AUGUST 2025
(8/11/2025)
TOPIC: Old Worlds and New (Chapter 1)
Yliana:
- ***Going to get us from when the first people colonized the Americas to European
contact
PART 1: American Colonies to 1763
- Natives are stereotyped to be less advanced than Europeans
- Native cities were just as big as those in Europe
START OF CHAPTER 1:
- Natives were more advanced than usually believed
The First Americans: Settlers
- First Americans crossed the Bering Strait between 15,000 and 60,000 years ago
(estimated)
- Nomads followed animals that we call megafauna (mammoth, deer, early bison) as they
were driven by their roles of hunters and gatherers
- Competition was often a driving factor for moving
- Each wave of migration pushed the previous moving groups further into North and South
America
- Strongest groups survived and claims best land while weaker groups moved in search of
land and settled (weaker groups helped populate America)
- Ecological changes shaped how settlement was handled (end of Ice Age (extinction of
megafauna) and the Bering Strait closed)
- Starting dev of agriculture
- Residents were NOT a single group
- Maps were more accurate than what was thought !!!
The First American Indians:
- Societies as early as 10.000 BC farming cultures began to emerge in Mexico (squash,
beans, tomatoes, and corn)
- Mound Builders of the Mississippi River Valley
- Western Indians (Hopi & Zuni, Pueblo)
- Indians of Eastern North America (Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and
Iroquois)
, - *Great Serpent Mound - ex of religious settlement*
- Olmecs - First city builders (dominant cultural force in Mesoamerica)
- Teotihuacan - Birthplace/City of the gods (had cities that rivaled those of Europe (650
AD=200,000 people))
- Aztecs
- Tenochtitlan
- Dominant force in Mesoamerica
- Large scale farming made urban living possible
American Indian Economies
- Native leaders led through persuasion and reciprocity
- Exchange networks carried local and long distance goods
- Natives remained diverse in land systems and gender relations
-----
Cryzabelle
“Quoted directly”
Important/told to write down deliberately
Main Topic: “Americas before European contact” (Native Americans, Columbus or smth)
● “American Colonies to 1763”
○ Implied by painting: Native American records are made by Europeans.
● “Chapter 1: Old Worlds and New”
○ More advanced in some things and less advanced in others than Europeans
○ “First Americas cross Bering Strait between 15,000-60,000”
■ All groups that migrated are following herds of animals (megafauna).
■ Competition and drive for survival helped them to move
○ ‘Survival of the fittest’, tribes would fight. Stronger group -> survive. Weaker
group -> goes away. (Made them spread out)
○ End of Ice Age -> Starts concept of agriculture
○ Residents were not a single group
○ Image shown:
, ○ Past humans are just as smart as present humans, just had no tools.
○ Major Native American foods: Squash, beans, tomatoes and corn
○ Native American Groups
■ Mound Builders of Mississippi River Valley
■ Western (Hopi, Zuni: Pueblo Style Buildings)
■ Eastern (Choctaw, Cherokee, Chikasaw, Iroquois)
■ Olmecs- City Builders (Dominate cultural force, uplifting of other groups)
■ Teotihuacan (City of the gods, 650 AD-200,000 pop)
■ Aztecs (Dominate force)
○ Politics in Native America: Form alliances to fight enemies and trade.
○ Native Americans had an economy.
(08/12/25)
TOPIC: Old Worlds and New (Chapter 1) pt 2
Yliana:
Native American Religion
- Religious systems permeated every aspect of Native’s lives
- They were inclusivists (could change gods and include new ones)
, - Inclusivism (Natives) vs exclusivism (Europeans)
- Religion directly related to aspects like hunting and farming
Gender relations
- Many societies were matrilineal (women were more in change)
- Women could own property, engage in premarital sex, and divorce.
- Men typically assumed political leadership, hunted, were active in agriculture, and
warfare.
- Women were usually the ones who ran the household, they took care of the village while
everyone else was gone
- Led to many women being tribe leaders as they were frequently there
- European men believed Native men to be lazy because they followed different ideals
Native Definitions of Freedom
- Owning land wasn’t typically a big deal in their society
-----
Cryzabelle
“Quoted directly”
Important/told to write down deliberately
● Native American religion is inclusivist
○ Inclusivist vs Exclusivist
■ Exclusivist means that there’s not any room for adding a god to their
religion.
■ Inclusivist can include more gods and change their religion depending on
influence.
○ Ceremonies are related to farming
○ Spiritual and Natural are intertwined and the same
● “Indian Society”
○ “Matrilienal, rights of woman”
■ “Own property, engage in premaritial sex, divorce”
○ “Men”
■ “Hunting, agriculture, warfare.”
○ Women did household duties, and men hunted. Women could have power and
even led tribes in comparison to Europeans.
