In the fifteenth century, when European settlers began to arrive in North America, the continent was richly populated with Native American communities. Hundreds of thousands of people lived in a wide range of environments from shore to shore, each community or nation with its own distinct culture. The centuries that followed the arrival of Europeans were years of tremendous upheaval, as the expansion of settler territory and the founding and
growth of the United States resulted in Native American communities being moved, renamed, combined, dispersed, and, in some cases, destroyed. These dislocations and changes took place across many centuries, and each individual episode was marked by its own set of unique circumstances, from public negotiations and careful planning to subterfuge and deceit; from declarations of friendship to calls for genocide; from disease, starvation, and bloodshed to perseverance, resistance, and hope in
the face of persecution. But all were driven by the relentless expansion of European settlement and U.S. territory, and by U.S. government policies that relegated the independence and well-being of Native Americans to secondary status, if that. Native American communities today span the continent and continue to grow and change. But the mass relocations and other changes, most notably those of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, shaped many aspects of U.S. society in ways that persist
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In this lesson, students will analyze primary source images of Native Americans interacting with the environment. The images show different aspects of how Native Americans dressed, hunted, and lived. Historical BackgroundThe kinds of food the Native Americans ate, the clothing they wore, and the shelters they had depended upon the seasons. Their foods changed with the seasons. In winter, they hunted birds and animals and lived on stored foods from the previous fall. In spring, they hunted, fished and picked berries. In summer, they grew crops (beans, corn, and squash). In fall, they harvested crops and hunted for foods to preserve and keep for the winter. The Native Americans used natural resources in every aspect of their lives. They used animal skins (deerskin) as clothing. Shelter was made from the material around them (saplings, leaves, small branches, animal fur). Native peoples of the past farmed, hunted, and fished. They used natural resources such as rock, twine, bark, and oyster shell to farm, hunt, and fish. Hunting/Fishing/Farming: The Powhatan Indians were primarily farmers planting fields that averaged one hundred acres in size. The women were responsible for working the fields and did so using various tools made from such materials as deer antlers. They grew corn, squash, pumpkins, beans and sunflowers. They also gathered wild foods from the land around them such as nuts, berries and roots. The women were responsible for making meals of these foods. Corn (maize) was the staple crop, and from it women produced such foods as corn cakes and hominy. Homes: Clothing: Lesson ObjectiveVS.2e The student will demonstrate knowledge of the physical geography and native peoples, past and present, of Virginia by describing how American Indians related to the climate and their environment to secure food, clothing, and shelter. Materials
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AssessmentThe students will create a word/picture splash in order to display what they have learned about the Native American use of natural resources. Their rubric will be based on the design, spelling, # of pictures, and # of new vocabulary terms used in their project. References“A Powhatan Man Ready to Hunt.” Image. From The National Park Service: Historic Jamestowne. http://nps.gov/jame/historyculture/the-powhatan-indian-world.htm (accessed November 4, 2011). De Bry, Theodor. “Their Manner of Making Boats.” Engraving. In “Powhatan Indian Period Images,” Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. http://historyisfun.org/Powhatan-Indian-World.htm (accessed November 4, 2011). “Bow and Arrow.” Image. Alabama Archaeology: Prehistoric Alabama. http://bama.ua.edu/~alaarch/prehistoricalabama/woodland.htm (accessed November 4, 2011). “Powhatan Indian Village.” Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation. http://historyisfun.org/Powhatan-Village.htm (accessed November 8, 2011). Image ID: 2245.257. Photograph. Indian Peoples of the Northern Great Plains – Online Image Database. http://www.lib.montana.edu/digital/nadb/ (accessed November 9, 2011). How did Native American live before European arrived?Indian housing typically consisted of lodges made of bark or thatch, at times raised off the ground. Some Indians, including the Cherokee, also built earthen winter homes without windows. Homes were furnished with straw or cane mats, pottery, basketry, and wooden utensils.
What did Native Americans do before Europeans?Native Americans turned wild plants such as corn, potatoes, pumpkin, yams, and lima beans into farm crops for human consumption. More than half of modern American farm products were grown by Native Americans before British colonization. Medicine was not an unknown science in the Western Hemisphere.
What were 3 changes that Europeans brought to Native American life?European colonization of North America had a devastating effect on the native population. Within a short period of time their way of life was changed forever. The changes were caused by a number of factors, including loss of land, disease, enforced laws which violated their culture and much more.
How did Native American society change after contact with Europeans?Native Americans and Europeans began to intermarry in Spanish and French colonies, producing racially mixed populations and caste systems. Some Native Americans converted to Christianity. The introduction of new crops and livestock into Native American societies changed settlement patterns.
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