Transcript 8/27: Migration and the First Americans

Migration and the First
Americans
The Land Bridge
Better known as Beringia
30,000 years ago Indians came across the
Bridge from Asia into North America
Ice Age, Bridge made of ice connecting Asia
and current-day Alaska
Migration East and South
Hunters and Gatherers
Hunters followed animals south
10,000 years ago bridge melted and
disappeared
Lived in a Variety of locations
Adapting to different climates
American Indians
Cultural Regions
By 1400’s between 1 and 2 million American
Indians inhabited North America
8 regions
Northwest Coast, California, the Great Basin,
the Plateau, the Southwest, the Great Plains,
Eastern Woodlands, and the Southeast
Paleo Indians
Earliest inhabitants between 10,000 and
40,000 years ago.
Nomadic groups
“flint knapping”- stone chipping
Tipped-spears
Very little artifacts are left behind
Northwest Coast
Builders and Carvers
Plentiful food
Practice crafts
American Indians of
California
Southern Oregon to Baja California
Many sources of food
Simple, cone shape homes
Wove plant materials into many useful items
Indians of the Great
Basin
Low area between Sierra Nevada and Rocky
Mountains, Desert area
Limited food and water
Nomads, traveled in small groups
Extreme Heat and Cold
Indians of the Plateau
Bounded by Cascade Range to the west, the
Rockies to the East, and the Fraser River
Hunter and Gatherers
Relied mainly on fish and plants
Camas and Salmon
Indians of the Southwest
Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Utah,
Colorado, portions of Texas, Oklahoma, and
California
Canyons and Mountians
Mesa people, Nomadic desert wanderers
Adobe homes
Corn Culture
Indians of the Great
Plains
Treeless Grassland, Rockies to Mississippi
Valley, from Canada to Gulf of Mexico
Buffalo Hunters
Buffalo used for multiple uses and resources
Indians of the Eastern
Woodlands
East of Mississippi river to Atlantic Ocean
Two language groups, Algonquian and
Iroquois
Plentiful woods
Women Farmers, Iroquois crops still planted
today ( Sunflowers, Tobacco, and many
vegetables)
Indians of Southeast
Southern Ohio Valley to the Gulf of Mexico
Fertile coastal plains
Towns build around mounds (2-12 mounds)
Long growing seasons
Time to make bracelets and jewelry from
stones, shells, and feathers