Class Date: September 11th, 9:30am

Location: Your couch! See your weekly e-mail for Zoom link!

How did anyone end up on the North American continent? So often, our concept of human history arises from Africa and the Middle East, where some of the oldest traces of humans and civilization exist. But humans have been moving around the globe for thousands of years, establishing civilizations on every continent, save Antarctica, all developing unique and important cultures. It also changes the idea that Europeans ‘discovered’ the Western hemisphere. While most Europeans may never have seen people on the North American continents prior to the 14th and 15th centuries, whole civilizations had risen and fallen for thousands of years. 

Here we will take a quick look at the different ways in which people might have reached the Western hemisphere and built civilizations. It is worth noting that these are scientific theories, as there was very little written history when people were migrating across the world. Archeological evidence continues to emerge, adding or changing ideas about how people arrived in this place. Whatever the theory, archeologists and historians do agree that the North American continent has been inhabited by humans for at least 16,000 years. 

Coming by Bridge

The most popular theory for people arriving on the North American continent is the Bering Land Bridge theory, or Beringia. At the end of the last Ice Age, sea levels were significantly lower, as ocean water was frozen in glaciers. This lowered sea levels by as much as 300 feet in some areas! Between Russia and what is now Alaska, a land bridge was exposed, giving animals and people a way to migrate to new lands. Archeological evidence places this first mass migration (others certainly followed) to approximately 13,500 years ago. Once across, people continued to move throughout the Americas, building societies based on their environments. At the end of the last ice age (roughly 10,000 years ago), glaciers melted and sea levels rose again, covering most of Beringia, leaving only islands like the Diomedes and Pribilof visible.

Two if by Sea?

While the land bridge certainly explains the migration of many mammals, it might not completely explain the complete migration of humans to the Western hemisphere. In 1997, an archaeological site was discovered in Monte Verde, Chile, dating back 14,500 years ago, meaning people lived there prior to a mass migration over the land bridge. So how did those people arrive? Some have advanced the theory that people arrived by boat, possibly from Australia or southern Asia. Those who back this theory point to the similarities between South American culture and artifacts to those of Southeast Asia. “Kennewick Man”, a 9,500 year old skeleton uncovered in Washington state has a strong resemblance to Japanese ancestors, giving weight to the idea that boats may have brought people to these lands.

As more artifacts are discovered and new techniques arise for dating objects, theories about people arriving on the American continents continue to evolve to include new information. Currently, the oldest known settlement is at the Topper Site in South Carolina, as it dates back to about 15,000 years ago, but researchers are still trying to discover how people arrived there. 

This week we are taking a very brief look at the Native peoples of the North American continent, prior to the arrival and subsequent forced relocation by European settlers. It is nearly impossible to accurately quantify the number of people living in North America by the time Europeans arrived, partially because of the diversity of cultures and groups, and because the vast majority of these cultures did not rely on written records to preserve their history or culture. Oral traditions, while incredibly important to a cultural group, make historical accuracy more difficult. Some historians estimate that by the time Columbus made contact with North Americans in 1492, some 900,000 people lived in what is now the United States, while other researchers put the number as high as 18 million. Recent researchers have suggested that the total population of the American continents was upwards of 60 million people. At that same time, Europe boasted somewhere between 70-88 million people, concentrated in a much smaller area. In North America alone, it is estimated that approximately 300-500 different languages were spoken. 

Shared Cultural Traits

Despite a very diverse population, much more diverse than Europe at the time, which had far fewer language groups, Native Americans did share many of the same cultural and spiritual values. Throughout the continent, the Native peoples, or First Nations, placed enormous significance on interdependence, both on the land and one another. This focus led to extremely important ties between family, the tribe, and the land upon which they lived. Other common traits include:

• Community - A shared sense of community meant that men and women were largely considered equal in the vast majority of tribes and cultures. Some tribes were matrilineal, while others were patrilineal, but all enjoyed relative gender equality. For societies that were agriculturally based, women often farmed and gathered food, while men hunted, fished, and protected the community.

• Children - Native Americans consider children to be sacred, as signs of new life for the entire community. Children were (and are) often raised and educated by the community as a whole, and physical punishment for training and discipline was rare. 

• Storytelling - Oral tradition and storytelling have always been a main feature for Native American culture and tradition. As with other cultures around the world, Native American cultures have stories that explain the creation of the Earth, the creation of humans, and stories to explain how the world around them works. Oral traditions are imperative for maintaining culture and language. 

• Spirituality - perhaps one of the largest gaps in understanding between Europeans and Native Americans revolved around religion. Most Native American tribes share a common spiritual understanding, in that all life is part of a larger sacred story. Rather than a specific day or form of worship, many Native Americans embrace their day to day tasks, ceremonies, community gatherings, and relationships as a spiritual act. Examples would include Northwest Natives saying a prayer before harvesting bark to use and Plains tribes holding a ceremony of thanks and prayer before killing buffalo for food. 

To hear an overview about Native American societies before European contact, check out this 5 minute video here:

https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/precontact-and-early-colonial-era/before-contact/v/native-american-societies-before-contact 

To read more about this period, here are some great books to get you started:

For Kids:

For more books for kids with Native American characters and themes, check out this list here: https://coloursofus.com/32-native-american-childrens-books/

For Adults:

https://www.nps.gov/bela/learn/historyculture/the-bering-land-bridge-theory.htm

https://www.nps.gov/bela/learn/beringia.htm

https://www.nps.gov/bela/learn/historyculture/other-migration-theories.htm

https://www.pri.org/stories/2019-01-31/european-colonization-americas-killed-10-percent-world-population-and-caused

https://www.britannica.com/topic/Native-American/Native-American-history

https://pages.nativehope.org/reflecting-on-our-foundations#understanding-native-tribes