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imagine a time when the Earth was
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Untouched by iron tools when vast
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Untamed lands stretched as far as the
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eye could see ruled not by Kings but by
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spirits and ancient wisdom before the
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nations of Europe set sail for the New
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World before Columbus carved his name
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into history there were already people
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living in the Americas but who were they
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the First Peoples of the Americas often
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called Native Americans have a history
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that stretches back tens of thousands of
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years long before the rival of Europeans
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yet their story is rarely told in full
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who were the first true Americans how
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did they shape their world and how did
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their world shape them this is a history
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older than most of us could ever imagine
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a history filled with mystery resilience
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and The Echoes of Forgotten
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civilizations this is the story of the
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Native Americans the story of the first
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Americans is not just about survival
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it's about Discovery adaptation and a
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relationship with the land that ran
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deeper than mere existence but how did
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it all begin to understand their legacy
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we have to Journey Back far back into a
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world Frozen in Time the arrival A World
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Before Time over 20,000 years ago at the
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height of the last ice age the Earth
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looked vastly different from the world
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we know today massive glaciers stretched
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across much of the Northern Hemisphere
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and in what is now Alaska a vast land
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bridge connected Asia and North America
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this land now called beringia was a
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frigid expanse of tundra this was the
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path that the first humans ancestors of
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today's Native Americans took as they
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migrated into a land that had never
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before seen human Footprints we call
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them palea Indians a name that evokes
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images of primitive hunters and
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gatherers but were they truly primitive
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or were they the boldest explorers of
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their time pushing the limits of human
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endurance for thousands of years these
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early people followed herds of Mammoth
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giant bison and Caribou across the land
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bridge into North America their survival
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depended on their ability to adapt to
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learn from the land and to master the
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art of tracking and hunting enormous
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creatures the tools they left behind
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like the famous Clovis spear points
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reveal their incredible Ingenuity but
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the Clovis culture was more than just a
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Hunting Society it was the first
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widespread culture across the Americas
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spreading from the Great Plains to as
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far south is Mexico their stone tools
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were Advanced their knowledge of the
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landscape vast yet despite their
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remarkable achievements the Clovis
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people and the great beasts they hunted
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both vanished from the archaeological
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record shortly after the end of the Ice
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Age what caused their disappearance was
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it climate change over hunting or
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perhaps something even more mysterious
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the dawn of civilization with the end of
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the Ice Age came the rise of new
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civilizations as the glaciers receded
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the Earth blossomed into a new era and
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native peoples adapted once more This
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Time by forming complex societies that
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would leave their mark on the landscape
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for Millennia to come in the Mississippi
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Valley an ancient culture began to take
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shape they are known today as the mound
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builders so named for the Monumental
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Earth and structures they left Behind
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These Mounds some of which still stand
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today were more than mere piles of dirt
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they were carefully constructed to serve
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as platforms for temples homes for the
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elite and burial grounds for their
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ancestors one of the earliest of these
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cultures was centered at poverty point
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in present day Louisiana built around
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3,500 BCE the poverty point civilization
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was a major Center of Trade and
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ceremonial activity imagine a society
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where massive Earthworks were designed
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without the aid of modern technology yet
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precisely aligned with celestial events
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their trade networks stretched across
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vast distances reaching from the Great
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Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico and they
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were not alone the Adena culture which
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thrived in the Ohio River Valley and the
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Hopewell culture that followed also
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created Monumental mounts but these
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cultures weren't just architects of
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Earth and stone they were artists and
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spiritual leaders crafting intricate
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jewelry pottery and ceremonial objects
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that reveal a deep connection to the
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spiritual world the Hopewell people in
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particular created some of the most
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elaborate Earthworks ever seen
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some shaped like animals others aligned
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with the cycles of the moon and stars
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the purpose of these Mounds remains a
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mystery were they observatories for
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celestial events burial sites for the
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elite or perhaps portals to the
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spiritual World whatever their purpose
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these structures speak to a
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sophisticated understanding of the
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cosmos and an unbreakable bond with the
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land a complex web of Nations by the
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time of the European arrival Native
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American cultures had developed into a
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rich and diverse tapestry of nations
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from the Towering Cliffs of the
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Southwest to the vast plains of the
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Midwest native societies had established
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complex social political and economic
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systems in the Arid deserts of the
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American southwest The ancestral pbl
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sometimes called the Anasazi constructed
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vast networks of villages carved into
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the cliffs these Cliff Dwellings such as
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those found at Mesa Verde and chako
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Canyon were marvels of engineering
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designed to protect their inhabitants
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from both enemies and the harsh desert
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environment they built keas underground
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ceremonial Chambers and massive trade
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networks that span the Southwest
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exchanging turquoise pottery and
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textiles with distant peoples in the
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heart of North America along the
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Mississippi River a powerful
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civilization was flourishing Cahokia
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located near present day St Louis was a
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sprawling City that rivaled some of the
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greatest Urban centers in the world at
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the the time at its peak around 1100 CE
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Cahokia was home to tens of thousands of
