Classroom Assignments

 Please check here regularly for classroom assignments:

Native Americans Prior to 1492

The Native Americans throughout North America had a number of similarities. Each group or nation spoke the same language, and almost all were organized around an extended clan or family. They usually descended from one individual. Each group had a series of leaders, in some cased the leaders inherited their rolls in others they were elected. The Native Americans traded extensively between the different tribes. This allowed different tribes to specialize in different products and trade with tribes that were located far away. Native Americans believed in the power of the spirits. The spirits were found in nature. Their religious leaders were called Shamans. Native Americans believed that people should live in harmony with nature. They did not believe that people should own land rather the land belonged to everyone.

There were a number of distinct groups of Native Americans: Northwest Coast The Native Americans of the Northwest had no need to farm. The land was full of animals; the sea was full of fish. Most of the villages were located near the Ocean. Wood was plentiful, and the natives of the areas used the woods to build large homes. One of the unique innovations of the Indians of the Northwest was large canoe that could hold 50 people. They were carved out of giant redwoods. California California's natives were blessed with mild weather. Over 100 Native American groups lived there. Those that lived by the sea were able to live off fishing and native plant life. Those that lived inland like the Pomo hunted small game. They also gathered acorns and pound them into mush to eat. The Plateau The Plateau Native Americans lived in the area between Cascade Mountains and the Rocky Mountains. The area had many large Rivers and was the main source of food and travel. The area was cold in the winter and to protect them the Natives build homes that were partly underground, Approximately 20 groups lived in this area. The Great Basin The Great Basins is located in what includes all of Nevada and Utah, most of western Colorado. It was the home of the Shoshone, Paiute and Ute’s Indians. It was a land that was hot and dry. Those that lived there were called “diggers” since they were forced to dig for most of their food. The Southwest The Natives of the Southwest were divided into two groups some were hunter gathers and some were farmers. The Pueblos were the best known of the natives of the area. They were skilled farmers and grew a many crops. The Pueblos used irrigations canals to bring water for their farming. The Apache and Navajo entered the southwest around 1500 and were hunter-gatherers. The Plains The Plains stretch from the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains. The areas had large herds of Buffalo and antelope, which provided abundant food. The Native Americans of the plains included the Sioux, Pawnee, Crow Cheyenne and Comanche. Northeast The Native Americans of the Northeast lived in an area rich in rivers and forests. Some groups were constantly on the move while others built permanent homes. The two main cultures of the Northeast were the Iroquois and Algonquin. For many years the Native Americans of the northeast were at war with each other. The Southeast. The Southeast was the most populated of all the regions of North America. It was home to the Cherokee, Creek Choctaw, Seminole, and Natchez. Many of the natives of the southeast hunted buffalo deer and other animals. The majority of the Native Americans of the Southeast were famers.

