Transcript Slide 1

The Lives of American
Indians
In the
Nineteenth Century
(1800’s)
Lesson 2(b)
Map found at:http://pages.interlog.com/~gilgames/cahokia.htm
•
Indian towns and cities were never haphazardly constructed. They were carefully
planned to meet the social, political, economic, and ceremonial needs of their people.
Painting is by H. Tom Hall. From the National Geographic book, "America's Ancient Cities", by Gene S. Stuart.
Town and City Dwellers
Town and City Dwellers
Artists rendition of
how Cohokia would
have looked at it’s
peak.
•
Cahokia Mounds
State Historic Park,
courtesy of State of
Illinois
Cohokia was a thriving urban market center that was established about 700
A.D. and covered 2,000 acres. Close to the confluence of the Missouri,
Mississippi, and Illinois rivers, it flourished for about 700 years with its
population ranging from 10,000 to 30,000 at its height - about equal to the
population of medieval London. It was the largest settlement north of the
Rio Grande before the end of the 18th Century when it was surpassed by
New York and Philadelphia (its population was only 23,000 as late as
1763). We'll learn more about Cahokia later in our class.
Town and City Dwellers
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Pueblo Bonito (Beautiful
Town) was the largest of
the towns built in Chaco
Canyon and was home to
about 1,200 people
between 919 and 1085.
It was a planned, multistoried community of
between 650-800 rooms
laid out as a giant Dshaped amphitheater
around a central plaza
covering three acres. The
wall were constructed of
stones and filled with
rubble; thousands of
wooden roof beams were
made from logs carried
from almost 50 miles away.
Images found at:
http://www.jqjacobs.net/southwest/pueblo_bonito.html
Town and City Dwellers
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Mesa Verde in
southeastern Colorado
had people living in
many small villages on
top of the mesa as
early as A.D. 700.
By 1150, most of the
inhabitants were living
in large cliff houses
constructed within the
huge caves in the
canyon alls, which
provided security
against attack.
As many as 7,000
people may have lived
in the area. Cliff
Palace was the largest
cliff dwelling in the
area with 200 rooms
and 20 kivas.
Image from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:MesaVerdeNationalParkCliffPalace.jpg
Tribal Confederacies
• Some nations worked together to form
alliances prior to European contact. The
most well-known is the Iroquois
confederacy.
Flag of the Iroquois Confederacy
Tribal Confederacies
Iroquois, in Buffalo, New York, 1914.
Image found at: http://www.nativewiki.org/Iroquois
• No one knows exactly when the confederacy or league
was formed, but a committee of Six Nations chiefs in
1900 estimated that to occurred around 1390.
• Some Iroquois assert that it was earlier, while some
archeologists claim it was not formed until
1450. Regardless, it was in existence prior to European
contact.
Tribal Confederacies
• Before its formation,
tradition claims that the
people lived in a constant
state of warfare.
• One Onondaga chief known
as Hayenwatha or
Hiawatha, lost three
daughters. While mourning
his loss and preparing to
assuage his grief by taking
the life of an enemy,
Hayenwatha decided to
break the cycle of violence
and vengeance and thus
composed the laws of a
great peace that would
restore order and preserve
harmony in Iroquois country.
Tree of Peace
Click here for
Peacemaker Video Clip (1 min.)
Image found at: www.pleasancepages.co.uk/node1836
Click here
to learn
about The
Legend of
the Peace
maker.
Tribal Confederacies
• Five nations accepted the teaching of peace - the
Onondaga, Mohawks, Cayugas, Senecas, and
Oneidas.
• In 1722, the Tuscaroras joined the league so that they
became known as the League of Six Nations. They
agreed to stop fighting among themselves and unite in
common defense.
Images found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois_confederacy
Tribal Confederacies
1) The individual tribes retained control of their own
affairs at the local level, but acted through the Grand
Council in matters of common concern.
2) Fifty council chiefs or sachems were selected by clan
mothers from the member tribes. The names of the
original chiefs passed as titled from generation to
generation.
3) Matters were discussed back and forth between the
five tribes until consensus was reached or the
subject was dropped. The sachems possessed no
power of coercion: the chiefs had to be “of one
mind.” People who could not abide by general
Click here
to view The consensus were free to go their own way as long as
their actions did not threaten the league as a whole.
Great Law
of Peace
Tribal Confederacies
The Great Law of the League was preserved for
generations through oral tradition and was
not written down until 1851. However, it
was well known among Indian peoples, as
well as among Euro-Americans.
1) Some believe the Great Law served as a
model for the US Constitution. Benjamin
Franklin did ask, if the Six Nations could
create “such a Union,” why couldn’t the
colonies do likewise.
2)
Whether it was used as a model is not
known for certain. But in 1987, the US
Senate passed a resolution acknowledging
“the historical debt” which the US owed to
the Iroquois “for their demonstration of
enlightened, democratic principles of
government and their example of a free
association of independent Indian nations.”
Go to: 8th grade Handouts
at roundvalleyschools.org
to find Handout for
“Iroquois Confederacy
Influence on Democracy.
Use this handout to learn
more.
Discussion
a. What commonalities do we see in these various Indian nations prior
to European contact?
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A great deal of political, social, economic, and spiritual
sophistication. Rather than the Indian Peoples being uncivilized
savages, it is clear that they were quite civilized.
b. What does it mean when a society is civilized?
c. What specific words describe the lives of Indian peoples prior to
European contact? How do these words contrast with those that are
usually used in history books?
d. Why is it that for almost 400 years, our history lessons on American
Indians have portrayed them as savages, heathens, filthy,
bloodthirsty?
•
To justify the manner in which Euro-Americans dealt with them and still deal with them
Summary of Part 1 of
The Lives of American Indians in
the 1800’s
• 1. At the time of European contact in the
early 1600s, the North American continent
was populated by hundreds of Indian
tribes that were culturally spiritually, and
politically diverse. Additionally, the Indian
people were quite civilized, even by
European terms, and had achieved a great
deal of technological, agricultural, and
political sophistication.
Summary of Part 1 of
The Lives of American Indians in
the 1800’s
• 2. Each of the tribes were inherently sovereign
at the time of European contact. Such
sovereignty was reinforced when colonial
governments signed government-to-government
treaties with various Indian nations. Indian
sovereignty was further reinforced when the US
government was established, especially through
the Commerce Clause of the US Constitution
which created two sovereign entities: the federal
governments and tribal governments.
Summary of Part 1 of
The Lives of American Indians in
the 1800’s
• 3. Despite Indian diversity and tribal
sovereignty, most European settlers had
little understanding of the cultural, spiritual,
and political beliefs and sophistication of
Indians. Thus, they believed the Indians
were "uncivilized heathens" and "savages"
who needed to be civilized and
Christianized.
Summary of Part 1 of
The Lives of American Indians in
the 1800’s
• 4. Although some Indian tribes became
culturally, spiritually, and politically
assimilated into Nineteenth Century
American society, they were never
accepted as equals within the EuroAmerican population.