Unit 2 - Pre-contact Period: Origins, World Views & Culture READY Flashcards
These offer some of the most productive habitats on earth, with high primary productivity, magnified secondary productivity, and three-dimensional habitat supporting a diverse array of marine organisms.
Pacific Rim __________ support or shelter a wealth of shellfish, fish, marine mammals, seabirds, and seaweeds, resources heavily used historically by coastal peoples.
____________ and other nearshore habitats sheltered similar suites of food resources that required minimal adaptive adjustments for migrating coastal peoples.
Kelp forest
This refers to the vast region that once connected present-day Siberia (in Asia) to Alaska (in North America) during the last Ice Age (approximately 30,000–12,000 years ago).
Beringia
They were thought to be able to travel in trances and dreams to these other worlds and communicate with souls.
Angakoks, or shaman
Copper pieces are hammered into a shield, often decorated with designs or crests. Their value increased when they were traded between families at potlatch ceremonies.
Coppers
The unwritten constitution of the Confederacy is called the __________________ (the Great Law of Peace).
Kaianeraserakowa
Two long poles with a framework to hold the goods. They are called “tipi” when these were covered by bison skins to make a conical-shaped dwelling.
travois
Used in a variety of regions across North America, particularly in areas with colder climates, such as the Subarctic, Arctic, Great Basin, and Plateau regions. They were common among Indigenous peoples in what is now Alaska, Canada, and parts of the U.S.
Pit houses
Coastal Migration Theory
(5 Ws)
Who : Paleo-Indians who migrated from Siberia.
What: The theory posits that humans migrated to the Americas via the Pacific coastline, using maritime routes (the “kelp highway”) rather than an overland route via the Bering Land Bridge
Where: Coastal regions of the Pacific, including the Aleutian Islands, coastal Alaska, British Columbia, and down the western coast of North America.
When: 16,000 to 20,000 years ago
Why: accessibility and more resource-rich than the interior Bering Land Bridge route, (like fish, sea mammals, and kelp)
Bering Strait Theory
(5 Ws)
Who: Early human populations
What: Humans crossed the Bering Land Bridge, between Siberia and Alaska
Where: The Bering Land Bridge, connecting Siberia (Asia) and Alaska (North America).
When: roughly 20,000 to 15,000 years ago
Why: lower sea levels during the ice age exposed a land bridge, movement of people were following animal herds across the bering land bridge into America’s
Clovis First hypothesis
(5 Ws)
Who: The clovis people
What: first humans of the american’s arrived by the bering land bridge, represented by clovis culture
Where:North America, particularly the Great Plains and the southwestern United States.
When:13,000 years ago
Why: The discovery of clovis points which represented first settlers who entered america after the last ice age
Six Nations Confederacy
(5 Ws)
Who:the Haudenosaunee, originally made up of the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and later the Tuscarora nations.
What:political and cultural alliance that formed to promote peace, mutual defense, and cooperation among the various nations.
Where:Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River (present-day New York state, parts of Ontario, Quebec, and the upper Midwest).
When: late 16th to early 17th century,
Why: to establish peace among the warring nations of the region and to create a united front against external threats.
Arctic Cultures
(5 Ws)
Who: Inuit
What:defined by their adaptations to a life in one of the most extreme environments on Earth. These peoples have traditionally relied on hunting, fishing, and gathering as their primary means of subsistence
Where:alaskan border to atlantic shores in Canada
When:10,000 to 12,000 years ago
Why: developed unique and highly specialized ways of life in order to survive in one of the world’s most challenging environments.
Subarctic Cultures
(5 Ws)
Who:Nehiyaw (Cree), Beothuk, Innu (Montagnais-Naskapi), and Thcho (Dogrib), among other
What: Subarctic peoples ate a protein-based diet of the game (caribou, moose, hare) and fish (salmon, pike, whitefish, trout) that were hunted and trapped with bows, arrows, and snares or caught with nets, spears, hooks, and lines. If food was scarce, one nation might grant hunting rights to another to share the resources of a particular area
Where:Newfoundland and Labrador in the east to the Yukon Territory in the west
When:10,000–12,000 years ago
Why:The peoples of the Subarctic adapted to this challenging environment using their knowledge of the land and its resources. The long winters and harsh climate shaped their culture, social organization, and subsistence strategies. The need for mobility, skill in hunting and fishing, and a deep connection to the land, animals, and the spiritual world were key to their survival.
Northwest Coast Cultures
(5 Ws)
Who: Indigenous peoples such as the Haida,Kwakwaka’wakw (Kwakiutl), Nuu-chah-nulth (Nootka) Tlingit, Chinook, and Coast Salish.
What: use of marine resources (e.g., salmon, shellfish), the creation of totem poles, advanced canoe-building traditions, and complex social structures, including the potlatch system.
Where:Alaska to northern California along the coasts of British Columbia
When: 5,000 years ago
Why: Provided fish and marine mammals which were central to the economy, social structure, and spiritual life
Eastern Woodlands Cultures
(5 Ws)
Who: Indigenous people such as Algonquian, Iroquois, Cherokee,
What:(corn, beans, and squash), pottery, mound-building, and social organization centered around villages and longhouses.
Where:northeastern United States, the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River Valley, and parts of the Southeast.
When:10,000+ years ago
Why:The abundance of forested land and rivers supported agriculture and hunting-gathering lifestyles
