Communities in the Americas and Oceania Share/Embed

Before you read

Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.

While you read

Look for answers to these questions:

1. What type of state was Haudenosaunee? How was it governed?
2. What type of state was the Aztec state? How was its diverse population ruled?
3. What evidence is there of connections between the Aztec society and Mayapan?
4. What kind of a state was the Inca state? How was it governed?

After you read

Respond to these questions: How do societies in the Americas seem distinct from those in other regions you have studied? Are there any major similarities that these communities shared with those in other regions?

Before you watch

Preview the questions below, and then review the transcript.

While you watch

Look for answers to these questions:

1. How does the story of the Ancestral Pueblo challenge traditional world-historical narratives about agriculture and complex societies?
2. How does Theresa Pasqual characterize Pueblo origin stories?
3. Why are these origin stories important today?
4. What are some strategies that Pueblo people used to thrive on the Colorado Plateau?
5. How does Theresa Pasqual describe the movement of the Ancestral Pueblo people?

After you watch

Respond to these questions: What do you think are the differences between what we can learn from archaeology and what we can learn from oral traditions? What do you think historians should do when the two types of evidence disagree?

Before you read

Preview the questions below, and then skim the comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and in which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who or what is the focus of the comic?

While you read

1. Who was Macuilxochitl and how does she describe herself?
2. Macuilxochitl describes the Tenochtitlan (Aztec) conquest of Tlacotepec as “forays for flowers [and] butterflies.” What does this mean?
3. Macuilxochitl writes that Axayacatl spared the Otomi warrior in part because he brought a piece of wood and deerskin to the ruler. What does this tell you?
4. How does the artist use art and design to emphasize and demonstrate the importance of tribute?

After you read

Respond to this question: How does this biography of Macuilxochitl support, extend, or challenge what you have learned about the Aztec state and economy in Mesoamerica in this period?

Before you read

Preview the questions below, and then skim the article. Be sure to look at the section headings and any images.

While you read

Look for answers to these questions:

1. How do historians believe that humans ended up settling the islands of Oceania? What debate surrounds this question?
2. What were the most important innovations that allowed migrations across Oceania?
3. In general, how did communities in this region organize themselves?
4. What were gender relations like in Oceania societies?
5. What evidence is there to show that Oceania was not separated from the rest of the world?

After you read

Respond to these questions: The production and distribution frame narrative asserts that humans have grown more sophisticated in the way we make and use the things we need over time. Does the evidence presented in this article support, extend, or challenge this narrative? How?

Before you read

Preview the questions below, and then skim the comic, paying attention to things like prominent colors, shapes, and types of text and fonts. How do you know where to start and in which direction to read? What’s in the gutters (the space between panels)? Who or what is the focus of the comic?

While you read

1. Who was Kupe?
2. How is the story of Kupe normally told in Polynesian society? How have European historians tried to tell it?
3. Why is this story important for the Māori people today?
4. How did the artist use art and design to demonstrate the theme of connectedness?

After you read

Respond to this question: What does this graphic biography suggest about the different ways that history is used?