Civilization in The Americas
Civilization in The Americas
Civilization in The Americas
2
Anitve macriena
3
inocilaizav
4
ogilo
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Ayman delacnra
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CIVILIZATION IN
THE AMERICAS
Scientists believe that thousands of years ago many
bands of hunting peoples migrated from Asia to
settle in North America. They Gradually moved
south and east until scattered groups were living
throughout North and South America. About 1200
B.C. the earliest civilization in the Americas
developed among the Olmec people in what is now
Mexico. Other Early American peoples followed the
pattern set by the Olmecs.
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A land bridge links Asia
and the Americas.
-During the most recent Ice Age, glaciers covered large areas of
North America and northern Europe.
-Scientists think that the Bering Strait between Asia and North
America was then dry land, forming a “bridge” between the
two continents.
-This may have formed twice, about 30,000 years ago and
12,00 years ago.
- One theory is that people migrated from Asia over a period
of several thousand years, whenever the and bridge existed.
9
A land bridge links Asia
and the Americas.
-During the most recent Ice Age, glaciers covered large areas of
North America and northern Europe.
-Scientists think that the Bering Strait between Asia and North
America was then dry land, forming a “bridge” between the
two continents.
-This may have formed twice, about 30,000 years ago and
12,00 years ago.
- One theory is that people migrated from Asia over a period
of several thousand years, whenever the and bridge existed.
10
Abundance of wild animals
- Traveled along natural paths
-South of the ice sheet they found vast forest, lakes and rivers,
and wild animals to hunt
ex. Elk, mammoths, bison, camels, wolves and
tigers
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12
a variety of languages develops
-As migrant hunters found widely scattered new homes in the Americas,
they became very different from one another.
-After the glaciers melted and the land bridge from Asia disappeared, the
people of the Americas were cut off from the civilizations developing in
other parts of the world.
Although some American Indians worked with metals such as gold, silver,
and copper, they did not learn to make bronze or work with iron. Metals
were used mainly for ornaments. People continued to make their tools and
weapons of stone, wood, or bone. Though they knew about the wheel, they
did not use it for transportation.
The Olmecs lay the foundation for
Mesoamerican civilization.
1200 B.C., when the Shang people in China were farming along
the Yellow River, a people we call the Olmecs had settled on the
coast of the Gulf of Mexico.
The name we use means "rubber people," because the Olmecs were
the first people to tap rubber trees for sap.
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The Olmecs had a hieroglyphic form of
Writing.
While Egyptian hieroglyphics were deciphered with the Rosetta
stone no one has yet found a way to read either the Olmec writing
or the similar writing systems of later Mesoamerican peoples.
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Religious ritual was important in Olmec
life.
They developed two calendars one for everyday use and
one used by the priests.
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The Olmecs are artists and
architects
The Olmecs built cone-shaped mounds of earth shaped
like the nearby volcanoes. On the tops of these mounds,
temples were built. Unlike Egyptian pyramids, which
were built as tombs, Olmec temple-pyramids were
primarily places of worship. The temple-
Pyramids drew the worshipers' eyes upward toward the
skies, where, it was believed, the gods looked down
from the stars.
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Archaeologists conclude that the Olmecs needed a highly
organized society to accomplish this labour and to maintain the
centers. Priests probably directed the hundreds of workers who
carried out the work. Olmec influence spreads. By about the first
century B.C., Olmec culture had vanished and buried, and Olmec
sculptures were broken, the religious centers were swallowed up
but fast-growing vines and trees of the rainforest.
“
The walls of homes in Teotihuacán were
covered with joyful scenes of dancing gods,
singing jaguars, prancing birds, and chanting
priests. Beautifully painted pottery reproduced
the wall paintings in miniature. Many of these
objects were Valued by people of other
cultures. Trader from Teotihuacán carried
products hundreds of miles to other parts of
Mesoamerica.
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A city is built in the Valley of Mexico
“
The walls of homes in Teotihuacán were
covered with joyful scenes of dancing gods,
singing jaguars, prancing birds, and chanting
priests. Beautifully painted pottery reproduced
the wall paintings in miniature. Many of these
objects were Valued by people of other
cultures. Trader from Teotihuacán carried
products hundreds of miles to other parts of
Mesoamerica. In time the Teotihuacanos built
the largest trade empire in Mesoamerica.
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“
About A.D. 600, wandering tribes
from the north attacked and burned
Teotihuacán. Its people fled, but their
skills and learning Were adopted by
cultures people of other Mesoamerican
cultures.
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The Mayas city-states connected by build trade.
