People of North America Long Ago

  • The Inuit settled in Alaska and Northern Canada as early as 3000 B.C.
    3000 BCE

    The Inuit settled in Alaska and Northern Canada as early as 3000 B.C.

    The Inuit would stay warm by building pit houses made of stones covered with earth. During winter hunting trips, men used snow blocks to build temporary shelters called igloos. During warm weather, hunters made tents from wooden poles and animal skins.
  • The Maya arose in Southeastern Mexico and Central America
    2500 BCE

    The Maya arose in Southeastern Mexico and Central America

    The Maya cities were ruled by kings who claimed to have been chosen by Maya gods. Maya leaders oversaw large building projects and led the military. To form alliances and strengthen trade, Maya royalty often married royalty from other cities.
  • An early civilization
    1500 BCE

    An early civilization

    The Anasazi, is a civilization that arose as early as 1500 B.C. Their descendants are today’s Pueblo Indians, such as the Hopi and the Zuni, who live in 20 communities along the Rio Grande, in New Mexico, and in northern Arizona.
  • AD 250 The Maya started to become a powerful civilization.
    250

    AD 250 The Maya started to become a powerful civilization.

    Maya scientists were the ones who created a 365-day calendar to help with farming and predicting events such as eclipses. They also developed a system of mathematics and a form of writing we call hieroglyphs. Hieroglyphs are a series of symbols that represent words.
  • "The Ancient Ones"
    500

    "The Ancient Ones"

    For about 1,000 years, from approximately A.D. 500 until their dispersal around 1500, the Anasazi, whose name is a Navajo word that means "the ancient ones," lived in pueblos and cliff dwellings that they built in the canyons and high mesas of the Four Corners region (where Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona and Utah meet).
  • The Anasazi settled in the "Four Corners"
    700

    The Anasazi settled in the "Four Corners"

    In about A.D. 700, the Anasazi settled in the “Four Corners". This is where Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico meet.
  • The Anasazi are known as the first “cliff dwellers.”
    700

    The Anasazi are known as the first “cliff dwellers.”

    The Anasazi lived in homes that look like large apartment buildings, but they are built into the sides of cliffs! The homes were made of adobe, a sun-baked clay brick. They had unique underground rooms called kivas, that were used for meetings and/or religious purposes.
  • In the second major Anasazi cultural period
    750

    In the second major Anasazi cultural period

    Beginning around A.D. 750, they are called the Pueblo Anasazi. They began to settle down, rely even more on agriculture, and stay in one place much longer. They gathered together in larger and larger communities. I am Pueblo Native American, from my dad's side of the family.
  • The Maya fell from power
    900

    The Maya fell from power

    The population outgrew the food supply. People moved out of the cities in search of food.The Maya lost power by A.D. 900, but the people did not disappear. Today more than 6 million Maya live in Mexico, Belize, and Guatemala.
  • During the 10th and 11th centuries
    901

    During the 10th and 11th centuries

    ChacoCanyon, in western New Mexico, was the cultural center of the Anasazi homeland. This area is roughly corresponding to the Four Corners region. This 30,000-square-mile landscape of sandstone canyons, buttes and mesas was populated by as many as 30,000 people. The Anasazi built magnificent villages such as ChacoCanyon’s Pueblo Bonito, a tenth-century complex that was as many as five stories tall and contained about 800 rooms.
  • The Aztec settled at Lake Texcoco
    1325

    The Aztec settled at Lake Texcoco

    To the west of the Maya, the Aztec settled on the shores of Lake Texcoco around A.D. 1325. The Aztec built their capital, Tenochtitlán, on an island in the lake. They connected the island to the surrounding land with wide roads and bridges.
  • Aztec Warriors
    1400

    Aztec Warriors

    War played an important part in the lives of the Aztec. From an early age, the Aztec boys were trained as soldiers. During their battles, they would captured the enemy. Some of these prisoners were forced into slavery; slavery is the practice of owning people and forcing them to work without pay.
  • The Aztec established an empire
    1440

    The Aztec established an empire

    The Aztec were often at war with their neighbors, and they conquered hundreds of cities in central Mexico. By A.D.1440, the Aztec had established a powerful empire. An empire is a large area of different groups of people controlled by one ruler or government.

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