Early North American Civilization

North American Civilization
Jason Renzulli
Axia College of University of Phoenix

Early North Americans, or Native Americans, were a blend of many different people. Their lifestyles varied, depending on where they settled. Some relied heavily on hunting and gathering, some relied heavily on agriculture and farming, and others relied heavily on fishing. Even when it came to language, they were very diverse, as early North Americans spoke as many as around 1,000 different languages. In order to communicate with one another or with explorers venturing to new lands, a conversation had to be translated into many dialects until it was translated into the local understood one, and even though they were already there, they were in a sense looked
This most likely took place during a prehistoric glacial period, which was either before 35,000 B.C.E. or about 10,000 years later (Davidson, Gienapp, Heyrman, & Wardlaw, 2005). Around these times, large amounts of water froze into sheets of ice, which turned what is known as the Bering Strait into a large plain, acting as a bridge between Asia and North America. This new land bridge allowed for people from Siberia to migrate to the area now known as Alaska. Over a period of time of about 25,000 years, settlements spread from the Alaskan coast, down to Central and South America, as well as further into the mainland of North
were located, and was the only comprehensive map of that magnitude at the time. Even though it was very detailed, its use was more intended for political use, declaring who had claim to what territories. The Spanish and French coats of arms in the upper left-hand corner of the Gutierrez map stand for a proclamation of possession by both countries. They also mean that those two nations sponsored it officially, as well as showed the alliance by marriage between the two countries. The Portuguese coat of arms in the lower right-hand corner of the Gutierrez map stands for Portugal’s interest in India and it’s power in the region, even though this power was questioned due to recent defeats at the time. Native Americans were represented on this map by a picture of where they were located, which was mainly on the lower Eastern coast of South America. The map’s indication of where Native Americans lived might have strengthened European claims of sovereignty because they indicated that the Native Americans only lived on a small area of the coast of South America, and indicated that the mainland areas of North America were