American Indians

The Origin of North American Indians

Most scientists agree that the ancestors of today's native American people came to North America from Asia.
These first Americans descended, or came, from cave men in Asia and arrived some 13,000-14,000 years ago at the end of the period known as the Pleistocene. They probably came to the New World on foot, walking across a land mass known as Beringia -exposed by lower sea levels where the Bering Strait is today.
These were the first people to live in North America.
That is why they are called Native Americans. These people have lived in North America for thousands of years, and today there are still about 2 million Native Americans in the United States and 1 million in Canada...

Source: http://www.nhc.rtp.nc.us/tserve/nattrans/
ntecoindian/essays/pleistocene.htm

Watch the video : Origin of native american indians : http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/paleo/parcs/atlas/beringia/images/movies/lbridge.avi

QUESTIONS:
Find a synonym in the text for North American Indians:

Cliquez ici pour aller à l'exercice

Who were the first people in North America?
Where did the first Native people in North America come from?
How did they cross Beringia?
When did they arrive in America?
How many Native Americans are left in the U.S today?

INDIAN CULTURES

Many different Indian groups lived in North America. Each groups had its own language and customs. A custom is the special way a group of people does something. Several groups of Indians often shared the same CULTURE. A culture is the way of life of a group of people. The language they speak, the clothes they wear, the food they eat, and the religion they believe in are all part of a culture. Indian groups that shared the same culture had the same way of finding food and building houses. They depended on the same natural resources and used them in the same way. For example, the Plains Indians shared the same land, dressed the same way, spoke the same language, hunted for food, and practiced religion in the same way. That is why they are considered to be their own culture group.
North American Indians were divided into 5 cultures : the Northwest Culture, the California-Intermountain Culture, the Southwest Culture, the Plains Culture, the Eastern Woodland Culture.

QUESTIONS:
How many different cultures of American Indians are there ?
What are they called ?
Where do these cultures live ? ( Fill in the map with the names of the cultures )

Sitting Bull

Sitting Bull was one of the most famous Indian Chiefs of the Plains Culture. He was a Sioux leader in the area that is now known as South Dakota. He lived from l83l-l890. During this time gold was discovered on the land that Sitting Bull's tribe lived on. The government tried to force the Sioux Indians to move off their land. Sitting Bull and his tribe would not peacefully move. In June, l876, a major battle occurred between Sitting Bull and U.S. soldiers led by George Armstrong Custer. Custer's groups of soldiers had 260 men. Custer was told to wait for more soldiers to arrive. Instead of waiting, he decided to go forward with just the men he had.
Sitting Bull's group of warriors numbered between 2,500 -4,000 men. The warriors surrounded Custer's soldiers and attacked. Custer and all of his soldiers were killed. This became known as the Battle of Little Bighorn. After this event, Sitting Bull was punished and forced to live on a reservation. Later in his life he caused more problems for the U.S. government and was finally arrested. While some of his Indian friends were trying to rescue him, Sitting Bull was shot and killed by U.S. soldiers.

Who was Sitting Bull?
When did he live?
Why did the U.S Government want to move the Indians off their land?
What was the name of the General Sitting Bull and his warriors fought against?
How many Indians fought with Sitting Bull?
How many U.S soldiers fought in this battle ?
What is the name of the battle?
Who won the battle?
How did Sitting Bull die?

(http://www.germantown.k12.il.us/html/plains.html)

Relevez dans le texte ci-dessous les 3 formes passives (BE V-en*)

Wounded Knee 1890

The next great change came toward the end of the 19th century as homesteaders moved into South Dakota. The U.S. government stripped American Indians of much of their territory and forced them to live on reservations. In the fall and early winter of 1890, thousands of Native American followers, including many Oglala Sioux, became followers of the Indian prophet Wovoca. His vision called for the native people to dance the Ghost Dance and wear Ghost Shirts, which would be impervious to bullets. Wovoca had predicted that the white man would vanish and their hunting grounds would be restored. One of the last known Ghost Dances was conducted on Stronghold Table in the South Unit of Badlands National Park. As winter closed in, the ghost dancers returned to Pine Ridge Agency. The climax of the struggle came in late December, 1890.
Headed south from the Cheyenne River, a band of Minneconjou Sioux Indians crossed a pass in the Badlands Wall. Pursued by units of the U.S. Army, they were seeking refuge in the Pine Ridge Reservation. The band, led by Chief Big Foot, was finally overtaken by the soldiers near Wounded Knee Creek in the Reservation and ordered to camp there overnight. The troops attempted to disarm Big Foot's band the next morning. Gunfire erupted. Before it was over, nearly two hundred Indians and thirty soldiers lay dead.
The massacre at Wounded Knee was the last major clash between American Indians and the U.S. military until the American Indian Freedom actions of the 1970s, most notably again, at Wounded Knee, South Dakota.

