When explorers arrived in America in
they found around Native Americans living there.
The Europeans mistakenly called them , thinking they had landed in the Indies in the Far East of
.
| These 'Indians' belonged to at least
different tribes and spoke over different languages. Each tribe spoke a language, and their houses, and entertainment differed. However, they all followed a life based on hunting and . |
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These
Native Americans were
to the
peoples of north eastern Asia. It is thought that their ancestors
crossed a
bridge
linking Siberia to Alaska around 30,000 BC. There was gradual
south to the Great Plains of (the yet to be called) America.
The
enormous of America compared to the small number of people meant new arrivals
far apart from each other. They lived in
groups, which became separate 'nations' or .
Each tribe had the space to develop their own individual
and traditions.
Such
development was
for thousands of years, until 1492. When the Europeans arrived,
the Native American way of life was transformed. As
settlers
arrived in large numbers, a new Plains
developed by about 1650. Sadly, it only lasted for about years.
Many
Europeans hated the 'Indians', and thought they were evil, bloodthirsty .
The new law didn't even see them as
beings. This
image, continued by Hollywood films until recently, means the
about these Native American people has often been lost.
We
do have some though
- their clothes, weapons, pipes, instruments, paintings and carvings.
Many ,
traditions and have
been passed down by
word of mouth.
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