What was it like to live in America before the arrival of the European peoples?
What was it like to live in America before the arrival of the European peoples? Few reliable histories exist, yet the clues are there to unravel concerning the Native-American tribes in the centuries before Columbus.look at the clues, get rid of misconceptions, and describe the life of a typical young man or woman in the Iroquois Alliance.
Immigration - 6 Answers
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1 :
Cannibalism, scalping. - no plumbing or electricity. Your teacher is worthless.
2 :
The National Parks Service has a great exhibit on Roanoke Island, North Carolina which was the site of the first English colony on North America. The Park Rangers said that the average life span of a native was 30 years. Graves of natives show many had severe dental problems and wounds from warfare were very common. Life was short and brutal.
3 :
First off, we must disabuse ourselves of the myth of the pastoral indians, living in peace and harmony with nature and other tribes. The peoples of North and South America were violent beyond belief before the Europeans came. Their tortures would put the Inquisitors of the Inquisition to shame. They were constantly at war with each other for territory and slaves. We do the memory and history of Native Americans no good service by castrating them and portraying them as innocents and amost mental deficients. They were just as mean and nasty as were the Europeans that destroyed them. They, perhaps, were even MORE mean and warlike than were we; but we just were more advanced.
4 :
Tribes waged war on each other. The Aztecs and many others loved cuttingout the living hearts of victims for their gods.
5 :
Well, since all the Non Natives answered for us, all I can say is shut the hell up. Kay, evidence puts Natives in North America for over 50,000 years. Where I live, tribes like the Hohokam, Anasazi, and Mogollon were farmers. Beans, maize, pumpkin, squash, tomatoes, apricots, and turky farming were the cuisine of the time. As these people were relatively peaceful and weren't much into hunting. The Hohokam and Mogollon lived in Kivas, which were homes that were underground with ladders that were used to go in and out of them. Anasazi built cliff dwellings, the stuff you see in Colorado (not the same tribe, but very very similar homes). So as far as people can tell; particulary the modern day Pueblos and Pimas (decendants of those tribes); life was good for their ancestors. Eventually mother nature kicked in, drought and famine caused these great peoples to head back into the south. While some claim there was violence; truth is no real evidence shows, no bodies, no weapons, just abandoned ruins. Alright, now to answer you question; The Iriqoui Alliance was pretty much the first Represenative Democracy of the Five Nations. Even the Founding Fathers would admit this. Women and Men were seen as equals, and one wasn't born into power; instead they were chosen by their people as a represenative. Long houses capable of housing entire families, large farms of maize and other food. They had cities as well, which were bigger than any settlement from the Euros; So, life was good
6 :
as you can see non natives are desperate to push the lie that native people in north america were as war like and savage as the ones in europe were. they have no proof, just their words. there is ample evidence to the contrary including the number of languages in the americas pre columbus. literally thousands. whenever there are wars of conquest, language and beliefs are the first things to suffer. the invaders language and beliefs become dominant and the original ones are oppressed into extinction. just look at europe for example. there were so many wars of conquest over and over that no one is left who understands runes or what their real meanings are. no one even knows for sure what stonehenge was for or how it was made because that knowledge was destroyed with the people who held it. in the americas, there are 3 main languages now since the invasion. spanish, french and english since those are the european countries that invaded. each native nation here holds different beliefs and languages even today and even those who live in close proximity of each other. my nation is mohawk. we do not speak the same language as others of our confederacy let alone those who lived near us. if we were always fighting and conquering each other you would find only a hundred or so languages here among us. the fact is its simply not true. the first native people encountered by columbus and even the pilgrims welcomed them and even helped them survive. if we were half as savage as some of the non natives here want you to believe, those early settlers would have never lived long enough to get a foothold.
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