The First People of Virginia A Social Studies Resource Unit for K-6 Students Image: Arrival of Englishmen in Virginia from Thomas Harriot, A Brief and True Report, 1590 Submitted as Partial Requirement for EDUC 405/ CRIN L05 Elementary Social Studies Curriculum and Instruction Professor Gail McEachron Prepared By: Lauren Medina: http://lemedina.wmwikis.net/ Meagan Taylor: http://mltaylor01.wmwikis.net Julia Vans: http://jcvans.wmwikis.net Historical narrative: All group members Lesson One- Map/Globe skills: All group members Lesson Two- Critical Thinking and The Arts: Julia Vans Lesson Three-Civic Engagement: Meagan Taylor Lesson Four-Global Inquiry: Lauren Medina Artifact One: Lauren Medina Artifact Two: Meagan Taylor Artifact Three: Julia Vans Artifact Four: Meagan Taylor Assessments: All group members 2 The First People of Virginia Introduction The history of Native Americans prior to European contact is often ignored in K-6 curriculums, and the narratives transmitted in schools regarding early Native Americans interactions with Europeans are often biased towards a Euro-centric perspective. It is important, however, for students to understand that American History did not begin with European exploration. Rather, European settlement in North America must be contextualized within the framework of the pre-existing Native American civilizations they encountered upon their arrival. Studying Native Americans and their interactions with Europeans and each other prior to 1619 aligns well with National Standards for History as well as Virginia Standards of Learning (SOLs), which dictate that students should gain an understanding of diverse historical origins of the people of Virginia. There are standards in every elementary grade level that are applicable to this topic of study including Virginia SOLs K.1, K.4, 1.7, 1.12, 2.4, 3.3, VS.2d, VS.2e, VS.2f and WHII.4 (see Appendix A). These standards require students to demonstrate understanding of the motives and nature of European colonization and exploration. They also require students to identify key facets of the culture of several Virginia Native American groups. Furthermore, they require students to identify several Native Americans who interacted frequently with Europeans as well as locate the places wherein these interactions occurred (Virginia Department of Education, 2010). Learning about the early cultural interactions of Europeans and Native Americans lays the groundwork for students to understand the diversity of American 3 culture. Through examination of the early contact period, students will see that when diverse peoples interact, they do so from varying cultural standpoints and with different strategic purposes in mind. Study of this period will also inform students’ examinations of their own cultural presumptions and promote reflection on the ways in which these presumptions shape their personal interactions. Key Ideas and Events The first peoples to settle in what is now known as Virginia were the Native Americans. When Europeans began to explore and settle the area early 1500s, they encountered many diverse Native American groups with complex political systems, economic practices, and social traditions (Egloff & Woodward, 2006) Archaeological evidence suggests that humans have been present in Virginia for 17,000 years. Many scientists believe that the ancestors of these earliest Virginians came to North America by walking across a land bridge from Asia. Towards the end of the Pleistocene Ice Age Glaciers lowered the sea level, exposing a stretch of land between Siberia and Alaska. (Virginia’s First People, 2005) This stretch of land is known as the Bering Strait. These people would have crossed the land bridge in search of food- likely following after large game. (Teachers’ Domain, 2005). These ancestors then traveled across North America in bands based on family groups, some eventually arriving the area today known as Virginia. Though these groups traditionally practiced nomadic hunting and gathering, the native inhabitants of Virginia shifted from a nomadic way of life and began to settle in tribal groups between 10,000 BCE and 1600 BCE (Virginia’s First People, 2005). The tribal groups that arose in Virginia developed distinct cultures and societal 4 structures. Each tribe held different spiritual beliefs and cultivated different expressive traditions. Languages and dialects varied from tribe to tribe. By the early 17th century, three major language groups had formed among the tribes of Virginia Indians. These linguistic groups were the Algonquin, the Siouan, and the Iroquoian (Bushnell, 1940). Each group occupied a different area of the state and possessed widely varying cultures (Egloff &Woodward, 2006). The Algonquian Native Americans inhabited