THE AMERICAN INDIANS. Adaptation and Migration Adaptation – Changing the way one lives to survive in an environment Migration – A group of people moving.

THE AMERICAN INDIANS

Adaptation and Migration• Adaptation – Changing the way one lives to survive in an

environment• Migration – A group of people moving from one are to

another• After the ice sheet from the Ice Age melted, plants and

animals needed to adapt or leave.• The humans had to change their weapons, shelters, farming

techniques.

• There are no photographs of the earliest people, but we can imagine how they lived by studying different remains and artifacts

Archaeologists• Archaeologists – Scientists who study people• Archaeologists study artifacts, items made by people, in

order to infer things about ancient people.

Prehistoric American Indians• Very difficult to study

because there is no written record

• Danger Cave• Found near Wendover• Some artifacts date back to

11,000 years ago• Dog bones were found

dating back to 9000 years ago

Prehistoric Indians cont.• Hogup Cave

• Located in the West Desert near the Salt Lake• Had two chambers made of limestone• Different cultures, a group living at a particular time and place,

also their way of living, lived in this cave over 8000 years• In 1970, vandals destroyed Hogup cave.

• Very little was recovered.

The Archaic Indians: Desert Gatherers

• Spent most of their days gathering food• Adapting to the environment

• The people knew when to gather certain foods• They gathered plants, animal eggs, fish, and hunted

• They also knew the migration habits of different animals• They would also move where they lived depending on the season• These people lived in wiki-ups

Archaic Indians cont.• These people made all sorts of baskets out of all sorts of

fibers• These baskets carried everything from seeds and other food, to

water, to children

• They also made sandals, tools, and weapons out of any fiber they could find• They would also make other clothing such as robes• The main weapon and hunting tool for these people was the atlatl

• Show atlatl video

Later Native Groups• These groups came later than the hunters and gatherers• What makes them different is that they farmed and

established permanent settlements• They were called the Fremont, who lived in the northern

part of Utah, and the Anasazi, who lived in the southern part of Utah

Anasazi Indians• They lived around the corners of Colorado, Utah, Arizona,

and New Mexico• They began to use the bow and arrow, which was more

effective than the atlatl• The land where they lived was very dry, so the people

built dams an reservoirs to water their crops

Anasazi Pottery• Their pottery had very distinct zigzag designs• They would also weave baskets and clothing

Anasazi Dwellings• The first Anasazi dwellings were pit houses• Hundreds of years later, they began to built their houses

into cliffs• They also built places of worship called kivas• Eventually the Anasazi Indians left their homes

• Nobody knows why or where they went• It is still a mystery to historians

Fremont Indians• Lived in the dry valleys and mountains of the Great Basin• The Fremont interacted and traded with the Anasazi• They were both farmers and hunter-gatherers• They lived near rivers our at the mouth of canyons where

the soil was good for farming• The Fremont Indians lived in pit houses

Pottery and Art• Most of the Fremont pottery was made out of clay• They also made little clay figurines that looked like people

• They would dress these figures in clothing and jewelry

Fremont Migration• The Fremont also left their homes around the same time

as the Anasazi, 1300 AD• Why did these groups leave their homes?

Rock Art - Anasazi

Rock Art - Fremont

Historic American Indians• The next group of Indians are called historic Indians

because there is a written history about them• They were here when the Europeans first came here

• These groups are divided into five different tribes• The tribes are then divided into smaller bands or clans

• These tribes all came into Utah from different places• They all spoke different languages, had different cultures, dances,

rituals, and ceremonies

• Although the land divided amongst the tribes, nobody owned the land

Utah’s Five Indian Tribes

The Land Provides Food• The tribes would hunt, fish, and farm depending on where

they lived• The Utes and Shoshones had horses and were able to

hunt larger animals like bison and antelope• The Utes lived in the mountain valleys and near lakes and

streams• They were the largest tribe in Utah

• The Shoshone lived more north and stretched into Idaho and Wyoming

Land Provides Food cont.• The Navajo in the four corners region of Utah

• They raised sheep and goats and mostly farmed• They eventually get horses, but a lot later than the Utes

• The Paiutes and the Goshutes lived in the western part of Utah• They did not have horses, so the mainly farmed and hunted small

animals

• The Goshute were often called “Root-diggers” because they often dug up roots of plants to eat

Dwellings• The tribes lived in different

dwellings depending on their land area and their tribal traditions

• The Navajo lived in hogans• These were wood framed

dwellings covered with dirt• It was a spiritual connection

to Mother Earth• The door of the hogan always

faced east to meet the rising sun

• Modern Navajo live in modern homes, but still have hogans for ceremonial purposes

Dwellings cont.• Paiutes and Goshutes lived

in large family groups in small villages

• They built wiki-ups• These are small brush covered

houses made by weaving grasses and branches together

• These provided shade for the Indians during the summers

• During the winters, they usually lived in mountain caves where they were protected from the wind and could build fires

Dwellings cont.• The Utes and Shoshones

lived in teepees made out of buffalo skins

• Families could have a fire in the middle of the teepee, and the smoke would escape out the open top

• Utes and Shoshones lived in large bands of up to 200 people

Cultural mixing• When the white settlers

made it to the Utah area, many natives began trading with them

• They would buy a lot of clothing and tools from the white men

A Spiritual People• Some Indian group were monotheistic, the belief in one

God, and others were polytheistic, belief in many gods• The main focus of most Indian religions is a reverence

and respect towards nature• The different tribes sang and danced to communicate with

their gods and to ask for protection• American Indians would pass down their history through

story-telling• This gave the Indians a strong sense of oral traditions