First Peoples Migration

Last updated almost 2 years ago
14 questions
Hi All - This "asynchronous" lesson introduces themes of migration through exploring recent discoveries in indigenous peoples' history. We will explore...
(1) What a recent breakthrough in archeology tells us about the earliest waves of migration into North America.
(2) What the relationship between different languages tells us about migrations before contact with Europeans & their descendents.
This is just an introduction. There will be another asynchronous lesson in Native American migrations, incorporating their experience, available next week.
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Over the past two years, new archeological discoveries along tributaries of the Columbia River brought two new massive changes to how we understand migration into North America.
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According to the headline, what is the first discovery by archeologists?

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What kind of evidence shows that the first Americans were here at least a thousand years before we thought?

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Older theories say that people crossed to Alaska on the "Berring Land Bridge" from Siberia, then migrated through Alaska and Canada after massive Ice Age glaciers melted. Were you ever taught this? How?

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The Cooper Ferry site existed there BEFORE the glacier ice melted. What do the archeologists think that meant?

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What did the Columbia River present to the earliest Americans?

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The artifacts at the Cooper's Ferry site strongly resemble those from _______. This suggests that the people who migrated up the Columbia River were part of a massive series of seafaring migrations spanning thousands of miles, up the Asian Coast and down the North American Coast, perhaps all the way to South America!

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If your mic doesn't work, or if you prefer, answer the question above here by typing: What new facts and theories do you want to remember from this article?

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How much does this article on archeological discoveries make you want to know more about archeology?

Another way that we can study ancient cultures is through the study of languages, called "linguistics." Different languages are often related, which shows that they come from a common ancestor (a "Great Grandmother" language). We use these connections to study how a community might have split into separate groups, and gone in different directions.
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A relationship between the languages of the Rogue River communities and the Navajo Nation suggest.

The study of Native American languages shows another historical migration.

This theory states that there is a historical connection between the indigenous peoples of eastern Oregon and Idaho, and the indigenous people of Central Mexico.
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If your mic didn't work, type your answer here: What does the study of Native American languages tell us about migrations before European contract?

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How much does this article on archeological discoveries make you want to know more about archeology?