kill a Cayuga in return

Continually tried to get even

Hiawatha- Tired of the fighting, he took advice from a “Peace Maker.”

He advised joining together as a single naion.

Hiawatha made this happen by going to all the villages to call peace

The Great Council- 49 chiefs

They brought an end to wars

They remembered the words of Hiawatha

Worked together and built a great nation.