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people its massive Central Mound Monks
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Mound Rose to a height of over 100 ft
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dominating the landscape and serving as
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a symbol of the City's power and
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influence Cahokia was a Center of Trade
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Agriculture and religion its people
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cultivated maze beans and squash staple
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crops that would later spread across the
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Americas but kokia was more than just a
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city it was the heart of a cultural and
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political Network that stretched across
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much of the Eastern United States its
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influence can be seen in the Mounds and
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artifacts left behind by other
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Mississippian cultures from Georgia to
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Wisconsin to the north the iroy
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Confederacy also known as the hodin aoni
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was another example of Native American
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Ingenuity and diplomacy the iroy
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Confederacy was a sophisticated
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political Alliance of five and later six
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nations in including the Mohawk Onida
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onandaga kuga and Sena their system of
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governance was one of the earliest known
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democracies in the world and it served
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as an inspiration for the framers of the
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United States Constitution on the vast
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plains of the Midwest tribes such as the
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Sue cheyen and kamanche thrived as
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nomadic hunters and warriors their lives
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were closely intertwined with the
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Buffalo which provided them with food
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clothing and materials for shelter with
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the AR rival of the horse introduced by
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the Spanish ples cultures experienced a
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transformation the horse allowed them to
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hunt more efficiently travel greater
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distances and engage in Warfare on an
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unprecedented scale European contact the
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arrival of Europeans in the Americas in
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the late 15th and early 16th centuries
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marked the beginning of a new and
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turbulent chapter in Native American
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history at first these encounters were
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marked by curiosity and cautious trade
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but soon they would turn to conflict
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colonization and tragedy in 1492
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Christopher Columbus made his fateful
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voyage across the Atlantic opening the
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door to European exploration and
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colonization of the Americas Spanish
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explorers like Juan Pon de Leon and
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Hernando doto ventured deep into Native
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American territories seeking wealth
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glory and new lands for their monarchs
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but with them they brought something far
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more deadly than any sword disease small
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poox measles and other European diseases
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swept through Native American
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populations like wildfire decimating
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entire communities in some regions up to
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90% of the native population was wiped
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out within a few Decades of contact this
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catastrophic loss of life was the single
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greatest tragedy in Native American
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history an invisible enemy that no
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Warrior could fight as European
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settlements grew so did tensions with
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native peoples conflicts over land
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resources and cultural differences led
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to a series of bloody confrontations in
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New England King Philip's War erupted in
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1675 pitting the Wampanoag and their
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allies against English colonists in the
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South the Spanish fought brutal Wars
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with the powerful appalachi and ucua
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peoples and in the west the Pueblo
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Revolt of 1680 saw native peoples rise
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up against Spanish rule driving the
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colonizers out of New Mexico for over a
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decade resistance and survival but
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despite the overwhelming odds Native
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Americans resisted the tide of European
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expansion throughout the 18th and 19th
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centuries native leaders emerged to
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defend their people's lands and way of
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life tumsa a shie leader sought to unite
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the tribes of the Ohio Valley in a grand
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Confederacy to resist American expansion
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though his dream ultimately failed Tums
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his legacy as a warrior and Visionary
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endures however the most devastating
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blow came in the 1830s with the passage
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of the Indian Removal Act Which
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authorized the forced relocation of
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native peoples from their ancestral
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lands in the Southeast to what was then
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called Indian Territory in present day
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Oklahoma the journey known as the Trail
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of Tears claimed the lives of thousands
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of Cherokee Creek Chaka chikasaw and
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seminol people entire nations were
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uprooted their cultures nearly destroyed
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by the brutal March westward in the west
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the Indian Wars of the 19th century saw
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the final chapters of Native American
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resistance leaders like Sitting Bull and
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Crazy Horse of the Lakota and gono of
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the Apache fought valiantly to defend
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their homelands from encroaching
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settlers and the US military though they
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won several famous victories most
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notably the Battle of Little Big Horn in
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1876 ultimately the sheer force of the
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US government proved too much by the end
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of the 19th century most Native
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Americans had been forced on to
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reservations small Parcels of land that
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were often far from their original homes
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the once vast territories of native
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nations had been reduced to a fraction
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of their former size and their
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traditional ways of life were all but
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extinguished but their Spirit remained
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unbroken the Legacy lives on despite the
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centuries of hardship displacement and
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oppression Native American cultures have
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survived today native nations across the
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United States and Canada are
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experiencing a Renaissance they are
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reclaiming their languages Reviving
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their cultural practices and fighting
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for their rights as Sovereign nations
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from the annual powwows that celebrate
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native music and dance to the growing
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movement for the protection of sacred
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lands the legacy of Native Americans is
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alive and thriving the history of Native
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Americans is not just one of tragedy it
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is a story of resilience strength and
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survival it is a story that began long
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before the arrival of Europeans and
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continues to shape the world we live in
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today Native Americans were the first
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stewards of this land and their
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connection to it remains as strong as
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ever their legacy is written in the
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Earth the rivers and the Skies of this
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land this is their story one that will
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never be forgotten if this story has
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intrigued you then make sure to like
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share and subscribe for more captivating
00:12:21
stories from the past
