Abstract

Europeans called America the “New World” because it was unknown to them prior to the sixteenth century. Today the term is still used, especially when referring to the origin of plants. America is named after Italian explorer Amerigo Vespucci, who visited South America from 1497 to 1502. He speculated that South America was not the East Indies, but an entirely new continent unknown to Europe. Christopher Columbus used the term “Indian” to describe Native Americans because he thought he had reached the Indian Ocean. The islands where Columbus first landed are still called the West Indies. Most likely the first humans came to America from Asia during the last Ice Age, either walking across the Bering Strait land bridge or taking boats across the shallow waters. They eventually migrated south and east, forming tribal groups and giant empires over the course of several millennia. Ranging from the Arctic Circle across the equator to the southernmost tip of Argentina, the Americas have a wide range of topography, climates, and ecosystems (Figure 5.1). Likewise, there are a variety of languages, religions, and cultures. In general, native tribes lived sustainable, subsistence lifestyles where ethnobotany was critical to survival. It was an oral tradition, passed down through the generations. This chapter will focus on Native American ethnobotany, with a smaller amount of information on the European Diaspora that dominates the Americas today. The Americas can be separated into the following regions: North, Central, and South America, and the Caribbean islands.