NATIVE HISTORY & CULTURE

摘要

Indigenous civilizations flourished in North . America centuries before Christopher Columbus set sail in 1492. Pueblo villages dotted the canyon country in the Southwest, the spectacular remnants still visible today at places such as Mesa Verde in Colorado and New Mexico's Chaco Canyon. A powerful confederacy of Iroquois held sway over the Mohawk Valley in New York State. A giant pyramid, built 1,000 years ago, sits near present-day St. Louis, the vestige of the prosperous city of Cahokia. Native civilizations transformed the world economy. The cultivation of corn agriculture in Mexico and its spread across the continent is one of the most important events in history. Other North American staples, such as potatoes, tomatoes, beans, squash, pumpkins, and sunflower seeds, transformed the world's food system. In other words, before 1492, no European had ever seen an ear of corn, Italian entrees had no tomatoes, and there was not one potato in Ireland.