Around 7-12 million people populated North America, 60-70 million in America before the arrival of Columbus
Native American societies were diverse and sophisticated, based on geography.
- Contributions to medicine, art, architecture, ecology. - Plants for food, dyes, medicine, textiles - Domesticated animals - Extensive patterns of trade - Massive cities, huge monumental architecture - Reshaped environment to meet their own needs Native Americans crossed over the Bering Strait - Land bridge between Siberia and Alaska - Native Americans and Mongolians with similar physical and linguistic characteristics Native Americans took 3 routes across America - East: across Canada’s northern coast - South: along Pacific Coast and Rocky Mountains - Southeast: Ohio Valley, Mississippi Valley They were hunters - Bison, caribou, oxen, mammoths - Mammoths and others went extinct, no one knows why? o Over killings? Climate change? - Many turned to hunting smaller animals, fishing, even gathering different foods o This led to the Archaic Period Archaic Period - population growth, foraging, new weapons o hooks for fishing, awls, axes, boats, cloth, darts, millstones, woven baskets, etc. Formative Period (a little after archaic period) - Domestication of wild seeds o maize (corn), fruit trees most likely from travel and trade - permanent settlements Prehistoric American Cultures - established big cities, and governments - huge architectural achievements: pyramids, temples, mounds, statues, canals, etc. Inuit and Aleut - around north west coast Alaska, adapted to cold conditions - relied on hunting and fishing (plants didn’t grow in cold temperature) - animal’s skins to keep cold - organized in small independent bands Haidas, Kwakiutls, Tlingits - pacific northwest - water and dense forests - didn’t work too hard for food, plenty of fish - focused on specialized cultures – ceremonies, art, etc. Ancestors of Pueblo and Navajo - Southwest Desert - Massive, complex irrigation systems - crops: corn, squash, beans three sisters - climate change increased rainfall and therefor increased migration - but, somewhere between 1,000 c.e. they abandoned their dwellings and moved east. o Irrigation dried up, they faced pressure from all around Midwest and Southeast - Trade and agriculture - Mound builders, Mexican influence – Poverty Point (migration from Mexico)