CHAPTER 7: EARLY NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA

1. CHAPTER 7: EARLY NORTH AND SOUTH AMERICA American Indians telling each other stories. Image taken from: ilhawaii.net.

2. SECTION 1: THE INCAS Image portrays how powerful the Incas were. Image taken from: inkatour.com.

3. Geography Shapes Life • The Incan empire was located in the Andes Mountain range. The Andes Mountains is a mountain range along the western edge of South America. The climate is very cold which makes breathing very difficult. The Amazon Rain Forest lies to the east of the Andes and a narrow desert lies between the Andes and the Pacific Ocean. • The Incan people were able to farm on the hillsides by cutting terraces or strips of level land. They watered their crops through the irrigation process. They were able to grow corn, chili peppers, squash, beans, cotton, peanut, and hundreds of potatoes.

4. The Incan Empire • The Incan government was centered in Cuzo. The Sapa Inca or main leader was at the top and below him were four governors. Each governor was responsible for a province. Below the governors, the administration was based on multiples of 10 and a government official was responsible for each group. In the event that there was a natural disaster, the government would take care of its people, but this came at a price, as the people had very little freedom. • The Incan rulers forced their language, Quechua upon their conquered people. This language was only spoken and not written. The Incas used a quipu to keep records of people or goods.

5. Incan Achievements • The Incas had many achievements in architecture, arts, crafts, and science. • In architecture, the Incas were able to build all of their buildings in stone. They were also able to build a road that stretched for more than 15,000 miles. • In arts and crafts, the Incas were able to create beautiful jewelry made out of gold, silver, and precious stones. They also made dishes, statues, and wall decorations. The Incas found textiles to be very valuable, in fact they found it to be more valuable than gold. Today, descendants of the Incas still use ancient techniques to produce beautiful textiles. • In science, they studied the moon and stars. They excelled at astronomy and were able to create a calendar that guided farmers when to plant crops. The calendar also let the Incan people know when their religious festivals would be.

6. Incan Society • The Incan social class system consisted of two classes, the nobles and commoners. The nobles consisted of the ruling family and their relatives. The commoners consisted mostly of non-Incan people. • The mita system was the system in which the people paid their taxes. Incan people did not have money and so their taxes were paid through labor. The Incan society was organized into ayllus. An ayllu were a group of related families that pooled resources to meet people’s needs. The ayllu would divide their land in three parts, one for the government, one for the priests and gods, and one for the people. The land farmed for the government and religious lands would pay the mita system. The crops given to the government were saved for time of war, famine, and ceremonies.

7. Incan Society Continued… • The Incan people thought that they were descended from the God Inti and thus they believed that the Sapa Inca was a God as he was the direct descendent of Inti. This picture shows a festival honoring Inti. Image taken from: incaencyclopediaa.pbworks.com

8. Section 2: North American Cultures Picture depicts a Native American from the Great Basin. Image taken from: sandomenico.org

9. The Ancestral Pueblo • The Pueblo people flourished for hundreds of years and built complex cultures. They built stone homes that were connected to each other, like modern day apartment buildings. • Rain was not in abundance, and so the Pueblo people had to use water wisely. They dug ditches to carry water to fields where they grew their crops. • Due to constant drought, Ancestral Pueblo groups moved closer to water sources, so it could be easier to farm.

10. The Mississippians • The Mississippians arose by the Mississippi River. They were many similarities and differences between them and the Ancestral Pueblos. • The Mississippians are called mound builders, as they made hills of earth near their villages for religious reasons. • Their villages grew because of advanced farming techniques and tools. As with the Ancestral Pueblos, they had difficulties growing their crops because of drought. This resulted in violence between groups and alliances made for protection.

11. The Eastern Woodlands • There many differences and similarities between the Northeast and Southeast Woodlands. • The similarities were they both grew “the three sisters” and lived in houses. • The differences were the in the Southeast, the winter seasons were milder which allowed for a longer farming season than the Northeast. • The Southeast were not concerned with social classes, while the in the Northeast, social class status was important. • Finally, the Southeastern people followed the Mississippian tradition, while the Northeastern people seemed to be more independent paving their own way of life.

12. The Great Plains Map of the Great Plains. Image taken from: solpass.org

13. GREAT PLAINS • The bison was very important to the Native American’s way of life in the Great Plains, because it provided them with food (bison’s meat), shelter (the bison’s skin was used to make tepees), tools (the bones of the bison was sued to make tools), and cooking pots, which were made from the bison’s stomach. • Horses changed the way of life on the Great Plains, because it gave the people a convenient traveling means. • Horses also allowed people to move from place to place, rather than staying in one area. Horses also were used to drag tepees from one place to another, rather than having dogs dragging them.

14. Great Plains Continued… • Tribes in the Great Plains were very religious in nature and thus they would gather to watch their warriors dance for several days without eating or drinking. • They thought that by doing this, it would help the entire group in the upcoming year.

15. Arctic Culture • The people who lived in the Arctic, lived in very harsh environments. Their winters were very long and summers short. During the summer time, the Arctic people took advantage of the long summer days and gathered as much food as possible. • They hunted caribou and moose. They also hunted sea animals such as seals, walrus, and whale. The Arctic people acquired meat and materials for clothing and tools by hunting sea animals. They even used whale and seal oil to heat their homes. • Finally, they lived in homes made of snow, called igloos. In the summer time, they lived in homes underground or tents.

16. Subarctic Cultures • The Subarctic cultures’ winter was very long and the summers were very short. Food was often scarce, but was more easily found than in the Arctic region. They hunted animals such as: moose, elk, waterfowl, and beaver. • In the summers they collected berries and other plant food. They lived in tents during the summer, but in the winter they dug homes in the ground to protect themselves from the wind. • Finally, when the Europeans came, they started trading pelts for goods, such as flour. The Subarctic people realized that by trading for things that they need, they could stay home most of the time instead of spending all of their time collecting food.

17. Northwestern Culture • The people of the Northwest lived a very different lives than the other people of the North. • Food was plentiful in the region that the people did not need to farm. This led to people forming permanent communities and thus social groups. • People lived in large homes that had totems in the front of them. • Wealthier families hosted potlatches, which is a ceremony where a wealthy or high- ranking family had a feast and gave gifts to their guests.

18. The West and Southwest • The people of Southwest grew corn, beans, cotton, and squash. They were known as hunter-gatherers, as they hunted and gathered for their food. • They lived in wigwams or tepees. Those who lived by water lived in homes made out of logs. Eventually, Europeans introduced sheep to the region and the people started using the wool from the sheep to make blankets.

19. The West and Southwest Continued… • The people of the Plateau and the Great Basin lived a nomadic lifestyle, because food was scarce. • They moved constantly to find food for their families. The people ate mostly plants with the occasional small animal as a meal. They hunted bison and buffalo. • The native Indians in California were very diverse. They had many different ways of life. Most of the people were hunter-gatherers, but some were farmers. Those living by water fished for food and those living in the deserts kept moving to find food.