American Settlers

Across the continent

We are the people of the Caribbean lands. To the north and south of us lie two large continents where men of every race live and where the climate and landscape vary from icy tundra to large, dry desert. There are mighty rivers and lakes, forests, mountain ranges and wide grassy plains. These continents and all the islands which surround them are known as the
‘Americas’. North and South America are separated from other continents of the World by two from oceans: the Atlantic and the Pacific. When and how did mankind first come to the Americas and the Caribbean? Over the years this has puzzled scientists, but most of them agree that man first came to the Americas by way of Asia. If we look at a map of the
There were societies that dwelt in permanent settlement: some were democratic, in which everyone had a say in running affairs of the tribe; some had very strict class systems, based on property and wealth. Some were ruled by human gods carried about on litters; some had systematic justice, while others punished by torture. there were tribes ruled by warriors and tribes ruled by women, by sacred elders and by councils. There were tribes who worshipped bison or the maize by which they lived. In short, there was a great diversity of Indian nations, speaking over five hundred languages, and it all began with the first Mongolian wanderers. After 10,000BC (before the birth of Christ) the ice-cap receded and the Bering Strait became sea once more. The only way people could come to the Americas after that was by boat. The ice moved south and retreated three times and with each retreat the land changed. When the glaciers withdrew to the north for the last time in our history, the climate and plants of North America also changed. The large prehistoric animals could no longer feed the hunters, for the giant hairy mammoths and caribou died out. The wandering men then had to change their ways and three types of livelihood
Besides bows and arrows they developed the blowpipe. This was a long, thin, wooden tube into one end of which was placed an arrow dart; the hunter put the other end to his mouth and gave a sharp, strong blow through the tube. This forced the dart to shoot out. Many birds were caught in this way, and after shooting them the hunters put the colourful feathers in their hair, and through their ears and noses. There was no need for warm animal hides and so they roamed through the forests naked, with perhaps only strips of leaves around their waists for