| When European explorers arrived in America in 1492 they found around 2 million Native Americans living there. The Europeans mistakenly called them Indians, thinking they had landed in the Indies in the Far East of Asia. These 'Indians' belonged to at least 300 different tribes and spoke over 2,000 different languages. Famous examples of these tribes are:
Each tribe spoke a separate language, and their houses, clothes and entertainment differed. However, they all followed a similar life based on hunting and farming.
These Native Americans were related to the peoples of north eastern Asia. It is thought that their ancestors crossed a land bridge linking Siberia to Alaska around 30,000 BC.There was gradual movement south to the Great Plains of (the yet to be called) America. The enormous size of America compared to the small number of people meant new arrivals settled far apart from each other. They lived in isolated groups, which became separate 'nations' or tribes. Each tribe had the space to develop their own individual language and traditions.
Such development was undisturbed for thousands of years, until 1492. When the Europeans arrived, the Native American way of life was transformed. As European settlers arrived in large numbers, a new Plains lifestyle developed by about 1650. Sadly, it only lasted for about 200 years. Many Europeans hated the 'Indians', and thought they were evil, bloodthirsty savages.The new law didn't even see them as human beings. This hostile image, continued by Hollywood films until recently, means the truth about these Native American people has often been lost. We do have some evidence though - their clothes, weapons, pipes, instruments, paintings and carvings. Many memories, traditions and beliefs have been passed down by word of mouth. |
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