Native Americans in the United States and Arizona Essay

Submitted By berna02
Words: 2102
Pages: 9

Running head: ARIZONA

Arizona - Past and Present

Anthropology
Dr. Larson
November 18, 2011

Arizona is the state full of deserts, history, and agriculture. Archeological findings in Arizona are never ending whether it’s through, excavations, artifacts, carbon dating, the scientific method, and many other ways archeologist find their data. Arizona has different characteristics like the date it was founded, its demographics, the way it conducts itself. Arizona has interesting facts upon its history on when it first had people in it; till it became a territory.

Arizona was said to first have an inhabitants about “12,000 years ago” (Derzipilski, 2004, p. 23). “Arizona is almost shaped like a square and measures 400 miles north to south and 310 miles from west to east” (Derzipilski, 2004, p. 7). It is the sixth largest state in the country. Arizona has many landmarks and history between them there greatest landmark known is the Grand Canyon ranked up to be one of the seven wonders of the world. Many of Arizona’s early terrain were desserts and farm land. “People began to build houses of mud, stone, and wood. They hunted and trapped animals collected wild plant foods; they also planted corn, squash, beans, and cotton” (Derzipilski, 2004, p. 23). “As the climate grew drier, deserts replaced the grasslands. The large animals died off, and people turned to gathering nuts and berries and hunting smaller animals” (McDaniel, 2009, p. 31). “There are 21 Native American tribes in Arizona, with 250,000 Native Americans living in Arizona. Reservations and tribal communities comprise over a quarter of Arizona's lands. Each tribe, their people, has a history, some of which goes back more than 12,000 years in Arizona” (Trat). Many different tribes lived in Arizona between 500-1 B.C. and continued to stay till times passed. They came from many deserts, mountains, and canyons of Arizona.

There is much controversy over who were the first inhabitants of the land actually, was it 12,000 years ago? Many archeologists may ask, or was it much before that. Perhaps in the ice age period. Much of current archeology points towards both directions. Much information was found that points toward inhabitance 12,000 years ago, but there are a few skeletal remains founded that prove there was human life much before that. In this excerpt of Trat you will see that there is proof to existence 12,000 years ago:

The record of ancient people in Arizona is a story that is at least 12,000 years long. Here I've attempted to put together a peek at what archaeologists have so far discovered in this state. Though the occupation of Arizona is one of uninterrupted human habitation, there are obviously blanks in the record. The evidence which will give us further insight into the lives of ancient people is surely here, just yet to be discovered either in excavation or in material already collected and in museums or private collections or in some stage of publication. Each year, new information surfaces. Yet, despite the vast amounts of artifacts, the architecture, rock art, stone tools, ceremonial objects or skeletal remains, it is clear that all the archeologists and anthropologist is can do is interpret, make educated guesses as to what was in the minds of those people who lead their lives centuries or thousands of years ago.

The Paleo-Indians are prehistoric ice age people are proved to be the first people in north America, which proves false to the statement that, American Indians were the first people to inhabit the North Americas. T-rat proves it by stating, “Ample evidence, and both in researches done in archaeology and physical anthropology, shows that the American Indian wasn't the first group to enter North America.” During this 100,000 year ice age many prehistoric ancestors started to migrate to other lands, due to the once un walk able areas becoming walk able through ice caps in