How did the first people come to America? What were some of the Native American Peoples who lived in America?

1. Created by Ronna Williams

2. American History
Pre-history – 1620

3. Geologists believe the first humans
came to America when the Earth’s
water froze into glaciers. As the
water froze, the floor of the ocean
was revealed. This provided a land
bridge for the people to walk across
into America.

4. Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
The Journey From Asia
• They reached the Americas
thousands of years ago. 
• This migration took centuries, and
people spread out across the
Americas as far east as the Atlantic
Ocean and as far south as the tip of
South America.
• The first people migrated from
Asia to North, Central, and South
America during the last Ice Age. 

5. Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the information.
The Journey From Asia (cont.)
• These early people crossed a land bridge from Siberia in
northeastern Asia to present-day Alaska.
• This land bridge, Beringia, now lies under
the waters of the Bering Strait. 
• These early Americans were nomads,
moving from place to place in search of
food. 
• They were skilledhunters. They used every
part of the animalfor food, clothing,
weapons, and tools.

6. The earliest arrivals to America
were nomads. This means they
moved around from place to
place looking for food.

7. As time passed, the hunter-gathers learned how to plant & raise crops.
Once they could grow food, they developed farms. Someone had to tend to
the crops as they grew and be there for the harvest. This caused villages to
develop around the farms. Some of the first crops the nomads learned to
grow were squash, beans and pumpkins, but their most important crop
was____

8. As the families formed a
village, not everyone had to
tend to the crops. People
began to become skilled in
other areas. Some fashioned
arrows. Other became
experienced basket
weavers. Several men
became expert hunters or
fishermen.

9. As the villages grew and filled
with many families, there was
a new need for order. You
can imagine how arguments
or situations would develop
in their new way of living.
Government began to
develop to settle these
disputes. In North America,
this marked the actual
beginning of civilization.

10. Civilization:
A highly organized society that has increasing
knowledge of trade, government, arts (crafts),
science, and most of the time a written
language. One of the most interesting
civilizations to develop were the Aztecs.

11. AZTECS• Had a Grand City
Called
TENOCHTITLAN
• Located in Present-
day Mexico City!
• We are Going to do
a deeper study of
the Aztecs later in
this Module.
• Let’s add to the list
of civilizations that
developed in North
America.
•The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English
Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.
Click the box to hear
how to pronounce
TENOCHTITLAN!

12. Anasazi
• This civilization developed where Utah, Colorado, Arizona and
New Mexico now meet.
• The area where these 4 states meet is called the Four Corners
Region.
• They farmed in some harsh desert conditions building basins
& ditches to collect rainwater. They lived in large multi-story
buildings made from adobe and stone.
• These homes are called Pueblos.

13. Anasazi Images
• Pictures: copyright to Ray Rasmussen webpage: http://raysweb.net
Anasazi
structures
discovered
by
a cowboy
in the
1800s.

14. Drawings of the Anasazi
Pictures: copyright to Ray Rasmussen webpage: http://raysweb.net

15. Stonework of the Anasazi
Pictures: copyright to Ray Rasmussen webpage: http://raysweb.net

16. Pictures: copyright to Ray Rasmussen webpage: http://raysweb.net

17. Inuit & Aleut Civilizations
• These civilizations developed around Alaska.
• Both groups hunted whales, seals and polar bears.
• Engineered the creation of the first harpoon, kayak and
dogsled.
• They are the only Native Americans who developed lamps
using whale blubber for fuel.

18. Civilizations along the Pacific
Many groups of fishing peoples lived along the Pacific Coast from
what is
now Alaska to Washington State.
Even though they were not farmers, they did establish permanent
settlements
along the coast because of the abundance of fish.

19. Civilizations along the Pacific
Further inland
Between the
Cascade Range
& the Rocky Mountains
the
Nez Perce gathered
roots and berries &
Hunted.

20. Civilizations along the Pacific
The
Shoshone
Lived
Between the
Sierra
Nevada &
the Rocky
Mountains.

21. Shoshone Photos taken in the 1800’s
www.oregontrailcenter.org
www.oregontrailcenter.net

22. Civilizations along the Pacific
In central
California,
the Pomo
enjoyed
abundant wild
life and
a mild climate.

23. Hohokam
• This Civilization developed in Arizona.
• Developed Irrigation canals which brought
water from hundreds of miles away to their
crops
• By the 1500s this culture had vanished.
http://www.cavecreekmuseum.org/press.html

24. A new
Culture
• Developed between 200 and 100 B.C.
• Known as the Hopewell civilization
Hopewell
• Built huge geometric earthworks
• These earthworks were used as burial places and
ceremonial centers.
Before the
Hopewell
• Before the Hopewell culture developed, the people in
America’s eastern woodlands buried their dead under
huge dome-shaped mounds made from dirt.

