Migration into the Americas

• There was a vast and lengthy migration into the Americas

"Old World" vs. "New World"

• This phrase was used in older historiography to describe the civilization of Europe versus the Americas
• Europeans desired land, thus European culture was spread into the New World/Americas
• The land itself was highly desirable

The Americas

• Mundus Novus was the term used to describe the Americas because it meant New World
• This term helped justify European conquest
• Maps were inaccurate before the mid-1700s
• California was often misrepresented on maps, becoming a geographic region in the late 1500s
• Garci Montalvo represented California as an island
• "We will stay here, and we are the old world coming to save the new one" conveys the mentality of the colonizers

Early Migrations

• The first migrations into the Americas occurred between 15,000 and 45,000 years ago, largely coming from Asia
• Maritime migration existed with seafaring vessels crossing via Beringia Alaska, a frozen land mass connected through the Bering Sea
• Early migrants moved in small groups due to the difficulty of survival
• These groups were semi-sedentary

Hunting and Gathering

• Early communities relied on hunting, gathering, the land, and wildlife for survival
• Communities migrated because not every land provided for every need
• Hunting was done to seek a better diet
• The Clovis tip was the most valuable hunting tool
• It was often used to hunt big game animals
• The Clovis tip was black, made of obsidian, and connected to a reed or animal bone
• It acted like a modern spear
• Sending multiple hunters out with the Clovis tip was ideal
• Animal hides were used for camouflage
• Hide, tallow, and bones were used after a successful hunt, causing communities to follow animal migration patterns
• Animal hides were used for dwelling spaces, especially during cold weather, for warmth
• Animal bones were turned into cooking or hunting tools
• Animals were revered

Semi-Sedentary Communities

• These communities were migratory
• They did not adapt to the Neolithic Revolution

Sedentary Communities

• These communities were primarily non-migratory
• They adapted to the Neolithic Revolution, and some became mega civilizations

Neolithic Revolution

• Between 12,000 and 15,000 years ago, the Neolithic Revolution marked the transformation of farming, including a long period of experimentation
• Complex societies developed, forming political and social structures, hierarchies, economies, cultural traditions, and "technological" developments
• Egalitarianism, gender divisions, social divisions, marketplaces, trade, and taxation arose
• Spiritual traditions were included in cultural traditions
• Domesticating animals was another key characteristic of Neolithic civilizations
• Dogs became most important, being used for utilization rather than being hunted
• Dogs served as protection, hunters, and companionship

Polytheism

• Polytheism is the belief in multiple gods

Mississippians (Cahokia)

• By the 1000s AD/CE, the Mississippians grew into a society with approximately 30,000 people in the modern-day Midwest
• Cahokia was the epicenter of their civilization
• Cahokia is a National Historic Landmark in Illinois
• AD stands for after death of Christ
• CE stands for common era
• BC/BCE stands for before Christ / before common era
• The Mississippians created "earthen works"
• They built burial mounds, the largest which was Monks Mound
• The mounds served as burial sites

Chumash

• By the 1000s AD/CE, this society resided in modern-day Santa Barbara County and along coastal California
• Between 50,000 to 100,000 people associated themselves with this society with 100 societies in California alone
• They were known as the "shell people" because seashells were a part of the broader marketplace
• Leaders would adorn themselves with shell jewelry, which held value
• They were seafarers who used tomols and relied on fishing as much as agriculture
• Trade with Europe occurred

Ancestral Puebloan

• Between the 1000s BC - 1200s AD, the Ancestral Puebloan resided in parts of the modern-day Southwest
• They were located in Mesa Verde National Park and built cliffside dwellings for safety
• The dwellings were their most characteristic form of architecture and were known as the “ancient ones"
• Kivas were sacred settings for community rituals, often built within the cliffside community

Lenape

• In the 1100s AD, in the modern MidAtlantic, the Lenape, also known as the "Delawares," existed
• Their cultural tradition traces women as important to their culture
• They elevated women status and were matrilineal
• Children followed the mother's line with men moving into the woman's house to honor her family
• Many women chose the sachems (chieftains)
• They were cultivators of tobacco
• The English became wealthy by cultivating this crop

Taino

• By the 1200s AD, in the modern-day Caribbean, the Taino were thriving
• They became the most well-known Indigenous community by 1492
• Columbus first encountered these people
• They were known as the Arawak people
• They became exploited by the Spanish for the Americas' labor
• This resulted in Encomienda and Repartimiento
• The Spanish grew the slave trade to replace Indigenous labor when the Arawak dispersed from the region
• The population was about 1 million by 1492