North American societies before 1500: Ancestral Puebloans, Hohokam, Cahokia and the Haudenosaunee

Grade 7 Social Studies Worksheet - Challenge Me

Circle the best answer.

1. Read this first

   Use this

   Two traditions of the Americas (cards A to E; summaries in our words). Card A, the Great Law of Peace: a reference summary says the Haudenosaunee confederacy formed under the Great Law "likely between 1142 and 1660," with little agreement on the date. Some arguments point to a solar eclipse of August 31, 1142; many archaeologists and anthropologists think the League formed about 1450. The five original nations were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga and Seneca, and the Tuscarora were accepted as a sixth nation in 1722. Card B: Clan Mothers traditionally appoint leaders and can remove a leader who is corrupt or does not listen to the people. Card C: the name "Iroquois" first appears in writing in 1603, in the writings of the French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Its origin is unclear and debated. The nations call themselves Haudenosaunee. Card D, Hohokam: they lived in the Sonoran Desert of southern Arizona from roughly 300 to 1500 CE (dates debated). The canal network around Phoenix was the most complex in the pre-contact Western Hemisphere. Floods in the mid-1300s ruined canal heads and made hundreds of miles of canals useless, and after 1375 most villages on the lower Salt River were left. Card E: the Akimel O'odham and Tohono O'odham live in southern Arizona today. Their oral tradition holds that the Hohokam may be their ancestors. Archaeologists disagree about whether Hohokam communities were politically united. The word Hohokam comes from the O'odham word huhugam, which refers to past human life.

2. 1.

   Card A offers an eclipse in 1142 and a view that the League formed about 1450. How should a historian treat this, Bo asks?

   • The eclipse settles it, since an eclipse is a fact of astronomy
   • The matter is closed, since archaeologists outrank oral accounts
   • The sources agree, since both are inside the range of 1142 to 1660
   • The sources disagree by centuries, so the date stays unsettled
3. 2.

   Card C says "Iroquois" first appears in writing in 1603 in Champlain's writings. What does that show, Esme asks?

   • The nations chose that name for themselves in 1603
   • When a European first wrote the name, not when the nations began
   • Champlain founded the League in 1603
   • The nations began in 1603, when Champlain first met them in North America
4. 3.

   Card A: the earliest date for the Great Law is 1142 and the Tuscarora joined in 1722. How many years between, Jun asks?

   • 580 years, since 1722 minus 1142 is 580
   • 2,864 years, since 1722 plus 1142 gives the span
   • 570 years, since 1722 minus 1152 is 570
   • 280 years, since 1722 minus 1450 is 272
5. 4.

   Card B says Clan Mothers appoint leaders and can remove one. What does that show about sharing power, Kira asks?

   • Women held a check on leaders: Clan Mothers could remove one
   • Leaders were chosen by drawing names, with no role for any group
   • Leaders stayed in office for life no matter what the people thought
   • Men alone chose leaders and women had no part in the process
6. 5.

   A student says, "Card A shows the Great Law of Peace is the oldest constitution in the world." Which reply is best, Luz asks?

   • Not supported: an oral law cannot count as a constitution
   • Supported: a date as early as 1142 makes it older than anything else
   • Supported: card A calls it a constitution, so it must be the oldest one
   • Not supported: the date is uncertain and nothing else is compared
7. 6.

   Which chain from card D is best supported, Noah asks?

   • Floods ruined canal heads, canals became useless, villages were left after 1375
   • The canals caused the floods in the mid-1300s, which is why the villages were left
   • Villages were left after 1375, so floods then ruined the canal heads of the canals
   • A long drought ended the canals first, and the floods came a few years afterward
8. 7.

   Card E: O'odham oral tradition says the Hohokam may be their ancestors; archaeologists debate how united Hohokam communities were. How do the two views differ, Pia asks?

   • The O'odham say the Hohokam were unrelated to them, which settles the archaeologists' debate
   • They ask the same question about the Hohokam and so must give the same answer
   • One names possible ancestors; the other asks how communities were organized
   • Archaeologists reject the oral tradition, since a tradition cannot count as evidence
9. 8.

   A student writes, "The Hohokam disappeared." Which reply fits cards D and E best, Ren asks?

   • Supported: card D says villages were left after 1375, so the people ended there and then
   • Not supported: archaeologists agree that the O'odham are direct descendants
   • Supported: card D gives 1500 as an end date, so no one remained in the desert after that
   • Not supported: villages were left, but the O'odham live in southern Arizona today
10. 9.

    Cards A and D both involve oral tradition and written or dug-up evidence. What difference in sources is clear, Tala asks?

    • Both cards rely on diaries and letters written by the people themselves
    • Both cards rely on exactly the same kinds of evidence from the same period
    • Neither card uses any oral tradition, since oral sources cannot be dated
    • Card A: an oral law and 1603 writing. Card D: digs and tradition
11. 10.

    Suppose a new study dates the Great Law to the 1200s. What does that change about card A, Zee asks?

    • It changes nothing, since an oral law cannot be dated by any method
    • It settles the question, since a newer study replaces older estimates
    • It shows the 1142 eclipse story is right, since both dates are early
    • It adds one more estimate; scholars would weigh it with other evidence