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Natives and early settlers
Natives and early settlers
Natives and early settlers
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The First Inhabitants of the Great Lakes Region in North America
As archeological discoveries of bone fragments and fossils continue to support the existence of homo-sapiens
in North America prior to the arrival of Indo-European explorers in the 15th century, this paper will attempt to
explain chronologically, which Native American inhabitants lived or migrated throughout what is known today as the
Great Lakes Region. This region includes lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Ontario, & Erie as well as surrounding
U.S. state territories including Michigan, a significant portion of Wisconsin, small portions of Minnesota & Indiana, a
small part of Illinois and the Canadian providence of Ontario toward the north. In terms of chronological dates, this
paper will analyze the quaternary period, specifically the “Holocene epoch from 8000 B.C. to Present; the last 10,000
years ” (Quimby 2), since this epoch involved the fundamental evolution of mankind to the present. It is important to
realize that the late Pleistocene epoch had a dramatic affect on the migration patterns of homo-sapiens reaching “the
Americas by 14,000 ago” (O’Brien 12), after large portions of North America encountered the last ice age, which
through glaciation and glacial retreat affected the date of arrival and presence of indigenous people throughout the
Great Lakes Region.
Shortly following the glacial retreat of the upper Great Lakes region around 11,000 B.C., the flora and fauna
in the region began to develop prior to and upon the arrival of the “Paleo-Indian tribe, circa 7000 B.C. to 4500 B.C.”
(Quimby 6). Between this time period, in 6000 B.C., the basins of the upper Great Lakes became entirely ice free
and moraines and depressions began forming t...
... middle of paper ...
...indigenous inhabitants mentioned throughout this report. This led me
to conclude that Indian life in North America was without doubt, altered if not completely destroyed of its dignity,
prosperity and self-worth ever since the arrival of the white man to this very day.
WORKS CITED
Kubiak, William J. Great Lakes Indians. Grand Rapids : Baker Book House
Company, 1970.
O’Brien, Patrick K. Philips Atlas of World History. London : George Philip Limited, 1999.
Quimby, George I., Spaulding, Albert C. "The Old Copper Culture and the
Keweenaw Waterway" Fieldiana : Anthropology 36 no. 8 (1963): 189-201.
Quimby, George I. Indian Life in the Upper Great Lakes. Chicago: University of
Chicago Press, 1960.
Ritzenthaler E. Robert, Quimby, George I. "The Red Ocher of the Upper Great Lakes
and Adjacent Areas." Fieldiana : Anthropology 36 no.11 (1963): 243-275.
1)Paleo-Indians, the first Americans lived in bands of fifteen to fifty people, and traveled within their territory to hunt. Archaic Indians experienced a warming climate. One of the results of the warming climate was better hunting. Forest grew larger with a greater variety of plants and animals. The changes allowed some Indians to reside in permanent homes. The ample supply of food allowed more peoples to live on less acreage. The weather also allowed for specialization of caring for plants; this was the beginning of controlling crops to better supply the people.
...Clague, John J., Luckman, Brian H., Wiles, Gregory C. “Tree-Ring Dating of the Nineteenth-Century Advance of Brady Glacier and the Evolution of Two Ice- Marginal Lakes, Alaska.” The Holocene 21.4 (2001): 641-649. Sage Journals. Web. 9. Feb. 2014.
The most widely understood theory of human beginnings in the Americas involves a land bridge that would have “extended over what is now the Bering Strait and linked north-eastern Siberia to Alaska.” A migration of this sort would have necessarily occurred prior to 9,500 BCE during the last of Earth’s glacial maximums. During this glacial period the sea levels would have been relatively low, exposing the areas of Beringia that are currently underwater. This land bridge — as it is often referred — would have supported large herds of several species of megafauna, such as mammoth, bison, and horses. Paleolithic hunters and gatherers could have easily followed these herds out of the Eurasian tundra and into North America.
The lives of Native Americans from as early as 800 B.C.E. in present-day Mexico and Central America depended heavily on the knowledge and technology passed down from previous tribes. The impact this has had on developing Mesoamerican societies can be seen in records of their history. Having the way of life of a tribe documented can help prove the significance of these accomplishments.
Lake Erie is one of the first of the Great Lakes formed by the glaciers receding between 1 and 12,600 million years ago. Lake Erie borders New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan and Canadian Province, Ontario. Lake Erie is about 241 miles long, about 57 miles wide and has about 871 miles of shoreline. The length of Ohio's shoreline is about 312 miles. It has three basins: the western which averages about 24 feet, central which averages 60 feet and eastern basin. The eastern basin averages about 80 feet with a maximum depth are 210 feet which make it the deepest. The water surface area is about 9,910 square miles and the volume is about 116 cubic miles. The Detroit River water flow makes up
The Pleistocene epoch was a time period of almost 2 million years of repeating glaciation around the globe. This epoch was known for its megafauna that roamed the Earth during the last great ice age. Although this was a time of mass extinction for species that could not adapt to the climate changes, many mammals and vertebrates that can be identified today were found during this time (Zimmermann, 2013). The Pleistocene epoch is an important foundation for understanding life that exists today, including carnivores, herbivores as well as the evolution of humans.
Swanton, John S. “The Indian Tribes of North America.” Americanindian.net, n.d.. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
About 15,000 years ago, a strip of land called the Central Beringia once connected Siberia and Alaska. Due to global warming and the warming of the Earth, the bridge shrunk around the edges causing the sea to rise and the waters to rise. The Siberia people who lived near the bridge began to move to North America due to the bridge being shrunk. People believe that they were colonized by animals and hunting. This is because as the waters rose, they had to move along with it and they moved to the places where they knew that they could find food easily. The first settlement seemed to be sporadic with an untidy process, or even no p...
Jennifer Stock. Vol. 6: North America. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2013. World History in Context. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Quinn, David B. North America From Earliest Discovery to First Settlements. New York: Harper & Row Publishers, 1977.
Zimmer, C. (2013, December 5). Baffling 400,000-Year-Old Clue to Human Origins. New York Times, p. A10(L). Retrieved from http://ic.galegroup.com/ic/scic/NewsDetailsPage/NewsDetailsWindow
... ago, but the way it happened is still uncharted territory". The specific date of the first migration into the Americas is unknown but there was likely more than one. The new discoveries and theories presented have given us a better understanding and more possibilities for the First American then ever before.
Larry Benson et al. (2006) Anasazi ( Pre- Columbian Native –Americans) Migrations During the Middle -12th and late 13th Centuries –were they Drought Induced? U.S Geological Survey.
The Great Lakes, including Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Huron, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario, are the largest freshwater lakes in the world, accounts for about 18% of the world 's fresh water resources. They are rich in water and other resources and the area of the Great Lakes extend more than 1200 km. The storage capacity of Great Lakes is about 23000 km3 and the surface area is around 244000 km2. Nowadays 1/10 of the Americans and a quarter of Canadians live in the lakes. Some of the world 's largest industrial center is built on here. Almost 25% of total agricultural production in Canada and 7% in the United States will yield in this area. Although the area of the lake is large, it could be affected by a wide range of pollutions
The upper paleolithic era brought us many social and cultural innovations. From the development of art, to the continued development of useful tools and weapons, the people existing in this time were the true forbears of modern human civilization. The advances made in self-awareness are extremely apparent as well, with significant new trends in social networks and personal adornment leading to what would be the foundation of society as we know it. These things combined make the upper paleolithic one of the most important periods of human development.