● “Native Definitions of Freedom”
●
(08/13/25)
(8/11/2025)
TOPIC: Old Worlds and New (Chapter 1)
Yliana:
- ***Going to get us from when the first people colonized the Americas to European
contact
PART 1: American Colonies to 1763
- Natives are stereotyped to be less advanced than Europeans
- Native cities were just as big as those in Europe
START OF CHAPTER 1:
- Natives were more advanced than usually believed
The First Americans: Settlers
- First Americans crossed the Bering Strait between 15,000 and 60,000 years ago
(estimated)
- Nomads followed animals that we call megafauna (mammoth, deer, early bison) as they
were driven by their roles of hunters and gatherers
- Competition was often a driving factor for moving
- Each wave of migration pushed the previous moving groups further into North and South
America
- Strongest groups survived and claims best land while weaker groups moved in search of
land and settled (weaker groups helped populate America)
- Ecological changes shaped how settlement was handled (end of Ice Age (extinction of
megafauna) and the Bering Strait closed)
- Starting dev of agriculture
- Residents were NOT a single group
- Maps were more accurate than what was thought !!!
The First American Indians:
- Societies as early as 10.000 BC farming cultures began to emerge in Mexico (squash,
beans, tomatoes, and corn)
- Mound Builders of the Mississippi River Valley
- Western Indians (Hopi & Zuni, Pueblo)
- Indians of Eastern North America (Choctaw, Cherokee, Chickasaw, and
Iroquois)
, - *Great Serpent Mound - ex of religious settlement*
- Olmecs - First city builders (dominant cultural force in Mesoamerica)
- Teotihuacan - Birthplace/City of the gods (had cities that rivaled those of Europe (650
AD=200,000 people))
- Aztecs
- Tenochtitlan
- Dominant force in Mesoamerica
- Large scale farming made urban living possible
American Indian Economies
- Native leaders led through persuasion and reciprocity
- Exchange networks carried local and long distance goods
- Natives remained diverse in land systems and gender relations
-----
Cryzabelle
“Quoted directly”
Important/told to write down deliberately
Main Topic: “Americas before European contact” (Native Americans, Columbus or smth)
● “American Colonies to 1763”
○ Implied by painting: Native American records are made by Europeans.
● “Chapter 1: Old Worlds and New”
○ More advanced in some things and less advanced in others than Europeans
○ “First Americas cross Bering Strait between 15,000-60,000”
■ All groups that migrated are following herds of animals (megafauna).
■ Competition and drive for survival helped them to move
○ ‘Survival of the fittest’, tribes would fight. Stronger group -> survive. Weaker
group -> goes away. (Made them spread out)
○ End of Ice Age -> Starts concept of agriculture
○ Residents were not a single group
○ Image shown:
, ○ Past humans are just as smart as present humans, just had no tools.
○ Major Native American foods: Squash, beans, tomatoes and corn
○ Native American Groups
■ Mound Builders of Mississippi River Valley
■ Western (Hopi, Zuni: Pueblo Style Buildings)
■ Eastern (Choctaw, Cherokee, Chikasaw, Iroquois)
■ Olmecs- City Builders (Dominate cultural force, uplifting of other groups)
■ Teotihuacan (City of the gods, 650 AD-200,000 pop)
■ Aztecs (Dominate force)
○ Politics in Native America: Form alliances to fight enemies and trade.
○ Native Americans had an economy.
(08/12/25)
TOPIC: Old Worlds and New (Chapter 1) pt 2
Yliana:
Native American Religion
- Religious systems permeated every aspect of Native’s lives
- They were inclusivists (could change gods and include new ones)
, - Inclusivism (Natives) vs exclusivism (Europeans)
- Religion directly related to aspects like hunting and farming
Gender relations
- Many societies were matrilineal (women were more in change)
- Women could own property, engage in premarital sex, and divorce.
- Men typically assumed political leadership, hunted, were active in agriculture, and
warfare.
- Women were usually the ones who ran the household, they took care of the village while
everyone else was gone
- Led to many women being tribe leaders as they were frequently there
- European men believed Native men to be lazy because they followed different ideals
Native Definitions of Freedom
- Owning land wasn’t typically a big deal in their society
-----
Cryzabelle
“Quoted directly”
Important/told to write down deliberately
● Native American religion is inclusivist
○ Inclusivist vs Exclusivist
■ Exclusivist means that there’s not any room for adding a god to their
religion.
■ Inclusivist can include more gods and change their religion depending on
influence.
○ Ceremonies are related to farming
○ Spiritual and Natural are intertwined and the same
● “Indian Society”
○ “Matrilienal, rights of woman”
■ “Own property, engage in premaritial sex, divorce”
○ “Men”
■ “Hunting, agriculture, warfare.”
○ Women did household duties, and men hunted. Women could have power and
even led tribes in comparison to Europeans.
● “Native Definitions of Freedom”
●
(08/13/25)
