Indigenous Tribes of Latin America

The Inca were South American Indian people who ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the America's. The Inca Empire began to expand about 1438 and occupied a vast region that centered on the capital, Cusco, in southern Peru. The Empire extended more than 2,500 miles (4,020 kilometers) along the western coast of South America. It included parts of Present - Day Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina. The Inca Empire was conquered by Spanish Forces soon after their arrival in 1532.

Native Americans from the Mesoamerican/South Americans have some similarities and differences with the Northern Mexicans/Northern Americans such as how they emerged and disappeared, agricultural advances and architecture advances, and beliefs. Mesoamericans include great civilizations including the Incas, Mayans, Teotihuacan, and Aztecs. Hohokam, Ancestral Pueblos, Poverty Point, Adena, Hopewell, Mississipian, Cahokia, Inuits, Aleuts are some tribes or people from North Mexico and North America area.

The Inca and Aztec Empires were two of the most prominent civilizations in the Mesoamerican

The Incas Empire began around 1200 and lasted until the Spanish arrival in 1532. They were the largest civilization in pre-Columbia with a territory of 380,000 square miles and a population of about 7 million. Around 1400 the empire began its expansion stretching along the western coast of

The Lenape Indians are the natives of New Jersey and were around well before any of the explorers or our ancestors came to the area. They had a society rich of culture, traditions, beliefs and customs. They are one of the largest Indian tribes on the east coast, containing three primary divisions or clans. Frederick Hodge (1907) worked for the Bureau of American Ethnology and has done extensive research on the topic of Native Americans. Hodge compiled a detailed reference book called The Handbook of American Indians North of Mexico, which gives detailed histories on many of the American Indian tribes. According to Hodge, the Lenape or Delaware Indians were an Indian society based from the Delaware area all the way to southern New York in

The Maya were known for their agriculture, trade, science and religion. They had a complex writing system and developed a calendar from observing the earths movements around the sun. One can’t say that just one

Before European explorers found their way to the Americas the countries were populated by indigenous people native to the landscapes. Each indigenous tribe had their own traditions, language and hierarchy. It is difficult to discern the exact population numbers of indigenous people before their exposure to Europeans in 1492; however, scholars estimate their numbers at roughly 37 million. By 1650, their population had dwindled to an estimated 9 million individuals, a decrease of 90%. In North America there are currently 562 federally recognized tribes. Joe “Indian Joe” Lightfoot Gonzales, also known as Narisco Allalha, is a descendent of one of the remaining Native American tribes, the Choctaw.

1. Before Francisco Pizarro began the Spanish conquest in 1532, the Incan empire dominated the Andes Mountain region. An emperor who demanded strict obedience ruled the land. All business was run by the state, which could draft citizens for its projects. The Inca, terracing the landscape and irrigating the crops, farmed the mountainsides. The Inca were brilliant engineers, whose roadways included bridges. The city of Machu Picchu is an example of their skill with tools like the plumb bob and wooden roller, which they used for in heavy construction. Hundreds of years after their civilization was subdued by the Spanish, the descendants of the once-dominate Incas make up about 50 percent of Peru’s population.

Long before Europeans explored North America, a group of people now known as The Ancestral Puebloans, migrated throughout the four corners region and finally settled in Mesa Verde. For more than 700 years they and their descendants lived and flourished, advancing their build technologies, and material usage. Eventually achieving a clear understanding of their environment, its changing climates, they manipulating their buildings to take advantage of the natural occurrences their communities peeked. Being simple worshippers and having respect for nature their creations left little negative impact on it relative to others of their time. Once reaching their communal peak they suddenly migrated away and disappeared, still today scientist struggle

a. Their capital city was Cusco. It was the capital of the Incas for more than three centuries. In 1533, Pizarro took over the city. In 1650, an earthquake almost destroyed, but it still stands today.

All three of these great civilizations would have a chance to succeed in the modern world but the Incan empire would be the most fit out of these three pre-colonial civilizations. At the apex of their reign, the Incas ruled over the largest civilization of the three. Their empire spanned from modern-day Ecuador all the way to chile and included about sixteen million inhabitants. Although they

The Aztec and Inca were two diverse civilizations that prospered in Mesoamerica and South America. Both of these ancient civilizations had unique ways of governing their people and living their lives. The Aztecs and Incans both had many similar features, such as their large capitals at the center of their empires, their focus on agriculture, and their large peasant classes which allowed these empires to thrive in the Americas. They also had their share of differences including the level of control over their empire, the Incan government’s control of trade, and the Aztecs’ use of slavery.

The Mayans, Incas, and Aztecs were influential societies in their time. They also still affect us to this day, and are allowing us to adopt some of their inventions and letting us understand their time and how they lived. The South American indigenous civilizations have impacted both the past and present impressively and affected the world coincidentally in the area of communication and government. We still use their government forms and also are using similar social class distinction.

Aztec, central American Indian people, of the Uto-Aztecan language family, and of the Mesoamerican culture area, who dominated central and southern Mexico from the 14th to the 16th centuries. They are best known for having established an empire based on conquest, tribute paying, and the religious sacrifice of humans and animals.

The Mayan civilization society was very complex and intelligent; rising to become very influential to people in different areas and much of their influence is still felt today. Relics indicate they were very skilled in mathematics, education, astronomy and astrology, agriculture, architecture, and politics. They originated in the Yucatan area of present day Mexico between 250 and 900 A.D.