Lesson 1A: Native American Governance

1 Lesson 1A: Native American Governance

 L1_Cahokia Civilization

Artist’s conception of the Cahokia civilization. 

Image Source: wikipedia Links to an external site.

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. L1_Bering Strait

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: Maya, Aztec, and the Inca Song Mr. Nicky

Video transcript

[Music]
plazas with stone palaces and Temple
pyramids King's drinking chocolate the
mess of a miracle when maze got popping
it fit widespread settlement I rock
Metropolis Grows by the Gulf of Mexico
along the coast impressive old Mech
cities first the rose no for their big
heads and influential role as the
Region's cultural mother who bestowed
their Art and Science upon the Maya
whose Gods got their blood offerings
probably because their prisoner was
trying to me so calendar read and wasn't
the dot looking up from observatories
for accuracy it's the classic period
they're picking progress they were
working mathematics with the zero
concept hieroglyphic writing documented
with the God said if they folks did
their King's achievement record content
the glyphs portrayed their city-states
as linked by trade while they remained
independent it still debated which
you'll fade in situations it that made
them abandon and bounce on the Yucatan
Peninsula scene like they're dying to
compete on a rubber ball team the my
cleared out like the lowland forest
trees they would slash and burn the
creative farmer techniques Adam plazas
with stone Palace and Temple pyramids
Kings drink in kakaobina chocolate and
bezo a miracle with Maze and squash and
mixed beans those three spread the roots
of rock Metropolis Pros to the valley in
the heart of Mexico early Aztecs fought
to find a home built the city out on
Lake Tesh Coco calling it to noshiti
climb they had to throw their Gardens
to an Island full of swamps aqueducts
are channel in the freshwater they crops
the trade in the marketplace are carried
down the causeway lanes and build
alliances with tribes on Shore combining
forces with through city-states and
fighting Wars to bring a trip you
payments that would Finance more
expansion as they're kept of sacrificing
poured down blood to beat the Raymond
temple step steps power in the sun
require the deaths enemies resented
being a press press press some will join
up with their non-cortez
and the Aztec Empire was defeat is
struck down by conquistadors and weapons
and diseases Spanish Conquest didn't
stop their poetry and speeches oral
masterpieces would Inspire codices with
pages of pictographs and colorful scenes
plus their herbal remedies and eagle
snake memes depicting life inside the
neighborhood kapulisha by groups of
families paying taxes that mean more
plazas with stone palaces and Temple
pyramids Kings drink in kakaobina
chocolate down in South America and
Andy's Mountain Cliff staircase Terrace
Farm step the broccolis Grove raising
higher altitude potatoes defensive early
cultures for the great achievements
Santa Cruz Co making it the incasmatic
capital they stretched their vast domain
North and South learning how from
pachacuti's Reign when he mobilizes Army
quickly over roads a far extending range
where the runners race due to flavor
laying and they keep loses their
database records made a string keeping
track of Labor Texas paid by
contributing or to the certainly
government producing Surplus Goods that
wouldn't end storage buildings meant for
public aid for Distributing and sucking
up the provinces things that worked our
llamas did someone traps the positives
of the Empire's dominance like religious
tolerance to thinking guys are prominent
so when a group would not submit they
like to move them off the grid while no
one budged their stonework because the
soul will cut it's holding up through
the centuries they know such luck with
gold this hope to know it's from the
holy Sun cause eventually Spain claimed
the richest once bizarro's man sees
golden opportunities when the rule had
grown weak the strength lives on through
their Ingenuity they got Machu Picchu
featuring The Lesson Legacy of the
classes with stone palaces and Temple
pyramids Kings drinking cacao being a
chocolate it's ancient America where
social structures with class-ranked
trolls organizer Rock Metropolis bro
overcoming Geographic obstacles without
iron tools are wheeled via coals didn't
have draft animals to pull the loads
unless you count llamas I recommend you
don't
oh
[Music]

 

To find out more about these civilizations, click 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: Native American Governments/Simple Civics

