Overview:"When Columbus stepped ashore in 1492, millions of people were already living there. America wasn't exactly a New World, but a very old one whose inhabitants had built a vast infrastructure of cities, orchards, canals and causeways.
In 1491, more people lived in the Americas than in Europe. The first conquistadors were sailors and adventurers. In 1492, the Americas were not a pristine wilderness but a crowded and managed landscape. The now barren Chaco Canyon was once covered with vegetation. Along with crops like wheat, weeds like dandelion were brought to America by Europeans. By 1500, European settlers and their plants and animals had altered much of the Americas’ landscape. While beans, potatoes, and maize from the Americas became major crops in continental Europe." To continue reading, click on the link below: |
Watch The Full DocumentaryHere is National Geographic's documentary from 2009 on
America Before Columbus |
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How long have the Native Americans actually been in America?Watch this EdPuzzle I created from a 2014 New York Times piece on the discoveries of early human activity in South America. Learn about how the work done by archaeologists here is a clear opposition against the Clovis-First, or Land-Bridge theories that state people migrated from Siberia to North America across the Bering Straight during the Ice Age. |
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What Issues do Native Americans Face Today?As we learn about the ways in which Natives lived within the American continents before colonial interactions with Europeans, people often times forget that these people are still here to this day. Indigenous people have been consistently trying to adapt and change to keep their culture alive, while in the face of adversity from a United States government that basically pretends they don't exist. Click on the links below to read up on some of the issues associated with Indigenous cultures today:
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Other Resources:
Indigenous People Vs. the US Government Essay
Based on the research we have done in class on native cultures, how Native cultures have been taught about, and based on where most Native cultures are today, does the United States government owe anything to the indigenous tribes of America?
***This Paper will be a 5-Paragraph Minimum
Your essay must include:
***This Paper will be a 5-Paragraph Minimum
Your essay must include:
- 5 Paragraphs
- Your opinion as a strong thesis statement
- Information about what we have learned about the ways in which Native cultures lived
- Information about the ways in which Americans have been taught about Native cultures
- Information regarding current-day issues that Natives are facing
- Information regarding Facts versus Myths
- At least 2 references to sources (Can include textbook, NYT videos, lecture notes, articles from class, and your own research)