Native Americans — First Peoples

Long before Columbus "discovered" America in 1492, over 10 million people already lived here. They had been here for 15,000+ years. They had cities, farms, religions, governments, languages, and trade networks. Today you will learn about the diverse FIRST PEOPLES of the Americas — and what happened when Europeans arrived.

Scientists believe the first people came from Asia across the BERING LAND BRIDGE (when sea levels were lower, Alaska and Siberia were connected). This was 15,000-30,000 years ago.\n\nOver time, people spread from Alaska all the way to the southern tip of South America, adapting to every environment — from tropical jungles to frozen Arctic.

Hundreds of different groups, each with unique cultures. Some major ones:\n\n- **IROQUOIS (Haudenosaunee)** — Great Lakes region. 6 nations formed a confederacy.\n- **CHEROKEE** — Southeast. Developed a written alphabet by Sequoyah (1821).\n- **SIOUX (Lakota, Dakota)** — Great Plains. Buffalo hunters.\n- **NAVAJO (Diné)** — Southwest. Largest Native Nation in US today.\n- **APACHE** — Southwest. Famous leaders like Geronimo.\n- **PUEBLO** — Southwest. Cliff dwellings and farming.\n- **INUIT** — Arctic. Adapted to freezing climate.\n- **POWHATAN** — Virginia. Met early English colonists.\n\nEach had unique languages, homes, food, religions, and traditions.

Before Columbus, the Americas had huge civilizations:\n\n- **AZTECS (Mexico)** — Capital TENOCHTITLAN had 200,000+ people (bigger than any European city at the time)\n- **MAYA (Central America)** — advanced math, astronomy, writing\n- **INCA (South America)** — 30,000 miles of roads across the Andes\n- **CAHOKIA (Illinois)** — 20,000+ people around 1200 CE. Bigger than London at the time!\n\nThese civilizations had astronomers, architects, farmers, scribes, artists — NOT "simple" at all.

When Columbus arrived in 1492 (actually landing in the Bahamas), it started what historians call the COLUMBIAN EXCHANGE — a massive flow of:\n\n- Plants (potatoes, tomatoes, corn from Americas; wheat, rice from Europe)\n- Animals (horses came to Americas)\n- TECHNOLOGY\n- And DISEASES — smallpox, measles, flu wiped out 70-90% of Native populations who had no immunity\n\nThis was one of the largest demographic catastrophes in human history.

Over 400 years, European settlers and the US government:\n\n- Fought hundreds of wars with Native nations\n- Broke 500+ treaties\n- Took Native lands\n- Forcibly relocated tribes (TRAIL OF TEARS, 1838 — Cherokee and others marched west; 4,000 died)\n- Sent Native children to BOARDING SCHOOLS designed to erase their culture\n- Massacred communities (Sand Creek 1864, Wounded Knee 1890)\n\nNative population dropped from ~10 million pre-1492 to ~250,000 by 1900. Devastating loss.

Native Americans are STILL HERE — about 9 million people, 574 federally recognized tribes.\n\nContinuing challenges:\n- Fighting for treaty rights\n- Language preservation (many Native languages endangered)\n- Tribal sovereignty\n- Land/water issues\n\nContinuing strengths:\n- Rich cultural traditions\n- Strong community ties\n- Major contributions to art, music, science, politics\n- Leaders in environmental protection\n\nNames to know today: Deb Haaland (first Native American Cabinet Secretary), Buffy Sainte-Marie, Sherman Alexie, many more.