Pre - assessment: Ancient Native Americans

Can you characterize Native American Culture?

• No, many people falsely characterize Native American culture because there were hundreds of different Native American Nations

• Yes, Native Americans were mostly of the same culture and tribe

• Maybe, because it depends who you ask

• All of the answers are incorrect

Native American culture is often incorrectly lumped into one nation. There were in fact, close to 600 different tribes prior to European contact. How do you think these tribes associated with each other?

• The 600 different nations lived harmoniously as if they were close family members

• Tribes were generally the same across all of North America

• Most tribes/nations spoke entirely differently languages. They would be as different as an average Russian to the average American They often fought and killed each other more ruthlessly than modern nations

• The 600 nations rarely came in contact with each other

What is culture?

• A method to distinguish the religion you choose to practice

• A way of life, or how you live: the food you eat, language you speak, religion you practice

• How you determine where you want to live

• A type of dance for good luck

What type of homes did Native Americans live in?

• Log cabins

• All of the above; the natives were different people from different areas, so they had different architecture

• Teepees

• Bungalows

Ask yourself this question: Do you think that all Native Americans looked the same?

• All answer are correct

• Not at all. Natives adapted differently based on the climate they live in

• Yes, Native Americans all had the same physical features.

• Native Americans were all the same shade.

The Native Americans transversed the Bering Strait from present day northern Russia, to Alaska. The most northern route they took is shown on the map. Infer how they crossed 90 miles of open ocean from Russia to Alaska. Click on the link below to view the map:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/16oXtpKofEn4luSayW_Guq_hfH1hiBTiYrICFYtAeG6M/edit

• The Natives were excellent swimmers. They went on exploratory missions swimming from one island to the next, until they reached the Alaskan coast.

• The Natives did NOT cross open ocean water. Due to the ice age, ocean water was locked into glaciers exposing land to cross from Russia to Alaska

• Native Americans transverse the Bering Strait from present day northern Canada, to Alaska.

• The natives had massive sea faring boats that enabled them to sail during the first great migration

How do you think Native Americans earned the moniker "Native?" Use prior knowledge and context clues from the answer choices to find you answer. Select the most ACCURATE answer.

• The most representative term would be indo-aryan

• Native means the last people to enter into an area to settle

• Native means the first people into the area to settle

• The more appropriate term for the first people here are Indians

What evidence supports the connection between East Asia ancestry & Native American ancestry?

• All answers are correct

• DNA or the molecule that carries genetic information for the development and functioning of an organism. It is the full strand.

• There is no real link between East Asian ancestry and Native Americans

• RNA is just the messenger for DNA and is better for finding ancestry. RNA is 1/2 of strand.

Can you decipher the main idea of this passage?

Long before the arrival of European explorers, soldiers and settlers in North America, the portion of the continent north of Mexico was inhabited by as many as 18 million native people. And contrary to the popular perception of American Indians living a nomadic existence, many of the continent’s aboriginal inhabitants lived in thriving urban centers.

• Few Native Americans lived as urbanites

• Few Native Americans traveled in small groups

• Most Native Americans were Nomads

• Native Americans once lived in major city centers

Use context clues to select the best answer for the following passage.

The Arctic culture area, a cold, flat, treeless region (actually a frozen desert) near the Arctic Circle in present-day Alaska, Canada and Greenland, was home to the Inuit and the Aleut. Both groups spoke, and continue to speak, dialects descended from what scholars call the Eskimo-Aleut language family. 

• There were several different dialects spoken by several groups of Natives in the Arctic Circle

• The cold flat treeless region or frozen desert was excellent for hunting and gathering

• Native Americans preferred warm climate over the Arctic Circle

• The Arctic Circle was settled by Native Americans.