The First Inhabitants

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The First Inhabitants

• Chapter 4

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Prehistoric Cultures
Chapter 4 1
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• The story of the past is the story of the
  earliest people in LA. Today we know these
  stories from our ancestors.
• The prehistoric period of LA is the time before
  written or recorded history.
• Although the first people did not leave written
  records of their culture, they did leave behind
  clues about their lives.

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• Archaeologists are scientists who study the items
  left behind by ancient people. They even dig
  through ancient garbage dumps, called middens.
• The middens included discarded food, garbage, and
  artifacts built up over the years created small
  mounds.
• Their findings explain who left the items, when
  they were left, and what happened at those
  places.
• These findings are known as artifacts.

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middens
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Paleo Indians
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• The Paleo Indians are the oldest known Indians in
  LA. These first people came to N. America from
  Asia walking across the Bering Strait.
• Also known as Archaic Indians.
• When these nomads reached LA, they found a good
  hunting area with a good source of food and
  migrated often searching for food.

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Meso Indians
B/c they did not move around as much, the Meso
Indians built more permanent houses, because they
hunted small animals
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• Meso Indians also built mounds. These mounds
  were probably used during special ceremonies, but
  they were not used for burials.
• The Meso Indians made different kinds of
  artifacts.

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Early Neo Indians
One of the things that distinguishes the early
Neo Indian period from earlier ones is pottery
making.
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Late Neo Indians
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Late Neo Indians

• The late Neo Indian period refers to the time
  right before the Europeans arrived in LA.
• At this time, villages were larger and were
  located near waterways, which were used for
  travel and a source of food.
• People built more permanent houses.
• The late Neo Indians switched from gathering to
  agriculture.

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• The major crops grown were
• Maize (corn)
• Beans
• Squash
• Pumpkins
• During this time, the Indians built temples atop
  their mounds. These temple mounds were used for
  religious ceremonies.

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Poverty Point Indians

• Located in Epps, Louisiana
• Northeastern LA

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• Known for its mound construction it is an
  archaeological site
• 6 concentric earthen ridges

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• The people of Poverty Point acquired stones from
  the Ouachita, Ozark and Appalachian mountains and
  even copper from the Great Lakes1,400 miles
  away.
• Traded for Food with other groups through
  bartering.

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Poverty Point

• An Ancient Native American Culture in Louisiana

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Poverty Point

• Poverty Point is located in the lower Mississippi
  Valley of Louisiana near many major rivers.
• Strategically placed on many rivers, Poverty
  Point was large and influential.

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Poverty Point Artifacts

• Artifacts found at Poverty Point include
• chipped stone projectile points and tools
• shell and stone beads
• modeled clay objects
• Figurines
• Materials used to make these objects came from
  many different locations!

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The people of Poverty Point used materials from
faraway places to make different objects.
Lets look at these locations on a map
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Materials like copper came from as far away as
the Great Lakes region.
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• Gemstones for jewelry came from the Ozark and
  Ouachita Mountains.

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• Flint, used to make spearheads, came from as far
  away as the Ohio River Valley.
• Soap stone, for making pots and bowls, came from
  the Appalachian Mountains.

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• Why would the Poverty Point people be interested
  in obtaining these types of materials from
  faraway places?
• How do you think the Poverty Point people
  acquired these foreign materials?

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YES! The Poverty People would Trade/Barter!

• Barter trading goods and services without money

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Historic Indians
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Historic Indians

• The historic Indian period began when the
  Europeans came to N. America.
• In 1539, Spanish explorer, Hernando de Soto, set
  out to explore the southern part of the US. He
  brought along with him European diseases.
• The lack of immunity (natural resistance) to
  these diseases brought a sentence of death to
  many who never even saw him.

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Hernando de Soto
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• The Native American population had be reduced by
  80 due to influenza, measles, and smallpox.
• The early French explorers and trappers
  identified a of tribes.
• Today historians categorize the Indians of LA
  according to 6 major language families Atakapa,
  Caddo, Chitimacha, Choctaw, Natchez, and Tunica.

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Natchez
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Natchez

• The primary village of the Natchez people was
  located near Natchez, MS.
• The Natchez had an unusual social structure
• Common people (stinkards)
• Nobels
• Chiefs
• Everyone in the society, both men and women, wore
  tattoos indicating their status.

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• Their ruler was known as the Great Sun. The
  Great Sun was a king and religious figure who
  controlled life and death.
• They also liked to decorate their clothing w/
  accessories.

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Tunica-Biloxi
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Tunica-Biloxi

• The Tunica-Biloxi lived in MS. The Chickasaw
  drove them into LA near Avoyelles Parish.
• The Tunica were great traders. They became major
  distributors of salt, arrow points, and horses.
• They were governed by both a war chief and a
  peace chief.
• Their totem (symbol) was the rattlesnake.

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Houma
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Houma

• The Houma Indians lived near a river at Angola in
  W. Feliciana Parish. They lost their land after
  a battle w/ the Tunica and moved to Terrebonne
  Parish.
• Driven from their farmland, they had to give up
  their agricultural way of life and had to learn
  how to hunt, fish, and trap.
• The crawfish was their totem.

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• Another symbol of the Houma was the Istrouma, the
  tall red pole on the banks of the Mississippi
  River marking the boundary between the hunting
  grounds of the Houma and the Bayougoula.
• The French explorer, Iberville, called the marker
  baton rouge, French for red stick. The name of
  Louisianas capital city come from this story.

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Chitimacha
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Chitimacha

• Chitimacha lived in villages along Bayou Teche.
• They were ruled by one male chief. The chiefs
  position was an inherited one.
• Women could also hold political power and serve
  as healers, but they were not permitted to hold
  any powerful religious position.
• They lost all of their land to European invaders.

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Caddo
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Caddo

• The Caddo settled along the Red River and its
  tributaries. The lived in AK before moving into
  NW LA.
• The Caddo shared this home w/ herds of bison,
  hunting them from horseback.
• The Caddo traded their surplus horses to their
  eastern neighbors, the Tunica.
• The Caddo were an agricultural people and good
  fishers.

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Coushatta
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Coushatta

• The Coushatta left their home on the Tennessee
  River after Hernando de Soto tried to force them
  to give him goods they did not have.
• They then settled in south-central LA.
• The Coushatta lived in clans made of many
  families. A clan is a group of people who
  believed themselves related by blood.
• They were good craftsmen and farmers.

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Choctaw
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Choctaw

• The Choctaw were the 2nd largest tribe in the SE
  US. In Louisiana, they were known as the
  Muskogean.
• They were farmers living in permanent towns and
  they also had extensive trade routes.
• They fought in the French and Indian War,
  American Revolution, and the War of 1812.
• Culture was greatly influenced by the Spanish.

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or
Choctaw