• Welcome to Arkansas History

• Chapter 02- The First People

Bell WorkAgenda: The First People

Homework: read pages 32 -43 and complete the reading guide

Objective: Students will examine the earliest inhabitants of Arkansas.

1. Put your agenda in the agenda book.

2. Format your Bell Work and be ready to take notes.

3. Make sure you have an Arkansas History book on your desk.

4. Be ready to learn.

• Keywords– Archaeology– Nomads– Adz– Extinction– Atlatl– Ritual– animism

• Time Line– 9,500 B.C – 1541 A.D.

• Archaeology– Study of ancient people and societies– Artifacts – man made items left from ancient

societies.– No written records

• Land Bridge– It is believed that the earliest inhabitants of

the Americas crossed on a land bridge from Asia.

• Paleo Period (9,500 – 8,000 B.C.)

– Paleo means ancient or very old

– Paleo people had a language

– Made clothes

– Made baskets

– Made tools and spear points

• Clovis Points– Unique Paleo Period spear points made from

flint.– Named after Clovis New Mexico, were the first

points were discovered.– Found in various places in the Americas

• Paleo People– Nomads – people who wandered from place

to place.– Hunted large animals

• Mammoth• Mastodons, etc…

– Traveled in small family groups– Migrated into the Arkansas area around

9,500 B.C.

• The Dalton Culture– Emerged toward the end of the Paleo Period.– More advanced

• The Dalton Point – distinctive spear point• The adz – chisel like stone tool

– Warming weather and changing landscape• Large animals began to die out• Trees began to replace prairies

• The Sloan Site– Found near Crowley’s Ridge– Many Dalton artifacts

• Spear points, knife blades, adz, & scrapers

– Paleo Cemetery• Oldest documented cemetery in the United States.

• Archaic Period (8,000 – 500 B.C.)– Ancient prairies change to forest– Temperatures rise– Melting ice from the ice age create new rivers

that form the various features of Arkansas.– Smaller game animals begin to replace larger

animals (deer, elk, squirrels, rabbits, etc…)

• Archaic Indians– Many ice age animals go extinct.– Hunt smaller game animals– Gathering nuts and berries

(hunter-gatherers)– Traveled shorter distances

• Used a “base camp.”

– Maximum forest efficiency – wasting little of plant and animals

• Archaic Indians– Traded with other people.– Began to grow sunflower seeds, squash, &

barely.– Dug pits for storing food.– Fished rivers and streams

• Fish hooks made from bone with small stones used as weights

• Poverty Point Culture– Northeast Louisiana– Advanced Archaic culture

• Built first town• Earthwork (they moved dirt)• Traded with other people

• Important New Tools– Handmade tools

• Butchering• Making jewelry• Stones for grinding food • Anvils• Axe heads and celts (ungrooved ax)

Bell WorkAgenda: The First PeopleHomework: read pages 44-51 and complete the reading guide

Objective: Students will examine the earliest inhabitants of Arkansas.

1. What is a mastodon?2. How did Clovis points get their name?

Word of the Day

benevolent - (adjective) wishing or doing good.

• Atlatl– A tool used to throw a spear farther and faster

• Making Dugout Canoes– Long process using fire to create a canoe

• Cooking with Hot Rocks

• The Woodland Period (500 B.C. – 900 A.D.)

– Lived in villages– Earthen mounds (mound builders)– Increased agriculture (barely, corn, & squash)– Hunters traveled less often and less distance– Traded with other people– Making and firing clay vessels– Rock art– Rituals – important ceremonies

• The Bow and Arrow became an Important War Tool (also used for hunting)

• Building Mounds– Influenced by the Hopewell Indians to the

north.– Ritual & Burial Mounds

(the Hopewell traveled and traded over a large area, their artifacts have been found far away from their home area.)

• The Plum Bayou Culture– Mound builders who lived in Arkansas near

the end of the Woodland Period.– Built 18 mounds (only 2 survive today) near

Scott, Arkansas– 50 feet high– Traded with people as far away as Florida– Stargazers or astronomers

(mounds originally thought to be Aztec)

• The Mississippian Period ( 900 – 1541 A.D.)

– Strong thriving communities• Agriculture and trade• Underground storage of food• Used stone axes and hoes to clear fields (also

used fire)• Strong leaders or chiefs• Large villages

– Parkin Culture – believe to be larges Indian village

• The Mississippian Period ( 900 – 1541 A.D.)

– Europeans arrive• Casqui – large village in Delta (Parkin site)• Hernando de Soto may have visited the site• Mississippian culture disappears after the arrival of

Europeans– Disease – possible cause

– Making Salt – Indians in southwest Arkansas boiled salty water to remove salt, used in food and traded with other people.

• Arkansas Historic Indians (1673-Present)– European visitors found distinct Indian

nations.– Unique culture– Own language– Government

• Many records kept by explorers

• The Caddos– First discovered by the Spanish when they

entered southwest Arkansas– Originated during the Mississippian Period– Excellent farmers

• Grew corn, beans, squashes, watermelons, pumpkins, tobacco, and sunflowers.

– Hunting and Fishing• small game like rabbits and fished

– Gathered• Nuts, roots, seeds, and berries

• The Caddos– Bow and arrow

• Made from Osage orange or boisd’ arc trees• Used for hunting or traded with other people

– Animal skins, furs, bear oil, and salt.– Friendly people who traded with others– Beautiful pottery – used to store food or in

rituals.• Bowls, bottles, jars, platters, or effigy pots

– Effigy pots were sometimes shaped like human heads.

