The Hierarchal Culture Of The Mississippian River Valley Essay

The mississippians were a group of people from North America. They lived here about 2700 years ago. They were very different than what we are used to now.

As Indian groups started to settle in the Mississippi floodplain, their cultures and political systems began to intertwine, creating a complex sociopolitical structure (Page, 70). The largest polity to arise out of this area, known as the American Bottom, was Cahokia. At its height, it resembled a city, extending over five square miles, mounds and structures that towered over smaller dwellings, and a population, that some believe to have been the largest, north of Mexico, for its time (Page, 70). Estimates predict several thousand lived at the site of Cahokia, many of them elites, whose particular talents or skills, earned them the privileged title (Pauketat). Beyond its boundaries were smaller groups and

In this paper I will discuss the history of the Cherokee Indians in the United States. First by describing the tribes pre-Columbian history to include the settlement dates and known cultural details. Then a brief description of the cultural and religious beliefs of the tribe will be given, as well as the tribe’s history after contact with settlers. Finally discussing John Ross, who he was and how he affected the Cherokee Indians.

The Chitimacha Tribe of Louisiana is a part of the southeast Native American tribes. This tribe has been known to be farmers, hunters and gatherers (Southeast American). The extent of this paper will explore the rich tribal history and lifestyles of the Chitimacha tribe. The word Chitimacha is the people’s word for “those living on Grand River”, according to the scholarly article The Historic Indian Tribes of Louisiana: from 1542 to the Present Louisiana by Fred B. Kniffen. This is relevant information because it helps us to better understand the people of this tribe. The Chitimacha tribe is the only to still live in the same place they lived in 1700 (Kniffen). Additionally, the Chitimacha

The Mississippian culture was composed of a series of urban settlements and villages linked together by a loose trading network The Mississippian culture flourished from 800-1600 AD. It encompassed the southern shores of the Great Lakes at Western New York and Western Pennsylvania in the Eastern Midwest, all the way into the south/southwest of the Mississippi Valley and into the Southeastern United States.

The beauty and innocence that Mark Twain witnessed on the Mississippi River was just a deception due to his lack of knowledge. In Mark Twain’s memoir, Life on the Mississippi, Mark Twain acquires knowledge that exposes the majestic Mississippi River as a dangerous and malevolent place. In Mark Twain’s memoir he introduced a book that was perceived differently between the passenger and the pilot. Mark Twain was once the optimistic passenger that saw the beauty in anything.

What was the population of Native Americans in North America at the time of Columbus’s arrival?

o Innovations: Bow and Arrow, Northern Flint (Maize that grew fast and was bigger), flint hoes.

The Southeastern Native Americans lived in the area of the United States imperfectly defined by being below Kentucky and Virginia and east of Arkansas’s and Louisiana’s border with Texas. This is imperfect because the Caddo, Atakapans, and the Tutelo crossed these borders. The environment was composed of Coastal Plain, Piedmont, and the South Appalachian Mountains. The coastal plains were comprised of pine forests, rivers, bayous, swamps, and floodplains. Piedmont had rolling hills, hardwood forest, many rivers, and fertile valleys. Lastly, at the South Appalachian Mountains there existed narrow, silty valleys, forests, and many deposits of stone (Sutton, 2012). The Southeast provides a decidedly beneficial climate and environment to sustain

Flannery and Marcus discuss in our textbook about the social renown that comes from agriculture. “It is also the case that for most parts of the world, Rousseau was right: not until people had begun to raise crops or animals do we see signs of emerging inequality” (Flannery and Marcus 2012:91). This is especially true for Cahokia. In Cahokia, food storage changed in the Mississippian period. Woods, in his article, points out the fact that there is archeological evidence for food storage as being a communal event at Cahokia and that Cahokian households typically lacked a storage place of their own, which gave rise to the need for a large, community-based facility (2004:149). This was not always the case. There was evidence back in the Late Woodland period, prior to the Mississippian Period that shows there were domestic storage features in households and little evidence for communal storage. The rise of communal storage also gives rise to social power of the elites. “… the institutionalization of social ranking, DeBoer contends that ‘There is no mystery to the absences of subterranean storage in such circumstances. It is expected’” (Woods 2004:154). This being said, the change from subterranean food storage to aboveground food storage changed once Cahokia elites were gaining more and more power and becoming redistributors. This is an exemplary indication of social inequality. The chiefs and elites control the food storage and how much gets redistributed and how much goes back in to replace what was used. The producers and consumers of the food do not get much say in the matter because it is not their

The end of the Mississippian era has many attributes. Some theorize that the structure of chiefdoms were unstable (3). Internal conflicts between a chief and the commoners could cause the chiefdoms demise. If a chief became too demanding

During a visit to the Opelousas Museum and Interpretive Center, I learned several things about the town Opelousas, and its rich and prominent background. The first settlers to occupy Opelousas was the Paleo-Indians, which first settled on the land in 10,500 B.C. Paleo-Indians occupied the city now known as Opelousas between 10,500 B.C. to 5,000 B. C. Indian tribes in Opelousas’ history includes Meso Indians and Neo-Indians. Europeans was reported to have arrived in Opelousas in the 1600s. The town of Opelousas is commonly referred to as a “Cultural Gumbo” because of the different religions and ethnic backgrounds of its natives. Agriculture was and still is a very important source of food and employment in Opelousas, Louisiana. The town was named after the Louisiana Purchase in 1805. Opelousas was the

This book is written with the purpose of revealing truths about the Native American people and the horrible ways in which they are treated. These chapters compare and contrast kin-ordered societies with modern western societies. In writing about the differences of these cultures, Brodley provides insight as to why these societies inherently coexist because of capitalism’s demand of all wealth and resources to join the market system. It also begins to describe the colonial intervention of indigenous peoples, which describes and the immeasurable effects this had on kin-ordered societies. This resource will help me a lot in my knowledge of the history and traditions of kin-ordered societies. One reason this is so important for my research is because it provides a helpful guide into certain aspects of their society that many Native Americans seek to return to. The limiting factor of this resource is that it broadly describes all kin-ordered societies and does not specifically mention the Yakama people.

The artist is trying to communicate a feeling of achievement. Being that there was a suggested battle the day before, their existence still suggests that the battle was won . Additionally, a cross is being planted in the bottom right of the corner as a claim on the land. The Indians are surrounded and seemingly defenseless and defeated. An emotion of accomplishment exists within the already mentioned elements of the painting. In addition to the drive for the emotion of accomplishment, the reaching of the Mississippi suggests an accomplishment in as of itself . This painting was commissioned in 1853 and two years later hung in 1855. This painting was extremely important within the historical context of the 1850s. During this time, the country

Prior to such economic changes urban development and Naïve American traditions established kinships in order to meet the needs of everyone, not for the purpose to produce surplus for later market value as established by European colonists to make profits and kept by a select few instead of distributing the profit made from trading. Native Americans did not agree with this type of urban modernization. This aspect of urban development is key to understanding American expansion westward beyond Springfield’s post. Urban development of European settlers in comparison to Native American land use and development, through the means of extractable labor and resources in order to maintain authoritative power over another person was paired unanimously in European urban development.