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 gives dates from 1142 to 1660 for the Great Law. How wide is that range, Ari asks?

   • 508 years, found by subtracting 1142 from 1650
   • 308 years, found by using 1450 as the end date
   • 518 years, since 1660 minus 1142 is 518
   • 2,802 years, found by combining the two dates
3. 2.

   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
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?

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

   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: the date is uncertain and nothing else is compared
   • 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: an oral law cannot count as a constitution
6. 5.

   Card D: Hohokam lived from about 300 to 1500, and most lower Salt River villages were left after 1375. What share of the 1,200 years had passed by 1375, Milo asks?

   • About 75 percent, since 1375 minus 300 is nearly 1,000
   • About 1,075 percent, the number of years in the span
   • About 10 percent, the share of the years after 1375
   • About 90 percent: 1,075 of the 1,200 years
7. 6.

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

   • The canals caused the floods in the mid-1300s, which is why the villages were left
   • Floods ruined canal heads, canals became useless, villages were left after 1375
   • 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?

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

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

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

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

    • Neither card uses any oral tradition, since oral sources cannot be dated
    • 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
    • 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 shows the 1142 eclipse story is right, since both dates are early
    • 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 adds one more estimate; scholars would weigh it with other evidence