Life before Columbus: 1491
Imagine taking off in a plane over 500 years ago and being able to observe from the air what life would have looked like before European’s arrived in the Americas. What do you think you might see? I bet you would have been surprised by some of the sights you would observe. While this is in reality an impossible journey we are going to try and imagine this is possible…
By the time ancient Greece was falling under the control of Rome, in North America thousands of unique and advanced cultures were flourishing throughout the land. Natives became master hunters, farmers, and gatherers depending on their location. Most of the tribes had a powerful and organized government ruling over their people. It is estimated that in North America alone there were as much as 25 million people living in thousands of different tribes and cultures across the land.
Imagine flying of what would be today the Southwestern United States and from your window you can see desert farms and cliff dwellings built by the Pueblo in the desert. These native tribes lived near canyons and in cliff dwellings. They used the earthen mud and straw to make their adobe homes. They were mainly hunter-gathers and would survive in the intense heat by adapting to their surroundings. Their homes were built into the cliffs and had large openings for air to circulate in the heat. They also wore little clothing to help deal with the heat. Pueblos were also very good at basket weaving and would paint stories onto rocks or walls.
Imagine you are heading north in our plane to the area of the Northwest where you will now encounter the Nez Perce tribe. This tribe made their homeland near rivers and mountains that provided lots of fish and other animals to eat. This tribe dressed warmer because of their climate and could be seen wearing moccasins and breechcloths and decorated their clothes with elk’s teeth and porcupine quills, shells, and beads. They lived in tepees and longhouse structures made from the trees and other materials found in their surroundings.
Now imagine flying across the country over the huge Great Plains region. This large, flat, grassy region was populated with thousands of buffalo and many native tribes. One tribe living in this region was called the Sioux. This group could be seen living in small groups with tepee homes. This group was nomadic and would often move their location as they followed the buffalo herds across the great wilderness. They used all parts of the buffalo in their life and wasted nothing. The buffalo provided food to eat, animal skins for their clothing and tepees, and uses were found for other parts of the buffalo as well.
The last part of our flight will take us over the Northeast region. This is where you would live today but on their trip there are no houses or roads for us to see. Instead we begin to see villages as we fly over what is today New York State that are populated by several longhouses. Inside these longhouses are members of the Iroquois tribe that live in many (sometimes 50-100) family members in one long house. All the family members are related through their mother’s side of the family. You should be able to see the Iroquois men out hunting animals in the forests such as deer. The women are working just outside the village in the fields collecting some of their crops including corns, beans, and squash. If you look closely enough you might be able to see the different Iroquois tribe’s trading with each other.
Imagine millions of natives living in tribes like this one across both North and South America. They arrived here thousands of years ago across the Bering land bridge from Asia and over the year’s migrated farther and farther south forming unique tribes and cultures. Some native groups were so advanced they had major cities that rivaled the great European cities you have learned about. Columbus did not necessarily discover a new world but really an old world full of amazing people and cultures that had existed for thousands of years without Europe’s knowledge.
Life before Columbus Activity
Group Directions:
1. With your group, read the passage about what life was like in the America’s before Columbus arrived in 1492
2. Answer the following questions together:
a. The word adapt means to change to fit your environment…Give me at least 5 examples from the reading of how Native American’s adapted to their environments…
b. Based on the reading, explain what a hunter-gatherer was…
c. Based on the reading, explain what the word nomadic means…
d. Based on what you read, why were the Native groups in the America’s so different? Explain your answer…
NOW AS A GROUP:
When done with the questions…as a group decide on one of the REGIONS to create a picture of…Get needed supplies from me and as a group create a “Snapshot” of your region…