“
At about the same time that Teotihuacan was
expanding, people known as the Mayas (MY-uhz)
were building religious centers Peninsula, where
modern Mexico and Guatemala meet. Two other
early centers were built at Uaxactún (wah-shak-
TUN) and Tikal (tee-KAHL). Between about A.D.
300 and 700, Mesoamerican civilization reached its
height at the Maya centers.
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In Maya society, priests shared control
with ambitious rulers who expanded
“
the religious centers into city-states. At
the head of each city-state was the
halach uinic (hah-LAHCH O0-ee-
NEEK), the true man." These leaders
were absolute rulers.
30
“
31
Maya paintings show that they often went to war,
“
probably to add to their territory or to take prisoners
who were made slaves or were sacrificed to the
gods. Wide, paved roads and sea routes linked the
Maya city-states, Merchants carried on an active
trade in corn, salt, smoked meat, dried fish, honey,
wood products, and animal skins. They also traded
in luxury items, including jade, carved shells, fine
pottery, and textiles. Maya priests play an important
role in society.
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The priests' chief concern was time, for
apparently it was believed that the göds
“
would destroy the world if ceremonies
were not held on exactly the right day. The
priests also taught that the day on which a
person was born influenced his or her
future. They decided which days were
lucky or unlucky for couples to marry, for
crops to be planted, for trading ventures' to
begin, forward to be fought, or for new
temples to be built.
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“
⬗ Maya priests observed the stars and planets
kept records of the seasons, and accurately
predicted eclipses. \
⬗ Their calendar was one of the most accurate
ever developed. The Maya year had 365 days,
the last five of which were considered unlucky.
⬗ The Maya priests were also the record keepers.
34
“
The Ordinary people support a rich state.
“
⬗ Priests, nobles, and warriors were the upper
frequent wars between city-states.
⬗ In their leisure time they wrote poetry, collected
art objects, and enjoyed music.
⬗ Vast resources were needed to keep Maya
upper classes in comfort, but none of these
people paid taxes.
⬗ Taxes came from Maya Peasants.
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The Ordinary people support a rich state.
“
To meet their tax bills, farmers spare time gathering
forest products and making tools, ornaments, and
household goods for sale.
Farm women gathered honey, wove cloth and made
pottery. Their fine weaving and pottery were much
in demand, since nobles used these objects as gifts.
Maya women also cared for their households and
worked in the fields. They shared the responsibility
of paying taxes but could not hold public office. In
fact, Maya women were not allowed to enter the
temples.
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Maya society declines
“
The emphasis in Maya society was on respect for
tradition, and the civilization apparently changed
little for about 600 years. Then, between about A.D.
850 and 950, the great Maya centers were
abandoned one by one. The Mayas did not move
away, for their descendants still live in the same
area; yet their civilization collapsed.
No one is sure, why Mesoamerican civilization
never again reached the heights it had attained
under the Mayas.
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1.
THE AZTECS
In the fifteenth century, a new kind of state developed
in both Mesoamerica and South America. Through
“
conquest, small tribes gained control of great amounts
of land and Wealth.
Two major warrior-states were formed one by the
Aztecs in Mesoamerica and the other by the Incas in
South America, although many similarities in their
cultures, there were the Aztecs and Incas governed
their huge states differently.
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A nomadic tribe grows powerful.
As Maya civilization was dying other states came
to Power in Mesoamerica. One nomadic tribe from
the dry lands to the north had slowly migrated
southward to the Valley of Mexico The people of
this tribe called themselves Aztecs.
⬗ About 1325 the Aztecs built the village of
Tenochtitlán (teh-NOHCH-tee-TLAHN) on an
island in a lake, where Mexico City is today.
⬗ By the 1400's their city-state had conquered other
tribal groups in central Mexico and was rapidly
expanding.
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⬗ The chief priests and warriors of the Aztecs
elected the ruler, though some rulers took
control by force. The ruler had absolute power;
he was head of state, military commander, and
chief priest.
⬗ His word was law.
⬗ Even to look on his face might be punished by
death.
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The Aztecs excel as builders.
⬗ The Aztecs borrowed ideas and skills from
other peoples in Mesoamerica.
⬗ Aztec architecture had its roots in Teotihuacán.
⬗ From the Olmecs' successors came the Aztec
calendar and writing system.
⬗ The Aztecs' social system, their religion, and
many of their arts and crafts also came from
earlier cultures in Mesoamnerica.
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The Aztecs excel as builders.
⬗ As engineers and builders, however, the Aztecs
had no equal in Mesoamerica.
⬗ Aztec engineers built aqueducts to carry fresh
water from the mainland to the city and sewers
to carry away waste.
