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Period: 13,000 BCE to 3000 BCE
Migrants cross land bridge from Asia
Between 13,000 and 8,000 BCE migrants crossing a land bridge spanning between modern day Russia and Alaska were the first people to enter America.
Climate: North Western parts of North American had large ice sheets while the Midwest was mostly comprised of forests and prairies lay to the west in modern day California. -
Period: 6500 BCE to 5500 BCE
North West Coast Natives
They were maritime culture and expert canoe builders and relied heavily on fishing and whaling. They were uninfluenced by ancient Mexican Civilizations and were therefore independent. The lived in large complex fishing communities in houses made of cedar planks. -
Period: 6000 BCE to 5000 BCE
Second Crossing of migrants
A second wave of migrants traveling by water used the same route as the land bridge users. These migrants were the ancestors to the Navajo and Apaches. Settled people in modern day New Mexico began domesticating and raising crops. -
Period: 3000 BCE to 2000 BCE
Third Crossing of Migrants
A third crossing took place around 3,000. These people later became the "Inuit". -
Period: 800 BCE to Jan 1, 800
Eastern Woodland Tribes
The tribes/groups of the wooded eastern North America shared many similarities with the Mississippi Valley People, most notably the process of building mounds for burial. These tribes also shared many characteristics among themselves such as having a mixed base of agriculture and hunter/gatherer. Tribes included the Iroquois, Mound Builders, Algonquian, and Shawnee. -
Period: 800 BCE to
Great Lakes People
The Great Lakes People who lived primarily in modern day Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota, Canada and Ohio where extremely mobile nomads with great skill in canoe making which allowed them to fish, hunt, and trade over great distances. Power among the groups in the area was rather localized although they mostly all identified under the same name of Anishinaabe. -
Period: 300 BCE to Jan 1, 1300
Anasazi Culture
The Anasazi were a agricultural based people growing large amounts of cotton and were also skilled in basket-making. They settles in small towns or villages the Spanish call Pueblos often built into the sides of cliffs such as the Mesa Verde settlement in the 4-Corners area, Colorado which was abandoned around 1300 due to drought and poor harvests. -
Period: 300 BCE to
Chanookan People
Originating from earlier tribes in the Northern Pacific, the Chinook lived along the Columbia and Willamette rivers near the Pacific coast (in modern Oregon and Washington). They were hunters and gatherers, and especially fishers, who lived mainly on salmon. The Chinook did not have inherited or elected leaders, but lived in small bands with only temporary leaders or "big men". They traded along the Columbia and Willamette rivers and down the Snake River. -
Period: 300 to
Polynesian Settlement of Hawaiian Islands
Polynesian people traveling east across the Pacific via canoes and island hoping became the first settlers in the Hawaiian Islands. With them these people brought their skills in canoe making and fishing. -
Period: Jan 1, 900 to Jan 1, 1576
Inuit People
The term Inuit describes a large number of groups that span much of modern day Canada, Greenland and partially Alaska. These people were exceptionally mobile through their use of domesticated dogs that they quickly learned to attach to sleds and allowed them to be extremely effective hunters. -
Period: Sep 1, 1000 to Jan 1, 1540
Mississippi Valley People
These people built flat land burials in the Earth for their settlements which ranged from small to medium. They supplemented their crops with hunting gathering. -
Period: Sep 1, 1000 to
The Cherokee
The Cherokee initially established themselves as a branch of the Iroquois nation from prior tribes near the Great Lakes, primarily the Qualla and Pisgah peoples. They established permanent, walled settlements that relied on natural resources within the surrounding region. The material these prior cultures utilized were clay, stone, bone, shell, and wood. -
Period: Jan 1, 1200 to
Blackfoot Confederacy
The Blackfoot Confederacy included a handful of groups/tribes from the modern day Canadian-US border, Montana and the prairies of the surrounding area. They were nomadic people whos lifeline was dependent on the large buffalo herds of the North American plains. Most of the fame for this group of people comes from the Battle of Little Bighorn where some participating native warriors belonged to the Blackfoot Confederacy. -
Period: Jan 1, 1325 to Jun 15, 1520
Aztec Culture
Tenochtitlan, the Aztec capital, was founded by a group of wandering nomads on the site of modern day Mexico City. Aztec merchants created trade routes and markets that criss-crossed the empire. They traded gold, textiles, tropical bird feathers, turquoise, obsidian, and cacao. -
Period: Jan 1, 1400 to
Navajo People and Culture
The Navajo are a group of natives that migrated from North America's Pacific North West to the Southwest around 1400CE and resided in modern day New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. The Navajo people were largely nomadic initially using dogs pulling a type of drag sled and walking for transportation but later used horses.