the Tidewater region of Virginia. The Algonquin villages were along the banks of rivers from the Chesapeake Bay to the fall line (Bushnell, 1940). In the late 16th century, many of these Algonquian tribes were unified under the paramount chiefdom of a man named Wahunsunacock from the town of Powhatan. This man took on the name of Powhatan, and referred to thirty-two chiefdoms under his rule as the Powhatan tribes. Powhatan presided over more than 32 chiefdoms with over 10,000 people (Virginia’s First People, 2005). The environment was key in shaping the culture and society of the Powhatan. The Powhatan settled into agricultural communities and relied on farming, which supplied them with the staple foods of corn, squash and beans. This was supplemented with fish, oysters and clams sourced from the surrounding waterways (Fitz Turner, 1992). Hunting was also essential to supplement the food sources. Though hunting was primarily conducted by Powhatan men, women were often responsible for growing and gathering food (Virginia’s First People, 2005). Even beyond this important work role, women held significant influence in Powhatan society. Powhatan society was matrilineal, meaning that property, political power, and social status were inherited through women (Rountree, 1996). Women also 5 were responsible for building homes, thereby, playing a key role in providing both shelter and nourishment for the community. (Fitz Turner, 1992). The Powhatan interacted with the environment to meet their basic needs and utilized natural resources to make tools, instruments, weapons, clothing, and art. Some tribes, for example, used natural clay deposits to make pottery, the remnants of which are studied today to learn more about how the Powhatan lived. The Powhatans were also able to craft canoes, which enabled the transfer goods and people between villages and enabled an interchange through which a rich expressive culture flourished (Rountree, 1996). On the other side of the Fall Line, another group of Native Americans occupied Virginia. The Siouan tribes inhabited the Piedmont region. The Monacan were part of this group and seemed to have moved into the valleys of the James, Rivanna, and Rappahannock from the west and southwest (Bushnell, 1940). Compared with the Powhatan, the Siouan tribes seem to have had less permanent settlements. As such, there is less of an archaeological record of Siouan history. The Siouan tribes also had less contact with Europeans than did the Powhatans, so there were fewer written records of their villages and ways of life (Virginia’s First People, 2005). Despite the paucity in the record of Siouan tribes on the whole, historians have been able to accumulate some knowledge regarding the Monacan. This tribe traded with the Powhatan to the east and the Iroquois to the north. Archeological research suggests Monacan villages consisted of dome-shaped homes within palisade walls and that they buried their dead in mounds, a practice unique to this tribe (Virginia’s First People, 2005). 6 Living Southwest of the Siouan peoples, there was another Native American language group, the Iroquois. The Cherokee, the most prominent of the Iroquoian tribes, settled in the southern Appalachians. Secluded in the mountains and protected valleys of the Appalachians, the Cherokee remained largely secluded from other tribes (Bushnell, 1940). As such, even less is known about the Iroquoian groups than the Siouan or Algonquian. The most prominent known symbol of Cherokee culture is the town house, or council house. It served as the gathering place for the community and was built on a mound of earth, giving it the appearance of a small mountain (Bushnell, 1940). Europeans did not arrive upon the scene in present day Virginia until the early 1500s. The fifteenth century marked the beginning of the Age of Exploration in Europe. Motivated by prospects of trade and wealth and facilitated by the development of new naval technology, many European navigators set out on voyages to find new trade routes to the West Indies and Africa. In 1492, Christopher Columbus, sponsored by the monarchy of Spain, landed in the Bahamas. Mistakenly believing he had found a new trade route to the East Indies, he called the native people he encountered “Indians.” Reports of his voyages were widely disseminated across Europe, inciting a European race for land in the supposed “East Indies” (Lombard & Middleton, 2011). Early interactions between Native Americans and Europeans in Virginia were contoured by very different cultural paradigms regarding property, religion, and social roles. Both Native Americans and Europeans approached interactions with each other from ethnocentric and strategic standpoints. Relations between the Native American groups and Europeans