⬗ Dams protected the city from floods, and
irrigation systerns carried water to crops during
the dry season.
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⬗ Tenochtitlán grew into a great city with broad
open plazas and large marketplaces.
⬗ The homes of the wealthy were built around
courtyards with fountains, and many had
colorful roof gardens
⬗ By the mid-1400's Tenochtitlán had an
estimated population of about 300,000,
greater than that of any city in Europe at the
time.
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⬗ The Aztecs found an unusual way to increase
the amount of land available.
⬗ Along the shores of the shallow lake that
surrounded the city, Aztec farmers floated large
mats made of reeds woven together
⬗ Covered with soil and planted with seeds, the
mats became floating gardens. The floating
gardens were a tremendous success. Today,
although the lake is gone, the gardens still
supply some of Mexico City's food.
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A trade empire develops.
⬗ The Aztec state did not rule directly over
conquered peoples.
⬗ Instead of appointing governors to rule
conquered lands, the Aztecs demanded tribute.
⬗ Tribute payments included food, clothing,
woven blankets, precious stones, furs, feathers
fine woods, and slaves or captives.
⬗ Products from across Mesoamerica poured into
the great marketplace of Tenochtitlán.
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Human beings are sacrificed.
⬗ As the population grew, the Aztecs sought new
sources of tribute
⬗ While some captives became slaves, most were
destined to be sacrificed.
⬗ Like other Mesoamerican peoples, the Aztecs
apparently believed that the sun would stop
shining if they did not make offerings to the
sun-god
⬗ it was believed that the sun must be given
human hearts.
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Human beings are sacrificed.
⬗ In earlier Mesoamerican cultures, Human
sacrifice had been rare; to be chosen for
sacrifice to the gods was considered an honour.
⬗ Under the Aziecs sacrifices were made
frequently. Aztec priests encouraged warfare
solely to gain prisoners for sacrifice.
⬗ In one incident, 20,000 captives were sacrificed
at t the dedication of a single temple in
Tenochtitlán
⬗ Aztecs were hated and feared by people in
Mesoamerica.
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Human beings are sacrificed.
⬗ The Aztecs continued to worship some gentle
deities, including Quetzalcóatl.
⬗ some Aztecs rejected the practice of human
sacrifice and urged that it be replaced by
offerings of songs and flowers to the gods.
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Education is important in Aztec society.
⬗ Education gave the Aztecs the opportunity to
advance socially. All Aztec children were
required to go to school, where they learned
Aztec history and religion.
⬗ Girls were taught weaving, while boys learned
their duties as subjects and warriors.
⬗ There both boys and girls could learn how to
read and write, interpret the calendar, use
medicines, make prophecies, compose poetry,
and debate
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Education is important in Aztec society.
⬗ Education made it possible for a young man
from any class to become a high-ranking
government ofiicial, a battle commander, or a
priest.
⬗ Women, regardless of their education, were
expected to devote themselves to their homes
and families.
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Education is important in Aztec society.
One Aztec poet-king Wrote:
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Education is important in Aztec society.
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3.
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Andean farmers used similar farming methods,
though they were later in starting to grow corn -
the staple food in Mesoamerica. So that they
could use the steep slopes of mountains for crops,
they built terraces- wide, step-like banks of soil.
On these terraces they grew potatoes, squash,
beans, peanuts, and cotton. In dry regions they
learned how to irrigate the land. The Andeans at
an early date also learned to work with metals and
to weave fine textiles. They raised llamas and
alpacas for their wool and meat.
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⬗ As early as 1000 B.C. Some villages in the
central Andes became religious centres.
⬗ Several fairly large states developed and
conquered their neighbours, but none
dominated the area until the fifteenth century
A.D. By 1438
⬗ people called the Incas had come to control a
large area around Cuzco (coos-koh)
⬗ They gradually expanded their lands until they
ruled an empire that stretched 2,000 miles
along the Pacific coast.
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⬗ The empire included lands that are now part
of Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, Chile, and
Argentina. Probably about six million people
lived in the Inca empire.
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The Inca engineers conquer the
mountains.
⬗ Like the Aztecs, the Incas worshiped the sun.
⬗ They too had been a small tribe that had
grown powerful through conquest
⬗ From coastal peoples they learned techniques
of weaving and pottery-making. From peoples
to the north they learned to work with gold
and silver. The "gold of the sun" covered the
walls of the great temple in Cuzco, and gold
and silver jewellery glittered on Inca nobles.
⬗
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The Inca engineers conquer the
mountains.
