Lesson 1A: Native American Governance
Think About It
One day, your friends suggest that you go on a backpacking trip to Mount Everest. You love to hike, and so do your friends. How would you plan your trip? What routes would you take? What would you need to take on the trip? You will be gone more than seven days, and can take only one hiking backpack. The ideal size is 70 liters, which is about twice the size of what you use for school.
Explore It
As you start the journey to Mount Everest, your friends quickly realize that someone needs to be a leader. How will you select the leader? What powers will they have? Can they be overthrown by the group, and a new leader installed?
Early Americans
The American continents were not originally settled by Europeans. The most common theory of how the first people came to the Americas is simple: they walked!
Look at the map showing the western coast of Alaska and the eastern coast of Russia. They are separated by a narrow strip of water called the Bering Strait. Thousands of years ago, the Strait was connected with a bridge of land known as Beringia. People from Asia migrated across Beringia, wandering southward until they had settled in areas of North, Central, and South America. These civilizations developed the first governing systems in what came to be known as the New World.
Image credit: Map by National Geographic Society
Historical artifacts can be found throughout the Americas, and help show how the native people spread southward and eastward over thousands of years. Three civilizations existed in the areas known as Mesoamerica and South America. (Mesoamerica refers to the geographic areas from north of Panama to the desert of central Mexico. The continent located below modern-day Panama is South America.)
The Maya and the Aztecs were Mesoamerican civilizations, while the Incas were a South American civilization. All these civilizations became highly developed before any European explorers arrived. For an overview of the Maya, Aztec, and Inca civilizations as well as how advanced they were at the time, watch the following video.
Video transcript
To find out more about these civilizations, click this link Download this link.
Reflect On It
Mesoamerican cultures existed in Central America and into South America, and were the first New World civilizations found by European explorers. Were there any ancient cultures existing in your country? Were they similar to the ones in Mesoamerica? If so, what were these similarities? What were the differences? Can you think of any reasons to explain either similarities or differences?
Try It
North American indigenous civilizations were divided into four general geographic locations, the Northwest, the Southwest, the Northeast, and the Southeast. These groups existed in the territory known as the continental United States. While all the tribes had many basic features in common, the geographical environment created differences.
Take a Closer Look: The Iroquois |
The Haudenosaunee, or Iroquois, were a tribe of the Northeast. The Iroquois established a confederacy, which is an alliance of groups that come together for a purpose and is similar to a government. There were originally five tribes that were a part of the Iroquois Confederacy, including the Mohawk, Seneca, Oneida, Onondaga, and Cayuga. Later, the Tuscarora joined the confederation, bringing the total to six tribes or nations. Land was communally used between these nations. But boundaries, lines that separate the land of one group from the land of another, were used for hunting and farming. It is important to note, though, that the Iroquois nations believed that no one person owned the land. In order to come together and agree on issues, these nations were governed by The Great Council, which was made up of between eight and fourteen representatives. The representatives were chosen by the clan mothers. The mothers would meet to discuss and come to a consensus on political topics. |
Think about what you know about the different Native American tribes. Did their culture affect where they were located, or did their location affect their culture?
Evaluate
All civilizations have some type of government. In the United States, Native Americans had sophisticated governments. In this video, you will explore three nations: The Iroquois, Muscogee, and Pueblo. As you watch it, identify ideas that might be found in the U.S. government today.
Video transcript
Digging Deeper
What was life like in North America before Europeans arrived? In this video, Kim Kutz Elliott explores how different environmental factors in North America shaped a variety of Native American societies.
Video transcript