• The Caddos– Communities were led by a chief

• Approved marriages• Conducted ceremonies• Welcomed visitors • Worked with other leaders to make important

decisions

– Spiritual leaders or priest• Conducted religious ceremonies and rituals in

sacred buildings or on temple mounds

• The Caddos– Society organized around family units called

farmsteads.• Many different buildings for living, working, and

storage.• Men and women were painted or tattooed,

especially women– Men wore a breechcloth and women wore deerskin

skirts.– Typically small people (men about 5’6” and women 5’ or

less.

Disease and warfare drove the Caddo out of Arkansas and into what would be Indian Territory in Oklahoma. Today they their tribal center is in Binger, Oklahoma.

Bell WorkAgenda: The First PeopleHomework: none

Objective: Students will examine the earliest inhabitants of Arkansas.

1. How many major Indian tribes lived in Arkansas?2. ________ replace hunting as a major source of food

over time.

Word of the Day

persevere - (verb) to continue despite difficulties.

• The Quapaws– Lived in the Delta Region– Likely descendants of the Mississippian

Indians. (maybe descendants of Indians from Ohio who traveled down the Mississippi River.

– Quapaw means “downstream people.”– Some tribes and explorers called them

“Arkansas”– Handsome, friendly, and Peaceful people.

• Tall, large, & well made people

• The Quapaws– Lived in villages, centered around a main

plaza.– “Long Houses” were home to several families– Excellent farmers like the Caddo

• Planted fruit trees imported by the Europeans.

– Trades with French and Spanish– Made beautiful pottery

• The Quapaws– Women took care of the children.– Women prepared food.– Women grew crops.– Men were good at making dugout canoes.– Men served as religious and political leaders.– Men also hunted, fished, and went to war.

• The Quapaws– Visited the Arkansas Post established by the

Europeans.• Some Quapaw lived at the post.

– Forced out and into Indian Territory in the 1830’s.

– Tribal Center located near Binger, Oklahoma.

• Legend of the Arkansas Name– Page 46 in textbook…

• The Osages– Primarily lived Missouri near the Missouri and

Osage River.– Hunted and traded in Northwest Arkansas– Osage hunger were highly skilled– Each person had an important role during the

yearly hunts.• Women skinned the animals, cleaned and dried

the meat.• Raised and stored crops for the winter months.

• The Osages– Fought with Caddo and Quapaw over hunting

territory.– Strength and skills made the good warriors– Osage means “the neutral,” but they called

themselves “Children of the Middle Waters.”– Each person belonged to one of two clans,

“The Earth People” or “The Sky People.”– Held village councils (elected representatives)

• “Little Old Men”

• The Osages– Forced out in the early 1800’s and settled in

southeastern Kansas.– Today, many of the Osage live near

Pawhuska, Oklahoma.

• The Tunicas and Koroas– Encountered de Soto when he traveled down

the Mississippi River in the 1500s.– Lived in large areas on both sides of the river.– Historians believe de Soto visited Quizquiz

(keys-key) in northwestern Mississippi.– Unlike other tribes, the men took care of the

crops.– Men also hunted and gathered.– Traded with other tribes

• The Tunicas and Koroas– Men and women were tattooed– Villages surrounded a main plaza– Circular houses with grass-thatched dome

roof. • Decorated with “plates of shining copper.”

– Most disappeared by 1700s, likely from disease.

– Survivors joined other tribes or move south.– Some Tunica moved south and joined the

Biloxi Indians near Marksveille, Louisiana. Their descendants live there today.

• Ways of Life– Many Native American people share common

beliefs.• Animism – belief that everything has a spirit,

including, plants, animals, people, lightning, etc…• Great Spirit and other gods.

– Creation Stories• First humans came out of the underworld• “The place of crying” – place were life came out of

the underworld, closed after the wolf came out leaving other creatures in the underworld.

• Ways of Life– Many believed that when they died, they went

back to the underworld.– Priest or religious leaders would perform

ceremonies to seek favor with the gods, hoping for rain or what ever was needed.

• Chiefdoms– Native societies adopted the practice of

“chiefdoms.”– Power was shared by a group of leaders

• One leader may have been charge of war and hunting while another may have been in charge of spiritual matters.

• Leaders had lengthy discussions to make major decisions

• Women– Had a great deal of power and influence– Did most of the work– Native American societies were “matriarchal

systems.”• Property inherited through the female line rather

then the father.– Women owned the houses.– Could divorce their husbands and always kept the kids.

» All they had to do was place the man’s belongings outside their home.

• Arkansas’s Cherokee Immigrants– Forced into Arkansas near the end of 1770s.– Settled in eastern part of state, then moved

into the “Arkansas River Valley.”– Adopted many European ways because of

their early interaction with colonist in the east.• Farmers• Raised cattle• Established schools• Built homes

• Arkansas’s Cherokee Immigrants– Worked and dressed like other settlers but

still tried to hang onto Native American culture.

– Green Corn Ceremony• Celebrated first corn crops in June and July

• Preserving Their Way of Life– Today Arkansas is home to many Native

Americans.– They work hard to preserve heritage.– They work hard to protect Native American

sites (mounds and burial grounds).– Native Americans in Arkansas come form

many tribes, including those discussed in this unit, along with others.

• End of slide show.