Indigenous Peoples Before Europeans Arrival PDF

**Slides for section on Indigenous people before the arrival of Europeans** First peoples - Arrived from Asia at least 14,000 years ago. - Likely traveled over a land bridge between Siberia and North America; then migrated southward through ice-free corridor. - Some may have moved sout...

**Slides for section on Indigenous people before the arrival of Europeans** First peoples - Arrived from Asia at least 14,000 years ago. - Likely traveled over a land bridge between Siberia and North America; then migrated southward through ice-free corridor. - Some may have moved south along west coast or come to continent by boat. - Came in waves, not all at once. Mound builders (present-day Central/Eastern U.S.) - Hopewell culture (time of Christ to 500 A.D.) spread into Ontario; Hopewell-influenced pottery found in Alberta. - Mississippian culture (700-1400 A.D.) constructed fortified cities. - Farming methods of Mississippian and Hopewell cultures spread into Central Canada; by 500 A.D. corn cultivation spread to Ontario. Pre-Contact demographics - About 500,000 people, at least 50 languages belonging to 10 language groups (Algonquian, Iroquoian, Siouan, Dene (Athapaskan), Eskimo-Aleut (Eskimoan), Kootenayan, Salishan, Wakashan, Tsimshian, Haidan) Five main Indigenous groups classified by subsistence: - Great Lakes farmers - Woodland/subarctic hunters, fishers, gatherers - Plains buffalo hunters - West-coast fishers - Arctic hunters Great Lakes Farmers - Iroquoian-speaking and relied on agriculture for much food. - Included Huron Confederacy and Five Nations Confederacy. - Huron Confederacy lived at Georgian Bay, Ontario, had 30,000 people, and consisted of four nations. - Five Nations Confederacy (Iroquois) lived in New York state and consisted of five nations (six as of 1713) with 16,000 people. Huron and Iroquois economy, organization, warfare - Based on slash-and-burn agriculture. - Everyone lived in semi-permanent villages. - Each longhouse home to extended family: a woman and her daughters or sisters and their husbands and children; thus, households maternal. - Everyone belonged to a clan; each had civil chief and military chief (both male). - Civil chiefs served on village councils; nations represented in the confederacy council. - Motives for war: desire for revenge, plunder, new hunting territory, to prove manhood. - Women and children captured in war usually absorbed into captors' society. - Trade widespread; Hurons traded extensively with Algonquian groups. Gender roles/power in Great Lakes culture - Men hunted and fished, built houses, cleared land, waged war, filled political offices. - Women controlled households, did most of farming, controlled most of property (inheritance through the female line). - Leading women selected and deposed chiefs, though men alone were on the councils and made most important decisions. Woodland/subarctic hunters, fishers, gatherers - Mainly Algonquian- and Dene/Athapaskan-speaking; included Micmac (Maritimes), Montagnais, Algonquins, Ojibwas, Cree. - Followed seasonal movement in pursuit of game. - In winters, lived in small extended family groups/bands; in summer, winter groups came together to fish and gather plants and berries. - No formal political structure like the Huron or Iroquois. - Leadership informal: each winter band had a leader who was a good hunter; summer bands had a chief. - Decision-making collective and usually based on persuasion. - Sharing, including of hunting territory, practiced in times of need. Woodland/subarctic women - Pitched tents. - Set up camp. - Carried bands' effects from camp to camp. - Fetched water. - Cut firewood. - Snared animals. - Caught fish. - Prepared hides. - Dressed game. - Wove baskets. - Collected birch bark. - Made snowshoes, moccasins, clothes, tools. - Gathered berries, nuts, shellfish. - Cooked. - Looked after the children. Place of women in woodland/subarctic - Montagnais women apparently enjoyed equality with men in group decision-making, but many woodland/subarctic women had little say about marriage partner. - In some tribes, women could be shamans. Plains buffalo hunters - Included nations of Blackfoot Confederacy: Piikani (Peigan), Kainai (Blood), Siksika (Blackfoot), Tsuu T'ina. - From buffalo, plains peoples obtained food, clothing, lodging, tools. - Followed seasonal cycle of movement. - Main social units tribes (nations) made up of bands. - Although fairly independent, bands had common political policy and gathered as tribes for ceremonies. - Tribes had societies (clubs), such as military societies, that cut across the bands -- had unifying effect on tribes. - Leadership generally exercised through persuasion. - Sun dance important religious and social occasion; among Siksika, was presided over by medicine woman. Plains women - Spent much time processing buffalo. - After horse arrived on plains, hunters could kill more buffalo, making women, the main processors, more valuable. - This growing economic importance, along with increased male casualties from mounted warfare, encouraged polygamy, which lowered status of some Siksika women, since third and fourth wives had lower status. - Siksika chiefs and shamans had more wives and larger tipis than other men; thus, Siksika had more of social hierarchy than some other Native groups. West-coast fishers - Three social classes: nobles, commoners, slaves. - In the north, lineage traced through maternal line; in the south, through male line. - No political units beyond individual villages. West-coast women's roles, status, power - Among Haida, property inherited through the female line. - Haida women active traders. - Haida marriages arranged by bride's father and her mother's uncle. - There were a few female Haida chiefs, but Haida women normally had little political power, though a wife's consent required for trade deals. - Salish women had little input into community decision-making, their husbands were chosen by their parents, and if a divorce, children remained with the father. West-coast economy and culture - Relied on sea animals and fish; salmon their staple. - Cedar and fir used to build boats, totem poles, houses. - Potlatch was a ceremony used to inaugurate a new chief, mourn the dead, or confirm status. Arctic hunters - Far north uninhabited until 4,000 years ago. - Early migrants included Thule, ancestors of Inuit. - Inuit fished for char and followed movements of sea and land animals they hunted. - For summer hunting and whaling, used kayaks and large boats. - In winters, dog sleds. - Most of year, hunted in small family groups. - Leadership informal and temporary, but in summer village leaders in charge of whale crews. Religion of Indigenous people in general - Saw no distinction between humans and the environment. - Animals and objects could have spirits that must be placated. - Most Natives also believed in a supreme creator or Great Spirit and tried to access spirit world through vision quests, shamans, or religious societies. Questions - Did anything surprise you in the lecture about pre-contact Indigenous peoples? - Was there anything like a pan-Native culture before the arrival of Europeans? - Compare (point out similarities and differences between) any three of the five main pre-contact subsistence/culture groups.