⬗ The different parts of the empire's
rugged terrain were linked by an
excellent system of roads, which ran
across coastal deserts and over the
highest mountains in the Western
Hemisphere. Swinging bridges woven
of reeds and vines crossed rivers and
canyons. Sometimes tunnels were dug
through mountains.
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The Inca engineers conquer the
mountains.
⬗ The Incas' major roads were so well
built that traces of paving remain
today.
⬗ Inca travellers went on foot, for they
had no wheeled vehicles and used
their animals only to carry loads
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Inca rule is centralized.
⬗ The Incas ruled directly over the
peoples they conquered, forcing them
to accept the Inca religion, language,
and style of clothing.
⬗ Every village had a leader who was
closely supervised by government
officials. These officials enforced
royal laws and punished wrongdoers.
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Inca rule is centralized.
⬗ The Incas ruled directly over the
peoples they conquered, forcing them
to accept the Inca religion, language,
and style of clothing.
⬗ Every village had a leader who was
closely supervised by government
officials. These officials enforced
royal laws and punished wrongdoers.
72
Inca rule is centralized.
⬗ Lacking a written language, they used
the quipu (KEE-poo) to keep records.
Quipus were made of colored cords of
various lengths and were knotted at
intervals to indicate different sums.
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Inca society was more rigid than Aztec
society.
⬗ People in the "empire of the sun" remained in the
social class in which they were born. There were
the common people, and there were Inca nobles.
⬗ At the head of Inca society was the emperor. The
emperor's rule was absolute. His wife might rule
for him when he was away from the capital at
Cuzco, but she was expected to be completely
obedient when he was home. Criticism of the
emperor or of his policies brought death.
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Inca society was more rigid than Aztec
society.
⬗ Though the people of the Inca empire lived under
strict laws, they had a great deal of security.
⬗ Rule by the Incas had created much discontent
within the empire by the beginning of the sixteenth
century.
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4.
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The Anasazi build cities in cliffs and
canyons.
⬗ By the first century A.D., a people known as the
Anasazi (ah-nah-sAH-zee) had created a farming
culture in the dry lands of the Southwest - present-
day Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah
⬗ The name Anasazi was given them by the Navajo
Indians, who much later discovered the ruins of
their huge, many storied homes. In the Navajo
language Anasazi means "strange ancient ones."
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The Anasazi build cities in cliffs and
canyons.
⬗ The early Anasazi probably learned farming
techniques about 1500 B.C. from the peoples of
Mesoamerica.
⬗ Corn, beans, and squash became their staple foods.
⬗ The Anasazi at first lived in dugout houses roofed
with logs., About A.D. 700, as the population
increased, they began to build houses of stone or
sun-baked clay called adobe (uh-DoH-bee).
⬗ Hundreds of people in the community worked
together to build huge "apartment houses," which
were several stories high and had many rooms
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The Anasazi build cities in cliffs and
canyons.
⬗ People hauled logs long distances to make the
framework and roof; they cut blocks of sandstone
for the walls.
⬗ The Spaniards who arrived several hundred years
later called these huge buildings pueblos (PWEB-
lohz), which means "towns" in Spanish.
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Many pueblos were buit in canyons or
high on steep cliffs.
⬗ One of the largest, Pueblo Bonito (in present-day
New Mexico), took more than a hundred years to
buid and was completed about A.D. I085. It had
650 rooms and could house well over a thousand
people.
⬗ Every great pueblo had a central room or kiva
(KEE-vah) used for community ceremonies and
religious rituals. Colourful murals decorated the
walls of the kiva.
⬗
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RELIGION
⬗ As farmers in a dry land, the Anasazi were
dependent on natural forces, and these were the
centre of their religion.
⬗ The Anasazi devised a kind of "sun clock" to track
the seasons and the cycles of the sun.
⬗ Men oversaw the rituals that people hoped would
bring good hunting, enough rain, and successful
crops.
⬗ Women in Anasazi society owned all the houses
and property and headed family clans.
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The Anasazi culture stretched over a huge area in the
Southwest. Networks of wide roads linked central
pueblos with outlying villages and other centers. The
people traded with Mexican Indians for Copper and
feathers and with Indians of the Great Plains for
buffalo meat. Their only farm animals were turkeys,
but they kept dogs as pets. About 1150, a very long
drought struck the central area of Anasazi culture.
Gradually all the great pueblos were abandoned. The
Anasazi moved away to join neighbouring groups, and
the first great culture of the Southwest vanished.
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The Hopewell people carry on widespread trade.
⬗ About the fifth or fourth century BC, a highly
organized farming society developed the Ohio
River valley.
⬗ Living in villages along the river, these people
became known as "Mound Builders" because of
the large earthen mounds they constructed.
