Native American Societies Before European Contact

When do we often think American history began?

• 5000 BCE with the domestication of maize

• 15,000 years ago with the arrival of people

• 1492 when Columbus arrived

• 1776 with the Declaration of Independence

What is one theory about how people first arrived in the Americas?

• By swimming across the ocean

• By crossing a land bridge during the Ice Age

• By teleportation

• By flying

What is the estimated population of people living in the Americas by the late 1400s?

• 10 million

• 25 million

• 100 million

• 50 million

What significant development occurred around 5000 BCE in Mexico?

• The invention of the wheel

• The domestication of maize

• The discovery of fire

• The building of pyramids

What did the domestication of maize allow people to do?

• Travel faster

• Develop settled agriculture and complex societies

• Build larger boats

• Invent new tools

How did Native American groups on the Great Plains adapt to their environment?

• By building large cities

• By hunting bison and living in teepees

• By growing rice

• By fishing in the ocean

What was a key adaptation of the ancestral Pueblo people in the Southwest?

• Hunting whales

• Developing metal tools

• Creating complex irrigation projects

• Building boats

What was a major food source for Native Americans in the Northwest?

• Corn

• Bison

• Fish from the Pacific Ocean

• Rice

What was the population of Cahokia at its peak?

• 50,000 to 60,000

• 25,000 to 40,000

• 10,000 to 20,000

• 5,000 to 10,000

What is 'three sister farming'?

• Planting corn, beans, and squash together

• Fishing, hunting, and gathering

• Trading, farming, and mining

• Building houses, roads, and bridges