Indian Timeline - Stone Age to 1400's
		Timeline
		10,000B.C.		Paleo-Indian Era (Stone Age culture) the earliest human inhabitants of America who lived in caves and were Nomadic hunters of large game including the Great Mammoth and giant bison.
		9000BC		Clovis Culture (named after artefacts found at Clovis, New Mexico. These people used a distinctive type of fluted arrow point
		7500BC		Folsom Culture (named after artefacts found at Folsom, New Mexico. These people used flint arrow point in the shape of a leaf)
		7500BC		Eastern Woodland Culture of Fisher Hunters begins. Permanent houses and farming
		7000 BC		Archaic Period in which people built basic shelters and made stone weapons and stone tools
		4000BC		Old Copper culture begins in the Great Lakes region in which native copper was utilized to produce a wide variety of tools axes, adzes, arrow head points, knives, fishhooks and harpoons
		2500 BC		Gulf Formational Period with development of ceramics and pottery
		2000BC		Pecos Culture begins with changes in architecture, art and pottery for the people who lived in a semi-arid environment
		1100BC		Anasazi build cliff cities at Mesa Verde, Colorado
		1700BC		Mound Builders culture, a feature of many Woodland tribes
		1000AD		Woodland Period including the Adena culture (mounds, a burial complex and ceremonial system. The Adena lived in a variety of locations, including: Ohio, Indiana, West Virginia, Kentucky, and parts of Pennsylvania and New York.) and Hopewell cultures
		1000AD		Woodland Period including the Hopewell cultures established along rivers in the Northeastern and Midwestern United States which included trade exchange systems and burial systems
		1000		Mississippian Culture established. This was the last of the mound-building cultures of North America in Midwestern, Eastern, and Southeastern United States
		c1450		Iroquois Confederacy creates a constitution. The tribes of the Iroquois League include the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca
		1492		Christopher Columbus discovers America
		Timeline
Indian Timeline - 1500's
	Timeline
	1500		The Europeans brought diseases such as typhoid, cholera, yellow fever, smallpox, measles, whooping cough and influenza to the indigenous population. Their numbers fell from eighty million to under one million in less than five hundred years
	1513		Alonzo de Pineda explores gulf Coast of America (Florida area) and encounters Calusan Indians
	1524		Giovanni Verrazano discovers New York Bay
	1528		Panfilo de Narvaez explores Florida Alvar Cabeza de Vaca explores Texas, Arizona and New Mexico
	1534		Jacques Cartier explores the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River
	1539		Hernando de Soto explores the Southeast of North America which leads to the Napituca Massacre.
	1540		Francisco Vázquez de Coronado explores Southwestern North America and Mexico fighting the Choctaw tribe and defeating the Zuni Pueblo Indians.
	1541		Francisco Vásquez de Coronado explores Kansas and New Mexico leading to the Tiguex War
	1542		Cabrillo explores and discovers the Californian coastal area
	1559		Tristan de Luna explores North America
	1563		Francisco de Ibarra explores New Mexico
	1576		English explorer Sir Martin Frobisher explores Baffin Bay and the Hudson Strait
	1584		English explorers Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlowe (both in the service of Sir Walter Raleigh) explore the coast of North Carolina
	1585		Sir Walter Raleigh reaches Roanoke Island and establishes the Virginia colony of Roanoke Island
	1598		Juan de Archuleta explores Colorado
	Timeline
Indian Timeline - 1500's

Indian Timeline - 1600's
	Timeline
	1607		Captain John Smith explorer and founder of Jamestown
	1609		The Jamestown Colonists endure the 'Starving Time'
	1609		Henry Hudson explores North eastern North America including the Hudson River
	1620		Pocahontas marries John Rolfe
	1620		The Mayflower and the Pilgrim Fathers arrived at Plymouth to found first colony in New England
	1622		First Indian uprising in an English colony (Virginia).1622-1624 The Powhatan Confederacy in Virginia between colonists and Indians - refer to Powhatan
	1637		The First Reservations were established by Puritans near New Haven, Connecticut
	1638		The Pequot War
	1640		1640 - 1701 - The Beaver Wars
	1655		1655 - The Peach Tree War
	1675		1675 - 1677 King Philip's War
	1680		1680-1692: The Pueblo Revolt
	1688		1688 - 1763 The French and Indian Wars between France and Great Britain and their respective Indian allies
Indian Timeline - 1700's
		Timeline
		1700		The Indian Horse culture leads to the migration of many Woodland tribes to the Great Plains. The tribes include the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Sioux and Comanche
		1711		Fox Wars 1701-1742: First Fox War (1712–1716) and the Second Fox War (1728–1733).
		1712		1711-1715: The Tuscarora War led by King Hancock
		1729		1729 Following the Natchez Wars of 1716, 1722 and 1723 the Natchez Rebellion (1729–1731) when Natchez Indians massacre 250 people at Fort Rosalie.
		1715		The Yamasee War against the white settlements in South Carolina
		1736		The Chickasaw Wars (1736, 1739 and 1752) were fought between the Chickasaw allied with the British against the French and their allies the Choctaws and Illini.
		1754		1754 - 1763: The French Indian War (1754-1763) is won by Great Britain. France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi River, except New Orleans. The Spanish give up Florida to the British.
		1763		Treaty of Paris ends French and Indian War (1754-1763)
		1764		Pontiac's Rebellion against the Britishin the Ohio River Valley
		1774		December 16: The Boston Tea Party
		1775		Lord Dunmore's War in Southern Ohio
		1776		Chickamauga Wars (1776–1794)
		1785		Northwest Indian War (1785–1795) in Indiana and Ohio.