chapter 3 Flashcards
what is the creation story that the haudenoseaunee believe?
the sky woman, who pushed from the land of the sky people through a hole opened up by uprooting the great tree of light
what has caused most of the woodlands people to leave their ancient eastern homelands?
as a result of forced removals more woodlands people live west of the Mississippi
what are the three language families that most woodlands people speak?
Algonkin
Iroquoian
siouan
what are sumptuary implements?
objects that are not intended for use and just for asthetic
what is the hopewell interaction sphere?
a network of trade exchange that stretched from Ontario to florida
what are some artifacts that show the woodland period world view?
burial practices
visual iconography
what was a common belief for both pre and post contact eastern cultures?
they attributed primary cosmic power to sky beings imagined as predatory raptorial birds
where were major Mississippian sites typically located?
at points of a junction spot of 2 rivers or on the boarder of 2 ecological zones
why did the Mississippian locate there sites in the strategic places that they did?
so they could exploit the rich soil of the flood plains and they could control trade between regions by possessing different kind of resources
what are many features of mississippan art and architecture derived from?
woodland period cultures
what is the mississippan world view?
there was a three tier universe inhabited by powers specific to the 3 realms of:
below earth
earth
sky
what did the mississippan have in their political, social and spiritual structures?
more centralized structures of authority where classes of rulers and priests acted as intermediaries to the spirit world and common people
what did mississippans regard the sun as?
Mississippians regarded the sun as a representative of the ultimate spiritual power from which political authority and sustenance flowed
what was the highest social class in the natchez social class system?
the suns
who was the ruler of the natchez social class system?
the ruler was called the great sun and was regarded as a god
how did mississippans express their beliefs in the sun and its powers?
through annual ritual celebrations
where did mississippan important buildings like temples, mortuaries and houses get built?
on the top of mounds
what represented the mississippan map of the cosmos?
a four-directional cross surrounded by a sun image
who did the mississsippans believe to govern the upper world?
the sun
sacred fire
thunderers
and the falcon
who did the mississippans believe to govern the underworld?
water
the cougar
the rattlesnake
the piasa
what was very common to be found in mississippan sites in Alabama?
an effigy type of pot
what kind of forms did pottery for ritual purposes take?
many different shapes, shallow bowls, high neck vases and effigy pots in the form of animals and humans
what were the great mounds at earlier woodlands sites used for?
to make astronomical observations that helped to determine the agricultural calendar
what caused the the Cahokia to abandon the middle-woodland period mounds?
a combination of resource exhaustion and climate change
