English III: Coming of Age in the Dawnland from 1491
dominance of Hopewell in Northern America?
"Around two thousand years ago, Hopewell jumped into prominence from its bases in the Midwest, establishing a trade network that covered most of North America. The Hopewell culture introduced monumental earthworks and, possibly, agriculture to the rest of the cold North. Hopewell villages, unlike their more egalitarian[5] neighbors, were stratified,[6] with powerful, priestly rulers commanding a mass of commoners." "Hopewell itself declined around 400 a.d. But its trade network remained intact. Shell beads from Florida, obsidian from the Rocky Mountains, and mica from Tennessee found their way to the Northeast. Borrowing technology and ideas from the Midwest, the nomadic peoples of New England transformed their societies. By the end of the first millennium a.d., agriculture was spreading rapidly and the region was becoming an unusual patchwork of communities, each with its preferred terrain, way of subsistence, and cultural style. Scattered about the many lakes, ponds, and swamps of the cold uplands were small, mobile groups of hunters and gatherers— "collectors," as researchers sometimes call them. Most had recently adopted agriculture or were soon to do so, but it was still a secondary source of food, a supplement to the wild products of the land. New England's major river valleys, by contrast, held large, permanent villages, many nestled in constellations of suburban hamlets and hunting camps. Because extensive fields of maize, beans, and squash surrounded every home, these settlements sprawled along the Connecticut, Charles, and other river valleys for miles, one town bumping up against the other."
Analyze Locate at least three examples of scholarly experts that Mann quotes in his writing. Why does he include this content?
"He that speaks seldom and opportunely, being as good as his word, is the only man they love" (184-186). By William Wood a colonist. "Tremendous variety even within the compass of a few miles" (48-49). By William Cronon an ecological historian. "Joining and splitting like quicksilver in a fluid pattern within its bounds" (111-113). By Kathleen J. Bragdon an anthropologist at the College of William and Mary. Mann's includes this content to better support his information and claims that they were civilized and a good civilization.
Cite Evidence Mann includes evidence from primary sources written by Europeans in the seventeenth century. Identify examples of this evidence and explain what it reveals about these Europeans' opinions of Native American life.
"He that speaks seldom and opportunely, being as good as his word, is the only man they love." This quote reveals that Europeans felt that Native American life is very high demanding in men but has righteous and honorable morals. They also felt that they have really high expectations for the men. "Pleasant of air and prospect" (126) The Europeans felt that they were a good civilization and area for food.
Who is the Author?
Charles C. Mann
Cite Evidence What evidence does Mann provide to support the idea that Indians in sixteenth-century New England lived in a dynamic world?
He shows that their community was changing by including the change of education, agriculture, housing, living, language, and values. "Sixteenth-century New England housed 100,000 people or more, a figure that was slowly increasing. Most of those people lived in shoreline communities, where rising numbers were beginning to change agriculture from an option to a necessity. These bigger settlements required more centralized administration; natural resources like good land and spawning streams, though not scarce, now needed to be managed"
Synthesize What do you think was Mann's overall purpose for writing this text? Cite reasons and evidence for your answer.
I think Mann's overall purpose for writing this text is to inform the readers that the Native Americans were civilized so he sent that message with their history and how they changed through the years in society and technology. "Most of those people lived in shoreline communities, where rising numbers were beginning to change agriculture from an option to a necessity."
Who is Tisquantum?
Introduced to as the "friendly Indian". Tisquantum (November 15, 1585 - November 30, 1622), also known as Squanto, was a Patuxet man who assisted the Pilgrims after their first winter in what is now Massachusetts. He was integral to their very survival. He was a member of the Patuxet tribe, a tributary of the Wampanoag Confederacy.
Analyze Note the sensory details that Mann uses to describe life in Patuxet at the end of the sixteenth century (lines 119-135). What impression of the community does this imagery create for readers?
Some sensory details that Mann used to describe life in Patuxet at the end of the sixteenth century were the low rise/tide of the water, the sandy maize hills, park-like forest that grew different types of nuts, and of how the fish looks in the water. This imagery creates a great impression of the community for the readers. It makes it beautiful, happy, quite, and very pleasing to imagine.
Draw Conclusions What is the central idea about Native American societies in the Dawnland that Mann communicates in this excerpt?
The central idea about Native American societies in the Downland that Mann's communicates in this excerpt is that they have morals, rules, and government that eventually evolves. They are civilized and in fact more civilized that the Europeans.
Analyze Mann says the coastal Indians who moved inland in the winter were "like affluent snowbirds alternating between Manhattan and Miami." What purpose might he want to achieve with this simile comparing the Indians to a group of modern Americans?
The purpose of that text that compares the Indians to a group of modern Americans was to make the reader start comparing the two different times and the changes that happened to get to the modern world. His audience is for the modern Americans so he is trying to relate to capture the readers(modern Americans) attention.
Infer In lines 87-90, Mann writes that "New England's major river valleys . . . held large, permanent villages, many nestled in constellations of suburban hamlets and hunting camps." What words in this sentence have strong connotations? How might these feelings affect readers' impression of Native American life in this time and place?
The word "permanent" has a strong connotation. These feelings might affect the readers' impression of Native American Life in this time and place by seeing or hinting to their morals and showing how strict that era truly was. My impression of the Native Americans changed at this point and it made me realize that the time period and their system was not all sunshine and rainbows. The tone of the reading got more serious and I think thats how other readers impression of the Native Americans changed. The author is trying to tell the reader that they lived organized and they were civilized, also sophisticated.
Who is the audience?
To the people who think Indians are savages and to prove to them that they were not.
Who is William Wood?
a colonist that agreed that Native American housing is better than English housing. comments on housing and education. Positive comments. "Nor did the English regard the Dawnland wetu as primitive; its multiple layers of mats, which trapped insulating layers of air, were "warmer than our English houses," sighed the colonist William Wood. The wetu was less leaky than the typical English wattle-and-daub house, too. Wood did not conceal his admiration for the way Indian mats "deny entrance to any drop of rain, though it come both fierce and long." "The primary goal of Dawnland education was molding character. Men and women were expected to be brave, hardy, honest, and uncomplaining. Chatterboxes and gossips were frowned upon. "He that speaks seldom and opportunely, being as good as his word, is the only man they love," Wood explained. Character formation began early, with family games of tossing naked children into the snow. (They were pulled out quickly and placed next to the fire, in a practice reminiscent of Scandinavian saunas.) When Indian boys came of age, they spent an entire winter alone in the forest, equipped only with a bow, a hatchet, and a knife. These methods worked, the awed Wood reported. "Beat them, whip them, pinch them, punch them, if [the Indians] resolve not to flinch for it, they will not."'
Who is Kathleen J. Bragdon?
an anthropologist at the College of William and Mary, "Instead people spread themselves through estuaries, sometimes grouping into neighborhoods, sometimes with each family on its own, its maize ground proudly separate. Each community was constantly "joining and splitting like quicksilver[8] in a fluid pattern within its bounds," wrote Kathleen J. Bragdon, an anthropologist at the College of William and Mary—a type of settlement, she remarked, with "no name in the archaeological or anthropological literature."' He quoted her because she is a reliable source.
Why wouldn't Tisquantum want to be recognized the label of Indian?
because when people hear Indian they immediately think of them as a savage
Is this a primary or secondary source?
secondary source
Whats the purpose of the text?
to show that the native americans are civilized and not barbaric as people stereotypically think they are. They had a government system, they have a way of things, they have smart housing, and many other things civilizations need to strive and get along.
