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Jul 16, 1492
Contact
Columbus landed Hispaniola. A year later, he established a permanent base there. He took two more trips to America, establishing a European presence in America that would lead to the permanent disruption of Indian culture. -
Jul 16, 1500
Iroquois
In the northeast, five Iroquois tribes, the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga, Seneca, and Onondaga, formed the Great League of Peace, uniting the many diverse Native American cultures, and bringing a stop to the tribe’s almost constant warfare. -
Jul 16, 1524
Noble Savages
Giovanni da Verrazano, a European explorer, one of the first to encounter Native Americans, described them as “beautiful of stature and build”. This reflected the popular sentiment of the time, that Native Americans were noble savages, gentle and friendly, but also brutal and uncivilized. -
Migration
Hunters and fishers crossed the Bering Straight over a land bridge, with some coming by sea. They populated the previously empty Americas, spreading out over two continents, eventually developing their own civilizations. -
Mounds
Native American residents in the Mississippi River valley (called mound builders), built communities based on giant earth mounds. They traded across half the continent, and after their demise, were replaced by another tribe, the Cahokia. Who created the largest community in the US up until 1800. -
Pueblos
The Native American tribes Hopi and Zuni built cities, dams, canals to distribute water, and huge, 600 room houses in cliff sides. After these communities disbanded, the residents became expert desert farmers, and later became known as ‘the Pueblo Indians’.