This week’s lecture (36 minutes total) by Dr. Fritz provides an overview of the various theories about the peopling of the continent, the tribal groupings that inhabit the region, and the pre-contact consequences of a European presence on the continent.

The map section features people of the region by language families and tribal groupings.

Tribal Perspectives provides a counterpoint to some of the material presented in the lecture. Through the voices of a number of people in the region you will hear about their origins, cultural differences, and the impacts of European presence. You should plan about a half hour to get through this section.

Chief Concomly of the Chinook is featured under the People heading this week, an example of the challenge to find good information about Indians, women, children, etc.

The research page asks you to determine whose native homeland you now reside in (and provides websites that may pertain to those tribes). A suggested research activity begins by picking a geographical area that you or your students will focus on for a regional study of an historical era or topic.