Ad
related to: baltic people indians of north americaBrowse & Discover Thousands of History Book Titles, for Less.
Search results
Aug 21, 2023 · The Native Peoples of North America (also known as American Indians, Native Americans, Indigenous Americans, and First Americans) are the original inhabitants of North America believed to have migrated...
- Joshua J. Mark
- What are Native Americans of North America called?Native Americans of North America are called Native Americans, American Indians, Indigenous Americans, Indigenous Peoples, and First Americans.
- When did Native Americans first arrive in North America and from where?Native Americans are thought to have begun arriving in North America from Asia c. 40,000 BCE to c. 14,000 BCE through a series of migrations across...
- What are the origins of North American Indigenous Peoples?The North American Native Peoples are thought to have originated in Asia and migrated to North America beginning c. 40,000 BCE.
- What is the oldest Native American city in North America?The oldest Native American city found thus far in America is Watson Brake in Louisiana dated to c. 3500 BCE.
The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are groups of people native to a specific region that inhabited the Americas before the arrival of European settlers in the 15th century and the ethnic groups who continue to identify themselves with those peoples.
- Overview
- Early cultural development
- Archaic peoples
American Indian, member of any of the aboriginal peoples of the Western Hemisphere. Eskimos (Inuit and Yupik/Yupiit) and Aleuts are often excluded from this category, because their closest genetic and cultural relations were and are with other Arctic peoples rather than with the groups to their south. (See also Sidebar: Tribal Nomenclature: American Indian, Native American, and First Nation.)
The ancestors of contemporary American Indians were members of nomadic hunting and gathering cultures. These peoples traveled in small family-based bands that moved from Asia to North America during the last ice age; from approximately 30,000–12,000 years ago, sea levels were so low that a “land bridge” connecting the two continents was exposed. Some bands followed the Pacific coast southward, and others followed a glacier-free corridor through the centre of what is now Canada. Although it is clear that both avenues were used, it is not certain which was more important in the peopling of the Americas. Most traces of this episode in human prehistory have been erased by millennia of geological processes: the Pacific has inundated or washed away most of the coastal migration route, and glacial meltwash has destroyed or deeply buried traces of the inland journey.
The earliest ancestors of Native Americans are known as Paleo-Indians. They shared certain cultural traits with their Asian contemporaries, such as the use of fire and domesticated dogs; they do not seem to have used other Old World technologies such as grazing animals, domesticated plants, and the wheel.
Britannica Quiz
Native American History Quiz
Archaeological evidence indicates that Paleo-Indians traveling in the interior of Northern America hunted Pleistocene fauna such as woolly mammoths (Mammuthus species), giant ground sloths (Megatherium species), and a very large species of bison (Bison antiquus); those traveling down the coast subsisted on fish, shellfish, and other maritime products. Plant foods undoubtedly contributed to the Paleo-Indian diet, although the periglacial environment would have narrowed their quantities and varieties to some extent. Plant remains deteriorate quickly in the archaeological record, which can make direct evidence of their use somewhat scarce. However, food remains at Paleo-Indian sites including Gault (Texas) and Jake Bluff (Oklahoma) indicate that these people used a wide variety of plants and animals.
Although the artifacts recovered from many Paleo-Indian sites are predominantly, or even solely, stone tools, it is likely that these groups also made a wide variety of goods from perishable materials that have since disintegrated; certainly, stone tools alone would have proved inadequate to the challenges these peoples encountered. One of the most distinctive Paleo-Indian artifact types is the Clovis point, the first of which was discovered on a kill site near what is now Clovis, New Mexico. Clovis points are lance-shaped, partially fluted, and used for killing mammoths and other very large game (see Clovis complex).
Exclusive academic rate for students! Save 67% on Britannica Premium.
As the environment changed, so did indigenous economic strategies. The most visible change was a further diversification in subsistence. As megafauna became scarce and cold-weather flora retreated north, groups began to prey upon smaller animals such as deer and elk, to catch fish and collect shellfish from inland rivers and lakes, and to use a wider array of plant foods, including seeds, berries, nuts, and tubers. People became somewhat more settled, tending to live in larger groups for at least part of the year; they often built seasonal residences along waterways. They also developed systems of trade between different geographical areas. These changes in diet and settlement and the development of trade are some of the defining characteristics of the Archaic cultures.
Archaic technology included grinding tools (mortars and pestles), woodworking tools (grooved stone axes and gouges), and items such as plummets whose use is not clear. Archaic hunting tools are distinguished by the introduction of the spear-thrower, which enables a hunter to throw a dart accurately and with great force at a distant target; so-called bird stones may have augmented the hunter’s throwing power. Large fluted points became less popular, replaced by smaller side-notched points more appropriate for dart-based hunting.
Native Americans', sometimes called American Indians, First Americans, or Indigenous Americans, are the Indigenous peoples of the United States or portions thereof, such as American Indians from the contiguous United States and Alaska Natives.
Oct 3, 2017 · It’s only because of the presence of Europeans from the 15th century onward that we even have terms such as Indians or Native Americans. How these people came to be is a subject that is...
The ancestors of the American Indians were nomadic hunters of northeast Asia who migrated over the Bering Strait land bridge into North America probably during the last glacial period (11,500–30,000 years ago).
Oct 17, 2023 · The federal government of the United States recognizes some 562 tribal entities, including nearly 300 villages and groups in Alaska. In addition, there are many variations on the names of the tribes. Some tribes have changed their names or have become extinct. An alphabetical a list of Indigenous Tribes of the United States is available. See also.
