Assessment Questions 8.14

1. Discuss the interaction between Native Americans and European settlers, particularly focusing on the assistance provided by Native Peoples to the Pilgrims in seventeenth-century Plymouth.

The enduring image of Native Americans helping the Pilgrims in seventeenth-century Plymouth reflects the assistance provided by Native Peoples to European settlers. They shared essential knowledge about agriculture, providing corn, beans, and squash, and taught the settlers how to plant and prepare these native foods. This interaction played a crucial role in the survival of the European settlers during their first winter in the New World.

2. Explore the concept of indigenous domestication north of Mexico, emphasizing the crops domesticated by the Indians of the eastern woodlands.

Indigenous domestication north of Mexico involved the cultivation of native crops by the Indians of the eastern woodlands. Primary crops included squash, sunflower, marsh elder, lamb's quarters, and pigweed, producing starchy or oil-rich seeds. These crops were domesticated more than 4,000 years ago, establishing a "pristine" pattern of indigenous domestication. The cultivation of these crops contributed to the development of farming communities in the American Midwest and Midsouth between 3,000 and 1,700 years ago.

3. Describe the introduction of maize in the eastern woodlands, highlighting the shift in subsistence patterns and its impact on the Mississippian temple mound builders.

Maize, originating from Mesoamerica, began to appear in the eastern woodlands archaeological record around 1000 CE. Initially, it coexisted with indigenous domesticates, but there was a significant shift towards maize-based agriculture. Carbon-isotope analysis of human bones shows this shift around 1000 CE, marking the adoption of maize agriculture by native peoples. This transition facilitated the development of the Mississippian temple mound builders, contributing to the most complex archaeological culture north of Mexico.