⬗ Some of these structures were burial mounds, and
others Were ceremonial mounds in the shape of
animals such as snakes, turtles, or birds.
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The Hopewell people carry on widespread trade.
⬗ The Mound Builders' way of life, called the
"Hopewell culture," spread over the central part of
the continent from what is now Wisconsin to the
Gulf Coast and as far west as present-day Kansas.
⬗ The Hopewell way of life lasted for about a
thousand years, until A.D. 400 or 500.
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The Mississippian culture borrows from
Mesoamerica.
⬗ Both ideas and goods were exchanged in the trade
among the Indian peoples of the Americas. By
about A.D. 1200, people along the lower
Mississippi River had built the most advanced
culture north of Mexico
⬗ Mississippian society was divided into strict
classes under a ruler known as the Great Sun.
⬗ In the centre of the walled villages stood steep-
sided earth pyramids with wooden temples on the
flat summits. High-ranking nobles built their
homes on smaller mounds, and other mounds were
used for burials.
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The Mississippian culture borrows from
Mesoamerica.
⬗ Religion included the Mesoamerican idea of a
feathered serpent god.
⬗ The Mississippian culture prospered from both
trade and farming, and its influence spread
throughout the southeast.
⬗ Fortified villages, located mainly along rivers,
grew into city-states with populations of up to
20,000.
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The Mississippian culture borrows from
Mesoamerica.
⬗ The largest town of this culture was located near
the site of present-day St. Louis. Its central temple
mound was 100 feet high and covered fifteen
acres.
⬗ The Mississippian way' of life lasted among the
Natchez people (map, next page) until French
explorers arrived in the Mississippi Valley in the
1600's.
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Wealth is important in the Northwest Coast
culture.
⬗ Along the Pacific coast, from present-day northern
Califomia to Alaska, a very different culture was
established by about 1000 B.C. The people of the
Northwest Coast culture area included the Nootka,
Haida, Tlingit, Kwakiutl, and Chinook.
⬗ the Northwest Coast people did not depend on
farming and apparently had no ties with
Mesoamerica.
⬗ They lived well by fishing the rivers and the ocean,
gathering berries, and hunting wild animals for
food and furs.
95
Wealth is important in the Northwest Coast
culture.
⬗ The abundant forests provided cedar wood-for
making canoes, large houses, ceremonial masks,
and finely carved boxes (picture, page 306). In
front of the houses or carved into the doorposts
were tall wooden totem poles
⬗ The Northwest Coast peoples were also unusual
among North American Indians because they
greatly valued wealth and possessions.
96
Wealth is important in the Northwest Coast
culture.
⬗ Their communities were divided into strict social
classes, with a large population of slaves captured
in raids
⬗ As a way of showing off their wealth, chiefs and
other prominent villagers occasionally held a
gigantic giveaway celebration. It, was called the
potlatch, from a Nootka word that means "giving.“
⬗ The, prestige of entire clan or village might depend
on how much was given away. In return, the guests
to give a potlatch where they tried to make an even
more impressive showing of wealth.
97
The Eskimos create a unique way of life.
⬗ The Eskimos, or Inuit, who settled the
northernmost parts of North America, shared some
land and some customs with the Indians of the
Northwest Coast.
⬗ They were the last migrant from Asia
⬗ They created a way of life uniquely adapted to the
Arctic environment.
99
The Eskimos create a unique way of life.
⬗ The Eskimos hunted walrus, whale, fish, seal, and
caribou for food. From these animals they made
practically everything they needed - harpoons,
fishing hooks, knives, needles, warm weatherproof
clothing, sleds, kayaks, tents for summer use, and
oil for lamps.
⬗ They made use of their forbidding surroundings by
storing food in its natural "freezer."
⬗ Some even used snow and ice to build homes. This
way of life met the Eskimos' needs so well that it
remained virtually unchanged until modern times.
100
Indians develop strong communities
⬗ Their local villages and tribal groups were
organized fairly democratically.
⬗ The rigid class divisions of the Mississippians and
the Northwest Coast peoples were unusual. More
commonly, respected elders and warriors formed a
governing council.
⬗ The council might name one person to lead a war
party or hunting band, but there was no king or
absolute ruler.
101
Indians develop strong communities
⬗ Their local villages and tribal groups were
organized fairly democratically.
⬗ The rigid class divisions of the Mississippians and
the Northwest Coast peoples were unusual. More
commonly, respected elders and warriors formed a
governing council.
⬗ The council might name one person to lead a war
party or hunting band, but there was no king or
absolute ruler.
104
Timeline
105