Britannica Student Encyclopedia - 2010

with a very long stem. They used this

pipe only during special religious

ceremonies.

By the mid-1800s the Arapaho had

separated into two groups. The Southern

Arapaho lived in what is now Colorado,

and the Northern Arapaho lived in

what is nowWyoming.

The Arapaho were pressured by the U.S.

government to move to a reservation. In

1869 the Southern Arapaho moved to

land in Indian Territory, which is now

part of Oklahoma. In 1878 the Northern

Arapaho moved to the Shoshone

Reservation (now called theWind River

Reservation) in what is nowWyoming.

Later in the 1800s both Arapaho groups

lost much of their reservation lands to

white settlers. At the end of the 20th

century more than 6,000 Arapaho lived

in the United States.

#More to explore

Native Americans

Arawak

The Arawak Indians once lived in South

America and on islands in the Caribbean

An Arapaho man wears the traditional

clothing of his people.

The Arawak people were forced to leave

the islands of the Lesser Antilles long ago.

They left behind stone carvings and pottery.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Arawak 161

 

Sea. The island Arawak, or Taino, were

the Indians the explorer Christopher

Columbus met on his first journey to

the Americas.

The Arawak lived in large villages. They

built their houses from logs, poles, and

the leaves of palm trees. They got most

of their food by farming. They also

fished, caught shellfish, and hunted

birds, lizards, and other small animals.

The Arawak first lived in northern

South America. Then they spread to the

Caribbean islands. Shortly before Europeans

arrived, the warlike Carib people

pushed the Arawak off the islands called

the Lesser Antilles. Columbus met the

Arawak in 1492. At that time the

Arawak lived only on the Greater Antilles

(Cuba, Jamaica, Hispaniola, and

Puerto Rico).

Columbus’ men and the Spaniards who

followed them treated the Arawak

harshly. They forced the Arawak to

work in fields and in mines. Some

Arawak died of starvation. Many others

died of diseases brought by the

Europeans.

By 1550 the island Arawak population

had been reduced from 1 million or

more to almost nothing. Their traditional

way of life largely disappeared as

well. Small groups of Arawak managed

to survive. Their descendants now live in

Cuba, Puerto Rico, and Florida.

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Carib • Columbus, Christopher

Arbor Day

A day set aside for the planting of trees,

Arbor Day began in Nebraska in 1872.

Today people across the United States

celebrate Arbor Day.

How Arbor Day Is Celebrated

Many states observe Arbor Day on the

last Friday in April, though the date may

vary depending on the climate. On

Arbor Day people plant trees throughout

their neighborhood. They plant trees

as memorials to loved ones, to restore

damaged landscapes, or just to add natural

beauty to the surroundings.

History

J. SterlingMorton, a newspaper editor

and politician, founded ArborDay. In

1854 he moved fromMichigan to

Nebraska, which was then a territory. The

NebraskaTerritory was a land of rolling

plains with few trees.Morton missed the

trees he had known in the East.

After Nebraska became a state, Morton

asked the state to create a holiday for

The largest

Arawak villages

had as

many as

3,000 people

living in them.

Girl Scouts plant a tree on Arbor Day.

162 Arbor Day BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA

 

tree planting. Nebraskans celebrated the

first Arbor Day in 1872. Arbor Day

became a legal state holiday in 1885.

The holiday later spread across the

United States as well as to other

countries.

Archaeology

Archaeology is the study of things that

people made, used, and left behind. The

goal of archaeology is to understand

what people of the past were like and

how they lived. Scientists who study

archaeology are called archaeologists.

An archaeologist’s works begins with

finding a site to study. Some sites, such

as ancient cities, are visible on the surface.

Other sites are buried. Special

devices can be used to sense structures

that are underground or underwater.

After finding a site, an archaeologist digs

slowly and carefully. This work is called

excavation, or a “dig.” Archaeologists use

spoons, knives, picks, brushes, and other

tools in their work. They try to uncover

buildings, tools, weapons, art, and anything

else that people made. These items

are called artifacts.

Then archaeologists study the objects.

They want to know when an artifact was

made, what it was made from, and what

it was used for. Archaeologists have several

methods for figuring out an artifact’s

age. One method is called

carbon-14 dating. Carbon-14 is a

chemical found in all organisms, or living

things. After an organism dies, the

amount of carbon-14 decreases at a certain

rate. An archaeologist measures this

decrease to find out how long ago the

organism died.

Archaeologists uncovered life-size figures of soldiers in an ancient tomb in China.

BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Archaeology 163

 

Archaeologists also try to understand the

culture from which artifacts came. For

example, tools such as arrow tips, knives,

and grinding stones can tell an archaeologist

how people got and prepared

their food.

An archaeologist sometimes works with