Chapter 1: Native Peoples of America

I was really surprised to see how many different native peoples settled all over the Americas and how they got there. Apparently there are two recognized routes. The first being their travel over the Bering land bridge during the last ice age following a land based food source from Siberia to Alaska. From there the Naive people walked all over North and South America and settling along the way. The other theory is that the Native people came over on boats following the West Coastline. This theory does make a lot of sense because some of the oldest settlements started at the southern most tip of South America. What they must have done is take boats down the coastline until they couldn't do it anymore.

I also find it really interesting almost all of the settlements had some sort of agriculture stet up to supplement their diet. Not only did they hunt and gather they created a farming system to make sure they always had some sort of sustenance throughout the year. Some grew potatoes in the mountains and others squash, beans, and peppers on the coast.

It is so interesting to me that in some of the Native Americans' families the woman's immediate family took precedence. But in all Native American Society the kinship and extended family bond was more important that the nuclear family. The former reminds me a lot of the way my family generally goes. We see my mother's side of the family more and see my dad's side of the family less even thought we all live in just about the same area. Generally though my aunts, uncles, and cousins all bring their significant others into our family. Here is where we differ though. In Native American cultures any wrongful deaths were resolved by the extended families of both the victim and the attacker. Either a satisfactory gift was accepted or retaliation occurred.

Woman also played a large role in Native American Society. In some tribes the women shared the work. The men hunted and the women farmed. They cultivated fields and some communities had women with more power and a higher standing than in European societies at the time. Today we as a society need to get back to where we were and give women equal say and rights. We need to get everyone back on an even playing field.