Video transcript

the familiar story of american history
usually begins with christopher columbus
the pilgrims and then the colonies but
this is not where the story should begin
entire nations of native american tribes
millions of people have been governing
themselves long before any europeans
stepped foot on american soil and you
may be surprised by the ways their
societies mirror our current system of
government
one of the most well-documented native
american government structures is that
of the iroquois a confederacy of six
tribes that reside in what is now
upstate new york
at various times these tribes were at
war with one another
the great law of peace formally brought
them all together and has been described
as the longest lasting treaty in north
america
the iroquois had a largely matriarchal
society meaning the various clans that
made up the tribes were led by a woman
in some clans the matron nominated the
sacrum or tribal leader and held the
power to remove leaders who were found
guilty of misconduct
the iroquois valued debate and
discussion when creating their laws and
some believe that the u.s congress
congress's custom of allowing speakers
to finish their thoughts without an
eruption followed the example of how the
iroquois conducted business
another key component of iroquois life
that matches the united states is the
concept of federalism which combines a
central government with regional
self-governments
the muskogee nation also known as the
creek nation was a league of many tribes
and what became the southeastern united
states
the muskogee nation had a well-developed
judicial system
punishments depended not only on the
crime but on the character of the
defendant and the circumstances of the
crime
once carried out sentences absolved
those convicted and fully restored them
to the community
the muskogee prioritized the needs of
the community over the needs of the
individual this stands in stark contrast
to modern american society where the
rights of an individual tend to be much
more highly valued
the pueblos are part of a cultural group
that has inhabited the southwestern
united states for thousands of years
what sets them apart from other nations
we've discussed and from modern american
politics is that pueblo society was a
theocracy
meaning the head priest was also the
chief and left no separation between
religion and government
the leader of pueblo society was
referred to as the kassik they ruled by
consensus giving formal approval to
ideas already gaining traction in the
larger community much like the
presidential cabinet the casey had
several assistants to take care of
day-to-day matters this left him free to
guide policy affecting the nation as a
whole
these are just a few of the nations that
made up this land long before any
european arrived on its soil what's more
some believe that founding fathers used
their knowledge of native governments
when helping to write the constitution
of the new nation known as the united
states of america

 

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: Native American societies before contact | Period 1: 1491-1607

Video transcript

often when we think about the beginning
of American history we think 1776 with
the Declaration of Independence or maybe
1492 when Columbus arrived in the
Americas but the history of America
really begins about 15,000 years ago
when people first arrived in the
Americas in this video I want to provide
a very brief overview of native
societies before contact to give you an
idea of just how diverse and complex
these societies were as Native groups
adapted to and interacted with their
environments
now there's recently been a scholarly
debate about how people first arrived we
know that maybe 12,000 years ago during
an Ice Age the sea level was lower and
so a spit of land in between the
Americas and Asia was exposed over which
people may have traveled but recent
archaeological evidence suggests that
people were perhaps already in the
Americas at the time of this Ice Age
so it's possible that they may have come
earlier in boats now however it was that
they arrived they spread north and south
and east throughout the Americas so that
by the time that Europeans arrived in
the late 1400s there were perhaps 50
million people that's kind of a
mid-range number for the estimates that
historians have made living in the
Americas and of those four to six
million we're living in North America so
how did these societies develop well a
really big moment was around 5000 BCE
when people in Mexico
domesticated corn maize as it's also
known and domesticating maize meant that
people who had originally been hunters
gatherers following herds of animals
could partake in settled agriculture so
they could develop villages complex
societies this isn't to say that they
stopped hunting or gathering but they
began staying in one place so let's zoom
in a little bit and take a look at some
of the major societies in these regions
Native American societies developed
around their natural environments using
the resources that were available to
them
for example the Southwest Plains and
Great Basin quite dry a lot of desert
and so societies in these regions
adapted to the dry climate in several
ways for example Native American groups
that lived on the Great Plains continued
their hunting gathering way of life
hunting bison and following the herds of
animals in teepees sure dwellings that
were easy to set up and then take down
people in the southwest like the
ancestral Pueblo in people dealt with
this dry environment by creating very
complex irrigation projects so that they
could water their maize crops using what
little moisture there was the Pueblo
winds lived in large cave complexes as
agriculture allowed them to grow their
population in the northwest fishing in
the Pacific Ocean gave Native Americans
a plentiful source of food while farming
allowed the Mississippian peoples to
develop large settlements like Cahokia
near modern-day Saint Louis which at its
peak may have had as many as 25 to
40,000 residents the Mississippians and
other East Coast native peoples relied a
lot on what's known as
three sister farming in which people
would plant corn beans and squash
together which was mutually beneficial
to all three plants as the corn served
as a trellis for the beans and the
squash protected the root system of the
corn all three together create a very
nutritious diet which allowed for a
relatively high population density on
the East Coast so by the time that
Europeans began to arrive in the late
1400s and 1500s native societies had
been evolving for over 14,000 years but
the introduction of European people
pathogens plants and animals would
introduce an unprecedented amount of
change in the Americas