CHAPTER 2
THE FIRST AMERICANS
Core Lesson 1
Vocabulary Journal
Glacier
Migration
Agriculture
Civilization
pueblo
People Arrive in the
Americas
WHEN???
27,000 YEARS AGO!!
HOW???
Scientists have several theories (beliefs
about how things happened).
Theory #1
People traveled by boat along the coast
or across the oceans.
Theory #2
Hunters came to America across a land
bridge between Asia and Alaska.
****Land bridges form naturally. They are
NOT built by man.
This was during the Ice Age.
Glaciersare huge thick sheets of slowly
moving ice.
Ocean floor was no longer covered by
water in many areas.
Beringia
In one area, the ocean floor became
grassland where many kinds of animals
lived. People hunted these wild animals.
This area is called BERENGIA!!
BERENGIA is a land bridge between Asia
and Alaska where people followed the
animals they hunted
This kind of movement from one place to
another is called migration.
People followed this land bridge for
thousands of years until the Ice Age
slowly started to end. The ice melted
and now still covers many parts of the
earth with water.
Beringia was now covered by water and
still is TODAY!!!
Once these people crossed over by way
of Beringia, they began to follow the
migrating herds of animals south. They
spread across North and South America
PALEO-Indians
These ancient Americans were ancestors
of modern American Indians.
What is an ancestor?
Relatives who lived before you.
Assignment-POP QUIZ
Develop 5 questions from Lesson 1.
Trade papers with a friend to complete as
a pop quiz.
CIVILIZATIONS DEVELOP
PALEO-INDIANS hunted big and small
animals. When the large animals started
to die off, they continued to hunt
smaller animals.
They fished and gathered wild plants.
The Paleo-Indians began to adapt to
changes in their surroundings.
To adapt to something is to change a way
of life to fit an environment.
They adapted to the changes and began
to use agriculture to feed themselves.
In your notebook, write down what you think
agriculture means.
What is agriculture?
Scientists theory is that Paleo-Indians in
present day Mexico were the first to
practice agriculture.
***What kinds of crops do you think these
Indians planted?
Corn, beans, and squash
Agriculture gave these people a steady
supply of food and caused them to be
able to stay in one place and settle
there.
Because of this, populations began to
grow.
What do you think happened when people
stayed in one place and populations
grew?
All of these changes began the growth of
civilization.
What is civilization?
A group of people living together who
have systems of government, religion,
and culture.
***What are some different
civilizations that you can think of
in present day?
Who were the Mound
Builders?
The Adena
Hopewell
Mississippians
These people built giant mounds, or hills,
out of the earth, which they often used
to bury their dead, jewelry, tools, and
pottery
The Adena and Hopewell lived in what is now
the Ohio River Valley.
What did the mounds look
like?
They made some in the shape of animals
or symbols.
The Great Serpent Mound in Ohio is
shaped like a snake.
Mississippians
Lived much like the Adenas and Hopewell.
Spread along the lower Mississippi River
Valley, over much of the southeast, and
all the way to Wisconsin.
The Mississippians may be ancestors of
the Creek Indians, who lived in
Alabama, Georgia and Florida
Assignment:
Read the section about Mound Builders on
p. 41. With your group, list several
animals or symbols that the Adena
might have chosen to model a mound
after. Decide on one that you want to
create and work together to create your
mound.
Ancient Pueblo
Indian civilization from what is now the
Southwest.
2000 years ago
Pueblo-Spanish word for “town”
Lived in large buildings with many rooms
that looked like towns.
Built houses out of mud and stone
Able to build these houses on top of each
other
Size of modern day apartment buildings
Built kivas, which were underground rooms
and used for religious ceremonies.
Pueblo Bonito, New Mexico
One of
the
mud
and
stone
buildin
gs built
by the
Pueblo’
s.
Parts of
Pueblo
Bonito
still
stand
today
Kivas used for religious The Great
Kiva
ceremonies.
Inside Pueblo Bonito
In January 1941, a section of the canyon wall known as
Threatening
Rock collapsed, destroying some of the interior walls of
Pueblo Bonito.
Pueblo Bonito was occupied from AD 828 to
1126. They left their villages.
Why? No one knows.
Theories:
Lack of rain or wood
Warfare with other people
**Went south and settled along the Rio Grande
and Little Colorado Rivers.
**Today, descendents live in Arizona, New
Mexico, and northern Mexico.
Aztec Civilization
Ruled in Central Mexico beginning in 1300
for about 200 years.
Capital city- Tenochtitlan
Population of 250,000 people
Aztecs built large temples here
Playing court similar to modern day
basketball
§
Why is this all important?
Because the history of the
people of North America
began with the American
Indians. They practiced
agriculture and built
civilizations.
PEOPLES OF THE
NORTHWEST
Core Lesson 2
Think of something you know of
that you use in different ways.
Make a web identifying all of its different
uses.
§
Plastic
The Pacific Northwest
Coastal area that stretches from Alaska to
California.
Bordered by mountains to the east
Bordered by oceans to the west
Thousands of islands and bays
Covered by thick forests
Climate is rainy and mild
Occupied by several American Indian groups
when Europeans first came to America and
many still live there.
The People and the Land
American Indians hunted and fished along
the waters near them.
They hunted mainly for salmon, but other
fish too.
During the spring and summer months,
their would always be a surplus of
salmon
Surplusmeans extra
They would catch as much as they could
and that it would last them all year.
