North America: Native Peoples and Encounter with Europeans| Class 11 History Notes

The native peoples of North America are believed to they come from Asia over 30,000 years ago during the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago. They communicate through many languages but they do not have it in a written form.

The first Encounter of Native North Americans with European people has evidence suggesting it happened around 1000 AD. This encounter is believed to have involved the Norse people arriving in Vinland which is thought to be Newfoundland in modern-day Canada.

In this article, You will get to know about the Native North Americans and their Encounter with Europeans.

North America: Native Peoples and Encounter with Europeans| Class 11 History Notes

North America Physical Features

• North America is the third largest continent in the world bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north the Atlantic Ocean to the east the Pacific Ocean to the west and South America to the south.

• It is connected to South America by a narrow land bridge called the Isthmus of Panama.

• Stretching from Alaska to Mexico the Rocky Mountains are a massive mountain range that separates the western coast from the interior plains.

• They are geologically young mountains with some peaks reaching over 14,000 feet (4,267 meters).

• The largest system of freshwater lakes on Earth the Great Lakes are located on the border between Canada and the United States. They include Lakes Superior, Huron, Michigan, Erie and Ontario.

• The Mississippi-Missouri River system is the longest in North America draining a large part of the continent. Other major rivers include the Rio Grande the Mackenzie River and the St. Lawrence River.

• Forty per cent of Canada is covered with forests. Oil, gas and mineral resources are found in many areas which explains the many big industries in the USA and Canada.

The Native Peoples of America

It is believed that native people of North America came from Asia over 30,000 years ago on a land bridge across the Bering Straits and during the last Ice Age 10,000 years ago they moved further south.

• The oldest artefact found in America – an arrow-point – is 11,000 years old. The population started to increase about 5,000 years ago when the climate became more stable.

• Native American peoples lived in bands in villages along river valleys. They ate fish and meat and cultivated vegetables and maize.

• They obtained Goods not by buying but by gifts. They believed in a subsistence economy.

• They spoke numerous languages but those are not available in written form.

• They were friendly and welcoming to Europeans.

• They believed that time moved in cycles and each tribe had accounts about their origins and their earlier history which were passed on from one generation to the next.

• They were skilled craftspeople and wove beautiful textiles. They could read the land – they could understand the climates and different landscapes in the way literate people read written texts.

• The Europeans gave them blankets iron vessels, guns which were a useful supplement for bows and arrows to kill animals and alcohol in exchange for local products.

• The natives had not known alcohol earlier, and they became addicted to it which suited the Europeans because it enabled them to dictate terms of trade. (The Europeans acquired from the natives a tobacco addiction.)

Native People’s Encounters with Europeans

• The encounters between Native Peoples and Europeans in North America were complex and varied with dramatic consequences for both sides.

• Vikings were a subgroup of the Norse people known for raiding and exploring during the late 8th to 11th centuries AD.

• The earliest documented contact is believed to be with Vikings around 1000 AD though there is some evidence of possible earlier interactions.

• Europeans brought deadly diseases like smallpox, measles and influenza to which Native populations had no immunity. This resulted in widespread death and population decline.

• European colonization pushed Native people off their ancestral lands through warfare, forced relocation, and treaty negotiations.

• European arrival disrupted traditional ways of life, including social structures, religious practices, and economic activities.

• Different terms are used in English for the native people of “New World”. Like Aborigine – native people of Australia (In Latin Ab = “from” and Origine = “the beginning”).

• American Indian/Amerind/Amerindian – Native people of North and South America and the Caribbean.

• First Nations People – The organised native groups recognised by the Canadian government.

• The Indian Act of 1876 used the term “bands” but from the 1980s the word nations was used to include.

• Indigenous People – People belonging naturally to a place.

• Native American – The Indigenous people of the Americas (This is the term now commonly used ).

• “Red Indian” – The brown complexion people whose land Columbus Mistook for India

Names Given by Europeans to Countries of ” New World ”

The Geographical Dictionary (PP 805-22) lists over a hundred place names in America and Australia which begin with “New”.

Country Name	Description
America	First used after the Publication of the travels of Amerigo Vespucci ( 1451 -1512 )
Canada	From Kanata (“Village” in the language of the Huron-Iroquois, as heard by the explorer Jacques Cartier in 1535)
Australia	Sixteen Century name for land in the great southern ocean (Austral in Latin for “South”)
New Zealand	Name given by Tasman of Holland, who was the first to sight these islands in 1642 (Zee is Dutch for “sea “)

Native Peoples Constitution Rights in North America

The ‘democratic spirit’ which had been the rallying cry of the settlers in their fight for independence in the 1770s, came to define the identity of the USA against the monarchies and aristocracies of the Old World.

British colonies in America declared war against England in 1776 to gain independence. The War of Independence of the colonies continued till 1783.

• Democratic Rights: The ‘democratic spirit’ which had been the rallying cry of the settlers in their fight for independence in the 1770s, came to define the identity of the USA against the monarchies and aristocracies of the Old World.

• The natives were denied democratic rights (the right to vote for representatives to Congress and the President) because it was only for white men.

• Right to Property: The concept of private property emerged and people wanted their constitution to include the individual’s ‘right to property’ which the state could not override. But this right was exclusive only to the Whites.

Karl Max (1818-83) The Great German Philosopher described the American frontier as “The last Positive Capitalist “

FAQs on North America: Native Peoples and Encounter with Europeans

What were the first encounters between Europeans and Native Americans?

The first lasting contact between indigenous Americans and Europeans came as Arawak , Taino and Lucayan peoples encountered the Italian explorer Christopher Columbus and his Spanish ships .

What Native American tribes were affected by European exploration of the Americas?

In the southern region primary groups prevailed the Cherokee , Tuscarora and Muskhogean All of these tribes were eventually overwhelmed by the in-migration Europeans (and their descendants), the diseases brought with them and the wars of annihilation they conducted to gain control over the land of North America.

How did the native Americans treat the European traders in the 17th Century?

They were friendly and welcoming to the Europeans who had arrived at their villages in the late seventeenth century. They came there to trade for fish and furs that the natives were hunting experts.

Who was the first European to encounter North America?

The Vikings of Norway  are the first Europeans known to have visited North America. A Viking named Gunnbjorn Ulfsson sailed near Greenland in the 10th century ad.

Why did Europeans explore North America?

Explorers came wanting to spread Christianity, to gain wealth from natural resources such as gold, to claim lands, and to find a shorter route to Asia.