Who was Wovoka?
What did he predict?
Where is Wounded Knee?
What is the name of the Sioux Chief who led the Indians at Wounded Knee?
How many Indians died there?
How many U.S soldiers were killed at Wounded Kee?

http://www.nps.gov/badl/exp/humans.htm

Complete the gaps in the correct tense: V-ed* (past simple):

NB! some verbs are irregular : CLICK HERE TO GO TO EXERCISE

Between 1790 and 1830 the white man ______________(begin) to push westward into the Cherokee territory. The Cherokee________________ (fight) hard to keep their land. They even___________________________(take) their fight against being removed from their land to court. At first it ________________(seem) like they might win. But they were forced to leave the land they loved.
In one of the saddest stories in our history, thousands of men, women, and children were forced off of the land they________________________(love) and moved into crowded forts with very little food. They were then forced to walk over a thousand miles to an Indian Reservation in what is now Arkansas and Oklahoma. It ___________________(be) an unusually cold winter. Many of the Indians______________________(be) barefoot with little clothing. They were forced to walk through snow and ice. They________________________(eat) only what they ________________(can) find along the way. Many Indians_____________________(die) along the way, especially older Indians and children. Their bloody footprints ________________________(leave) trails of blood in the snow. They _______________________ (cry) as they ____________________(go) because they were leaving the land they_______________________(love), the land they had called home for so many years.
This horribly long, sad journey of the Cherokee has become known in history as "The Trail of Tears".

LE PASSIF

Dans la phrase active l'énonciateur met en avant l'action du sujet de l'énoncé:
ex: The U.S Government forced the Indians to leave their land.

Le passif exprime un point de vue de la part de l'énonciateur qui met en valeur l'objet de l'action.
Dans la phrase active l'énonciateur s'intéresse au sujet de l'action, (à celui qui agit)

Dans la phrase passive le sujet de la phrase n'est pas l'agent mais celui qui subit l'action.

Construction du passif : Sujet BE V-en* (by+Agent)

Lorsque l'énonciateur choisit de mentionner l'agent de l'action il l'introduit par by :
ex: The Indians were forced by the U.S Government to leave their land .

Dans la phrase passive l'intérêt de la phrase porte sur la cible de l'action (les victimes ; c'est à dire 'the Indians')
L'énonciateur peut choisir de mentionner l'agent ou ne pas le mentionner selon l'importance qu'il lui accorde dans sa phrase:

ex: The Indians were forced to leave their land .

Le PAST SIMPLE

est utilisé pour exprimer une action dans le passé qui est révolue (terminée)et en rupture avec le présent.

Toute expression renvoyant au passé déclenche le past simple (V-ed*)

ago (il y a): 5 minutes ago, a long time ago, yesterday, last week, last Tuesday, last month, last year, in 1998,
during the Second World War etc.

La STRUCTURE de la phrase au PAST SIMPLE:
+ phrase affirmative	The Plains Indians Sujet	hunted for food V-ed*
? phrase interrogative	Did opérateur	the Plains Indians Sujet	hunt for food ? V
- phrase négative	The Plains Indians Sujet	didn't opérateur + not	hunt for food V

Poser une question aux past simple:

DID you see her?
DID (opérateur) + Sujet + Verbe ?

NB! Lorsque Who est SUJET de la phrase:
Who WAS Sitting Bull ? (Pas d'opérateur DID avec BE)

NB! Avec le verbe BE: pas d'opérateur DID
WAS he a chief ?
WERE the Indians ready for the trip ?
How old WAS he, when he died ?
How tall WAS he ?
How rich WAS he?

INTERROGATIFS : WHO, WHEN, WHERE, WHAT, WHY, HOW MUCH, HOW MANY, WHICH, HOW, HOW LONG, HOW OLD, etc.

Interrogatif	OPERATEUR	Sujet	Verbe (infinitf)
What	DID	the Indians	wear?
When	DID	the first people	arrive in America ?
Why	DID	they	refuse to leave their land?
	DID	he, she, it, me, we, you	V + COD
	DID
	DID

Write the question corresponding to the underlined words.
	In the1830ies the white people found gold on Indian territory.
	The U.S government forced the Indians to leave their land.
	The men, women and children left their land in the winter of 1838.
	The Indians walked over a thousand miles to an Indian Reservation.
	The Reservation was situated in Arkansas and Oklahoma.
	They ate what they found along the way.
	Especially older Indians and children died on the way.
	About 450 died of cold, disease and hunger.
	The trip to Arkansas took 3-4 months.

The 'Trail of Tears': (winter 1838)

American Indian chiefs and heroes :

	NAME OF TRIBES
The Northweslture
The California-Intermountain Culture
The Plains Culture
The Southwest Culture
The Woodlands Culture

CLOTHES
	Clothes	Food	Special features
The Northwest Culture
The California-Intermountain Culture
The Plains Culture
The Southwest Culture
The Woodlands Culture

INDIAN HOUSING
Indian homes and shelters :	Name	Form	Made of
The Northwest Culture
The California-Intermountain Culture
The Plains Culture
The Southwest Culture
The Woodlands Culture