Native -American culture

1. New revelations about America prior to European Settlement Native -American culture

2. What do you think of when you think about “Native-Americans?” • New research over the last half century has revealed many surprising aspects • After this lecture, is your view of Native-American society of a more complex nature?

3. Indian Population Dynamics • In the Americas, the population estimate in 1491 was around 100 million people • More than Europe • Different Indian cultures inhabited cities: • Tiwanaku (1000 A.D.) in South America had 115K people and 250K in surrounding areas • Paris would not hit that until 1500 • Wari (700 A.D.) in South America was 70K • Cahokia (near modern day St. Louis) was 15K • Many of these Native-American cities consisted of: • Botanical gardens • Buildings six stories high • Promenades • No sewage in the streets • Markets with goods from hundreds of miles away • European fishing colonies in the 1500s observed New England colonies as “thickly settled”

7. Social Aspects • Indian families were close and loving, more so than European families • Europeans expected their kids to work around age 7 • Indians regarded pre-puberty as a time to play • Health • Europeans observed Indians as healthy specimens without pox scars

9. Social Aspects • Indian families were close and loving, more so than European families • Europeans expected their kids to work around age 7 • Indians regarded pre-puberty as a time to play • Health • Europeans observed Indians as healthy specimens without pox scars • Ate an estimated 2,500 calories in New England • Indians observed Europeans as: • Having “little intelligence” • Being physically weak • Being atrociously ugly • “Just plain smelly” • During the middle ages, one South American Indian society eradicated hunger • When Spanish came, they saw warehouses filled to the brim with supplies

10. Governmental Aspects • Native-Americans had a very similar democratic system comparable to how our Constitution was written • Some historians believed that our Constitution was at least partially inspired by different Native-American systems • One European noted, “Their whole constitution breathes nothing but liberty.” • Females were the head of clans and spoke directly to higher-ups for their people • System of checks and balances • “Human Sacrifices” • According to some Native-American societies, human sacrifice was necessary for religious purposes • Most of the time were criminals and POWs • Comparable to European executions • Public executions, Europeans paid entrance fees • Between 1530 and 1630, England executed 75K

11. Governmental Aspects • Native-American Warfare • Was not as brutal as European warfare, not as massive • Viewed massive warfare as “wasteful” • Attacked guerrilla style, got revenge, then stopped • “Scalping” • Some Indian societies did scalp their enemies after death in war • English often times put Irish soldiers’ heads on stakes

12. Environmental Interactions • It is often thought that Indians lived “with the land,” not creating detriment to the environment • Historians and archaeologists today disagree on many levels • Forest Burning • In North America, Indians deliberately set fires annually or bi-annually • First white settlers in Ohio found forests that resembled English parks—they could drive their carriages through the forests • Bison roamed from NY to GA because of cleared lands • Farming • Intensive farming-the Maya collapsed because they overshot the carrying capacity of their environment • They ended up starving themselves to death • Europeans would see 4 villages with 8-16 square miles of corn fields surrounding them

14. Environmental Interactions • Waterways and Roadways • Indians would divert waterways for irrigation purposes • In South American, Native Americans had a complex highway system for trading

17. Environmental Interactions • Waterways and Roadways • Indians would divert waterways for irrigation purposes • In South America, Native Americans had a complex highway system for trading • The Amazon Basin • Geographers and archaeologists believe that at least 12% of the Amazon Rainforest is man-made