|
|
Article: Agriculture, American Indian
- Article from:
- Dictionary of American History
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2003 The Gale Group Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
|
AGRICULTURE, AMERICAN INDIAN
AGRICULTURE, AMERICAN INDIAN.
The American Indians began farming on the North American continent approximately 7,000 years ago, when Native people in the area of present-day Illinois raised squash. During the next several thousand years, Indians east of the Mississippi River domesticated and cultivated sunflowers, goosefoot, and sump weed or marsh elder. Ancient farmers in Mesoamerica domesticated corn, or
Zea mays,
the cultivation of which spread northward after 3,400 b.c. and reached eastern North America about 2,000 years ago. By a.d. 800, many Indian groups had adopted maize agriculture, and by a.d. 1000, they had developed a complex agriculture based ...