The dance of Indian







           From the early times to 1492 America  was populated with the Amerindians. During all this period none except the Norse at 1001 has visited this nearly lost continent, it was a campaign lead by Leif the son of Eric the Red who is thought to have explored America's north-east cost of what is now Canada.

          Lots of hypotheses have been proposed about the origin of Amerindians but the most credible one is that their origin is Asia. It is thought that early humans who lived in  Siberia, following game a long the Siberian costs without doing it on purpose  they passed across Beringia between 34,000 & 30,000 B.C and reached Alaska.

          At that really old time the much of the  world's water contained in vast continental ice glaciers, so the Bering sea was hundred of meters below its current level. therefore, a land bridge named Beringia raised between Alaska & Siberia. Anyway, evidences of early life  can be hardly dated before 12,000 B.C.
Various artifacts have been found at sites throughout America give proof that life was already well established  in the wholesome of America  by some time prior to 10,000 B.C.

          The first signs of villages were found in what is now Phoenix (Arizona)  are dated from the first centuries A.D. those settlements were built by the Hohokum.
In what is now the United States of America various Indian  groups have dominated the area there. First of them where the Adena, they began building mounds which is a kind of earthen burials sites around 600 B.C. After the Adena came the Hopewellians, around the year 500A.D those latter left their place to the Mississippians. the Mississippians have built the city of Cahokia which was located at the eastern part of St. Louis. At it's peak ,around the 12th century, Cahokia reached a population estimated to be around 20,000 people.
         As we can see the American continent that greeted the first Europeans was far from an empty wilderness. Some historians estimate that there was as many people in the western hemisphere as in western Europe at that time.
The number of Amerindians who lived what is now the United States on the first coming of Europeans was about 18 millions. The declining of the Amerindians was due to the devastating huge effect of diseases brought  by the Europeans. Some historians affirm that the killing caused by the epidemy that came from Europe had much more effect than the  numerous  wars  with the European settlers.

           Indian culture was, and still be, very related to nature and tied to land, their philosophy and their religion was inspired from the environment they are living in. Further more, their children were allowed much more freedom an tolerance than the European ones, the women were responsible for farming, cooking and the distribution of food while the men were hunting and participating to war.
The Indian culture has been transmitted from one generation to another by the recounting of tales and stories rather than using written texts. Although thy have created a sort of hieroglyphics to illustrate their adventures, wars...