25. A new
Culture
• Between 700 and 900 A.D.
• Near the Mississippi River Valley
Cohokia
• One of the largest cities ever in early America
• Located in Present-day St. Louis
collapse
• Cohokia was home to 16,000 people
• The city disappeared around 1300 A.D.

27. Zuni & Hopi Civilizations
• These people were descendants of the Anasazi & Hohokam
(Lived in the same southwestern area of America)
• They continued the farming traditions.
• Believed in a spirit world
• When the boys turned six, they joined a kachina cult, wore
masks & danced to summon the kachinas.
• Kachina means good spirit.

28. Hopi Kachinas

29. The Great Plains Civilization
• ~They were farmers, but suddenly abandoned the area.
• ~They became nomadic hunters.
• ~Followed the herds of buffalo on foot
• ~Once horses were brought to America by Spain, the wild
descendants of those horses were tamed by the people of the
Great Plains.
• ~They became expert riders, hunters & warriors.
Historically,
most civilizations
began as nomads then
became farmers. The
Great Plains
Civilization had
developed farming,
but then became
nomadic again!

30. Horses were first
brought to America by
Spain. Some of these
horses got away
during war or were
left behind when the
Spanish set sail. They
populated the great
plains area untouched
by humans. The Great
Plains people tamed
these wild horses.
http://www.crstgfp.com/horsefight6.jpg photo used with permission given to global-news-matrix.blogspot.com

31. First the Great Plains People Farmed, but stopped for an unknown reason.
They began to follow the herds of buffalo on foot. They only killed what
was needed to survive & respected the buffalo.
Their lives were completely dependant on the survival of the buffalo.
http://Used with permission of site with a link back! http://www.firstpeople.us/pictures/buffalo/ls/wsWILD031.html

32. Iroquois Civilization
• Lived in present-day New York
• Practiced Slash & Burn Agriculture
• Lived in Long Houses
• Each group formed a clan
http://www.answers.com/topic/iroquois
Iroquois, in
Buffalo, New
York, 1914.

33. The Iroquois were actually six different
tribes joined together. They created an
agreement called the “great binding
law”. This created a confederacy that
guaranteed the protection of the other
tribes in the
Iroquois league.
Iroquois Six Nations map c.1720. This map was created by C.C.Nonenmacher from an old
hand-drawn map. There are a number of geographic inaccuracies.
This image is in the
public domain
because its copyright
has expired in the
United States and
those countries with a
copyright term of life
of the author plus 100
years or less.

34. War would break out between all the different clans of
Iroquois.
~The Iroquois League was an
alliance to maintain peace.
~The agreement the six
groups entered into was
called
THE GREAT BINDING LAW.

35. Iroquois used slash & burn agriculture.
They cut down the forests, burned & cleared the
land.
This made the soil rich in nitrogen from the ashes.
They lived in longhouses.
Longhouses housed 10 families.
Each of these 10 families formed a clan.
The clan was headed by the strongest woman
of the clan.
She was the Matriarch.

36. Pictures of a Longhouses
http://www.american-native-art.com/publication/iroquois/iroquois.html
http://scott.k12.va.us/martha2/longhouses.htm

37. Bed Inside Longhouse
http://scott.k12.va.us/martha2/longhouses.htm

38. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmMgnh--1TQ
Award-winning 1995 Public Service
Announcement about the 1987
Congressional ruling acknowledging
the contribution of the Iroquois
Confederacy of Nations to the
development of the US Constitution.
Directed and Produced by Baba
Cooper, edited by Robert Meyer
Burnett with original music by Robbie
Robertson

39. ~History Resources Just 4 U
Free Dictionary
http://www.thefreedictionary.com
/
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/
National Archives of Great Britain
History Journals
History Departments Around the World
Journal of American History
Repositories of Primary Resources Around the World
Art Resources Around the World/
history television

40. Click the mouse button or press the
Space Bar to display the answer.
Reviewing Themes
Geography and History How did an Ice Age
make it possible for Asian hunters to migrate to
the Americas?
Water froze, sea levels dropped,
and large areas of land such as
Beringia were exposed, allowing
migration.

41. Do You Know These Terms?
__ 1. a period of extremely cold
temperatures when part of the
planet’s surface was covered with
massive ice sheets
__ 2. a way of life of a group of people
who share similar beliefs and
customs
__ 3. the study of ancient peoples
__ 4. a movement of a large number of
people into a new homeland
__ 5. an item left behind by early
people that represents their
culture
A. archaeology
B. artifact
C. Ice Age
D. migration
E. culture
Define Match the terms on the right with their definitions on the
left.
C
E
A
D
B