#american_history 

## The Adapters
Some of the people most influenced by the [[Aztec]] and [[Mayan]] civilisations were those in the southeastern part of the United States. They included the **Cherokees**, **Chikasaws**. **Choctaws**, **Creeks**, and **Seminols**. - **the five Civilized Tribes**
They adapted ideas from Mexico and South America. These peoples made seagoing canoes and sailed along the coasts of Central America and Mexico north to what is now MS, LA, and FL. They had similar towns and structures (e.g. the Emerald Mound in Mississippi).
The people lived along the many creeks of southern rivers, which is how the Creks got their English name.

The Southeastern Indians were a matriarchal society, much like the British [[The Celtic kingdoms of Scotland|Picts]].

## The Organizers
The Indians who are usually considered to have had the strongest, most efficient government north of Mexico were the Iroquois, or the tribes making up the Iroquois Confederacy (the League of Five Nations): the Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca. They lived in villages along rivers nad lakes in what is now New York State.

The League itself was governed by a council of **sachems**, or chiefs. Membership on this 50-man council was hereditary and was available only to males. Despite that, the Iroquois had an even stronger matriarchal society than the tribes in the Southeast.

The League council had a constituion that was handed down orally from generation to generation. The League could not levy taxes and lacked a policy force.

## The Forest Hunters
The Abnaki, Delaware, the Powhatan, Narragansett, and Massachusett - collectively known as the Algonquin cause they all spoke the Algonquin language - were the people who first came in contact with European settlers. 
They left their names on maps with such words as Connecticut, Allegheny, and Illinois.
They were also famous for *wampum* - their shell beads.

The Algonquin lived in villages of up to a hundred wigwams and **tepees**. Their economy was based on forest hunting.
Unlike the Iroquois, they were unable to unite their military efforts against a common enemy for any long period of time; tribal frictions kept them from realizing their common danger, which is they were crushed by the colonists.

## The Burial Mound Builders
Some 2000 years ago a distinctive culture developed around the Great lakes and between the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. It's called the Hopewell culture after the man on whose farm in Ohio some of its largest remains have been found.
These people were characterized by the burial mounds they built and by their widespread trading empire.

## The Pipe Smokers
Circa 500 CE, the Hopewell society collapsed, most likely due to invasions from the east. These invading Algonquin-speaking people were called the **Calumet**. This word refers to a ceremonial pipe they used. The pipe was used to ratify agreements, and as a passport.
The Calumet lived around the Great Lakes and throughout much of Wisconsin and Illinois. Like the Hopewell culture, they too maintained active trade.

## The Peaceful Ones
Some 3000 years ago, people in the southwestern part of what is now the United States were raising corn, pumpkins, and squash. They were mostly pacifistic and democratic as well. They were caleld the Anasazi (the ancient ones), but the Spanish called them *pueblos*. The descendants of the Anasazi are known as the Pueblo Indians. They also built **kivas** - ceremonial rooms for important occasions.
![[Pasted image 20230328172143.png]] (kiva)
The best known community of the Anasazi is **Pueblo Bonito**.
![[Pasted image 20230328172230.png]] (pueblo bonito aerial view)

Many towns of the Anasazi were abandoned due to attacks from the Navajo and Apache. Some were not, however, and the pueblo of Oraibi, in Arizona, is said to be the oldest continually inhabited town in the United States. People have been living there since 1300 CE.