Early People of
the Americas
Native Americans for Kids
Imagine 40,000 years ago ... the last great ice sheet still covers much of the north. You are a hunter with your family, tracking animals for food and for hides to make warm clothing. You carry a stone-tipped spear. On foot, you follow wild herds through the cold and fog. You cross a bridge of ice. On the other side, you find a new land. You do not know that it is a new land. You only know that there are no human enemies to stop you.
You keep pushing south, following the herds. You find paradise - elk, deer, bison, wild vegetables, wild fruits - and forests, with so many trees - and squirrels and rabbits. Fish leap from the streams.
As time goes by, other people find their way across the frozen land.
Many years pass. The ice begins to melts. Now there is a wide strip of water where once there was a walkway of thick ice. Still, people find their way across the Bering Strait in boats of bark and hide.
For many hundreds of years, people wandered into the great northwest. They wandered in all directions across Canada and the United States and into the Far North. These early people were not only skilled farmers, they were also clever builders, engineers, and weavers. They made artistic pottery without a pottery wheel. They loved games of skill. They created stories and poetry. Although they spoke many different languages, and had many different customs, they had at least one thing in common - they were all immigrants.
Native Americans are not actually natives. They are immigrants, like everyone else in this country. Some scientists say the first people arrived in the United States over forty thousand years ago from Asia, crossing the frozen sea. Some say twenty thousand years ago. It is safe to say that Native American culture is really old, as old as that of Ancient China.
How do we know about these early people?
Typically, when we first study an ancient culture, we look at the artifacts they left behind. But there is not much left. The early people of the Americas believed in using things they found in nature. They did their best to disturb nature as little as possible. Scientists have found pictographs carved on rocks, which tell us some things, but not nearly enough.
And normally, we look at oral histories and ancient proverbs, both of which can tell us a great deal about the daily life and beliefs of the people who created them. But things are not that easy when exploring ancient American cultures.
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Many oral histories were lost when European explorers and settlers came to the Americas. They brought disease. The People became ill with smallpox and other diseases. Many died. Much was lost.
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As for proverbs, Native Americans did not use proverbs to teach their children about their beliefs and culture. They used games, myths, dance, and impersonation, all of which are a very fun way to learn.
Come meet the first people of the Americas. Welcome to Native Americans in Olden Times
Native Americans for Kids
Native Americans in US, Canada, and the Far North
Early people of North America (during the ice age 40,000 years ago)
Northeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Northeast Woodlands include all five great lakes as well as the Finger Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River. Come explore the 3 sisters, longhouses, village life, the League of Nations, sacred trees, snowsnake games, wampum, the arrowmaker, dream catchers, night messages, the game of sep and more. Special Sections: Iroquois Nation, Ojibwa/Chippewa, The Lenape Indians. Read two myths: Wise Owl and The Invisible Warrior.
Southeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Indians of the Southeast were considered members of the Woodland Indians. The people believed in many deities, and prayed in song and dance for guidance. Explore the darkening land, battle techniques, clans and marriage, law and order, and more. Travel the Trail of Tears. Meet the Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Mississippians, Seminole Indians and Cherokee Indians.
Plains Indians - What was life like in what is now the Great Plains region of the United States? Some tribes wandered the plains in search of foods. Others settled down and grew crops. They spoke different languages. Why was the buffalo so important? What different did horses make? What was coup counting? Who was Clever Coyote? Meet the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and Sioux Nation.
Southwest Indians - Pueblo is not the name of a tribe. It is a Spanish word for village. The Pueblo People are the decedents of the Anasazi People. The Navajo and the Apache arrived in the southwest in the 1300s. They both raided the peaceful Pueblo tribes for food and other goods. Who were the Devil Dancers? Why are blue stones important? What is a wickiup? Who was Child of Water?
Pacific Coastal Northwest Indians - What made some of the Pacific Northwest Indian tribes "rich" in ancient times? Why were woven mats so important? How did totem poles get started? What was life like in the longhouse? What were money blankets and coppers? How did the fur trade work? How did Raven Steal Crow's Potlatch?
Inland Plateau People - About 10,000 years ago, different tribes of Indians settled in the Northwest Inland Plateau region of the United States and Canada, located between two huge mountain ranges - the Rockies and the Cascades. The Plateau stretches from BC British Columbia all the way down to nearly Texas. Each village was independent, and each had a democratic system of government. They were deeply religious and believed spirits could be found everything - in both living and non-living things. Meet the Nez Perce
California Indians - The Far West was a land of great diversity. Death Valley and Mount Whitney are the highest and lowest points in the United States. They are within sight of each other. Tribes living in what would become California were as different as their landscape.
Native Americans of the Far North: What trick did the Kutchin people use to catch their enemies? How did these early people stop ghosts from entering their homes? Why was the shaman so powerful? What is a finger mask? Play games! See and hear an old Inuit myth! Enter the mystical world of the people who lived in the far north in olden times. Algonquian/Cree, Athapascan/Kutchin, Central Canada, Inuit, The Shaman
Comparison Chart (Europeans & Indians)