Here is a cool picture I found. It's perfect since my mom is Canadian and my dad is American.

My brothers and I are proud 50-50s.

Early American History - Native Americans, Explorers and Settlers

This year I am studying early American history using books recommended by the Sonlight Christian Homeschool Curriculum. Sonlight is a literature based curriculum. The books that they recommend are interesting and fun.

We read Moccasin Trail as a family, and it is really, really, really good. It is descriptive and has fast-paced action. The main character, Jim, ran away from his family and became a Crow Indian. Later he finds his family again and is struggling to find his true place, either with his family and the white men, or with Indians in Absaroka. This book can be purchased on Amazon, found at your local library, or borrowed through inter-library loan.

Through this and other books, I have learned much about the beginnings of our country. Here are some of the main things I learned in history so far this year.

Comparing the Cultures: Native Americans, Explorers and Settlers

Religion: Most of the explorers and settlers and explorers worshiped God, while the Native Americans worshiped wood spirits, river spirits, sky spirits, and/or a "Great Spirit."

Lifestyle: The Native Americans led fairly simple lives, using nature as their prime resource. The explorers and settlers lived more complex lives. They relied more on human power and machinery.

Food: What did the Native Americans eat? Most tribes ate animals such as deer, turkey, buffalo and fish. They also ate corn and other vegetables. Seagoing explorers and settlers ate mostly hard tack (a hard, dry biscuit), and salted meats like beef, pork or fish. Those who traveled by land ate mostly stale bread, beef, pork and potatoes.

Clothing: Early American Indians either went around naked, or wore clothes made of animal skins. Spanish conquistadors wore armor, and some pretty flashy clothes. Other explorers from Europe wore rather plain clothes. Most settlers clothes were faded and plain, and were made from wool or cotton.

Housing: The settlers lived in huts, houses or log cabins. Many people believe that all Indian tribes lived in tepees, but this is not true. Actually, different tribes lived in different kinds of houses.

The Algonquian Indians (who lived in upper New York) lived in wigwams. The Seminoles (from what is now Georgia and Florida), lived in chickees, which are pavilion-like structures with no walls, such as the one in this picture:

The Hodenosaunee, or Iroquois, Indians (from all across lower New York) built long houses, and the Mandan Indians (from Central U.S.) made lodges,

which I find interesting. They took poles and bent them into a dome shape, which they then covered with mud and dirt. When the mixture dried, it became so strong that many people could sit on the roof.

The Blackfoot tribe (also from central U.S.) built tepees, and the Apaches made brush huts. The Hopi and Anazazi tribes of the southwestern U.S. lived in clay pueblos like the ones in this picture:

Kwakiutl Indians (from Washington/Oregon area) built large plank houses without using nails. They were also the ones who made totem poles.

Navajo Indians constructed hogans out of logs and mud to live in.

A hogan looks like this:

You can read about these and other facts about Native Americans in the book North American Indians, by Marie and Douglas Gorsline.

Many times, the explorers treated the Native Americans unfairly and cruelly. This caused the Native Americans to fight back. The Oregon settlers thought the Natives to be heathen savages and blood thirsty killers. But most Native American tribes were quite friendly, just different from white men.

Overall, the beginning of our country was sad, happy, peaceful and crazy all at once. That is what I have learned so far in history this year. This is Ian Laird, signing off.