People of the Legends
Indigenous People of North America - Early History
The first farmers
By about 8,000 years ago the numbers of people had grown, and the climate changed to be more like it is today. The big animals like the wooly mammoth, giant beaver and giant bison, became extinct and other animals grew in numbers, like the American bison (buffalo).
Some of the people changed from being nomadic hunters and settled in places where they could grow food and build permanent homes. Others continued to follow the bison herds as they moved around.
Over the next 5,000 years different cultures (ways of living) developed in different regions, or areas. Some of the important things that happened during this time were:
- Corn was grown in the South for the first time, and then squash, beans and potatoes
- Tools and pots were made for growing crops and storing and cooking food
- New tools were made for hunting smaller animals, like the bow and arrows and the atlatl – a type of spear
- Large cities were built, like Tikal which was built by the Maya in Mexico
- Water irrigation systems were built in the Southwest to grow more crops
- People in the Northeast learned to smoke food to preserve it.
Many tribes traded with each other. Sometimes there were disagreements or fights, but mostly the different cultures lived alongside each other.