Question: How do you think they would
preserve their salmon to last them all
year?
Salmon
Another important resource:
WOOD!!!
Dugouts
Houses out of boards from cedar spruce
trees
Decorated their homes with carvings and
paint.
Totem poles used to mark the entrance to
their houses. The figures painted on
them told the family history.
LET’S PARTY!!!
Families would celebrate special occasions
with a potlatch.
A Potlatch is a large feast that could last for
several days.
HUGE amounts of food were served
Valuable gifts given to guests.
Sometimes like competitions.
Families would try to outdo each other.
Most common potlatches given today are for
funerals, memorials, adoptions, totem-pole
raisings, and the buildings of houses or
lodges.
Other important resources:
Cedar logs for canoes
Dugouts for carrying goods on trading
trips along the seacoast and rivers.
They would also take these dugouts out
to sea to hunt for whales.
What were the two main
resources that helped the
Northwest Indians live?
Look at the map on p. 47
Which American Indian group lived the
farthest north in the Pacific Northwest
region?
Which American Indian group lived on the
island that was the farthest west in the
Pacific?
Which other American Indian group also
lived on an island?
Which American Indian group lived the
farthest south in the Pacific Northwest
region?
The Tlingit
One of the largest American Indian groups in the Pacific
Northwest
Used many of the same resources and their way of life was
very similar to that of the other Northwest peoples.
Made clothing from tree bark because they did NOT farm or
herd animals, so they didn’t have sheeps wool or cotton.
They would make skirts, capes and raincoats from this
cedar bark.
They made rain hats out of cedar bark and spruce roots.
Also made cedar bark blankets during the winter to keep
warm.
They would stay indoors out of the cold and would pass the
time by weaving, carving, painting and sewing.
Tlingits cont’d
Divided themselves into clans
Clan-group of related families.
Families from the same clan lived together.
Put dividers in the homes so that each family
had its own area.
Had a fire in the center of the house where
they would gather to eat meals together and
fellowship.
Very strict about the way they treated each
other and members of other clans.
A member of a clan may have to pay a fine for
mistreating or insulting a member of another
Tlingit today!!!
about 17,000 Tlingit live in Southeastern Alaska.
Have jobs:
Fishing
Working in the forests cutting wood.
Business owners
Teachers
Doctors
lawyers
Still carry on many of same traditions, such as singing, dancing,
and telling stories.
Still live in clans and often wear family symbols on clothing or
jewelry
One of most important traditions is till potlatch.
Assignment:
What do you think a Tlingit house would
have looked like based on what you
have learned so far?
Draw a sketch of what
the inside of the Tlingit
house might look like.
You may draw a floor
plan or an illustration!!
PEOPLES OF THE
SOUTHWEST
Core Lesson 3
How do you use water
everyday?
In your groups, make a web of all of the
uses you can think of for water in your
daily life.
What would life be like if you did not have
enough water to use?
What are some things they could do to
cope with this shortage?
WATER IS NECESSARY FOR
LIFE!!
Scarcity-when there is not enough of
something.
WATER IN THE SOUTHWEST IS SCARCE!!!
AMERICAN INDIANS
FROM THE
SOUTHWEST
LEARNED TO USE
SOUTHWEST
Present-day Arizona and New Mexico
Sections of Utah
Colorado
Nevada
Texas
Southern California
Northern Mexico
Parts of the Rocky Mountains
Land in the Southwest
Low
Flat
Desert
Some high plateaus
Climate in the Southwest
DRY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!
Receives very small amounts
of rain
Most of the water in the area
comes from rivers fed by
melting snow in the
The dry climate greatly affects
the lives of the Southwestern
Indians
Very few trees, so there was very little
wood to use for their homes
Instead, they used sticks, stone, and clay
called adobe
They would build their homes on top of
mesas
Mesas
Small plateaus with steep sides and flat tops
Building
their
homes
on a
mesa
protecte
d them
from
attack.
People of the Southwest were
farmers.
Agriculture was difficult because of lack of
water.
They had to figure out ways to get water
to their crops.
This led to a need for irrigation-way of
supplying water to crops with streams,
ditches, or pipes.
Dug long ditches from the rivers to their
fields so that it would flow through the
ditches to their crops.
They would plant corn DEEP into the
THE HOPI
Among the oldest Indian groups in the
Southwest.
Began living in northeast Arizona before
1350.
They are considered Pueblo Indians because
of their large buildings.
Grew beans, squash, and corn
Used irrigation to water their crops
Irrigation-a way of supplying water to crops
using streams, ditches, or pipes.
CORN was their staple-main crop that is used
for food.
CORN
they grew corn of all kinds: blue, purple,
yellow, red, white
They would grow enough corn to last all
year and would store it in rooms in their
pueblos.
Pottery
Would make clay pots for storage of food
and water.
Were one of first to fire their pots with
coal
Made them strong and hard
Religion
Believed that their creator led them to
the southwest
Felt they were meant to be “caretakers of
the land”
Would try to keep their land healthy
through prayer and ceremonies-special
event at which people gather to express
important beliefs.
“BEAN DANCE”-ceremony where they
would dance and pray for good harvest.
MODERN DAY HOPI
Most live in villages in the southwest
Still take part in dances and ceremonies
Make pots, baskets, and silvery jewelry
Many have jobs in local companies
Teachers
Business owners
