GCU 323 (Spring 2026)
Script:
All right. This is module 2, which is on cultural, historical, and political geography. So we can talk
about some cultural historical aspects here in this lecture. Now there's actually a very large pre-
Columbian population in the Americas prior, which was prior to the arrival of Spanish. We'll say
pre-Columbian of course before Columbus. You have a lot of large groups and some of these are
quite populous. Native Americans are Amerindian groups and sometimes I turn Amerindian when I
mean American Indian groups in the Americas and in the Caribbean and what is now Latin America
before the arrival of the Spanish. So two groups in the Caribbean particular with the Arawak and
the Carib groups. Of course that's where the word Caribbean comes from. So these are two major
groups that were found in the Caribbean but there's also mainland equivalents to them. So if we
take a look here we have what's called the island Arawak and island Carib. The island Arawak were
primarily on the bigger islands of the Caribbean, the Greater Antilles, and then you have the island
Carib which are mostly on the smaller what we call the Lesser Antilles. Now these groups were
fairly large in number, island Arawak and island Carib. You also had some mainland Carib groups.
The mainland Carib were primarily what is now Venezuela and Colombia today, and you also had a
mainland Arawak now this group is actually quite small it would be the least dense in population of
all these different groups because they're largely in Amazon basin but most of groups in Amazon
basin were actually quite small there are quite widespread but they're actually quite small now the
This study source was downloaded by 100000900412927 from CourseHero.com on 01-21-2026 14:18:01 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/253673324/GCU-323-Lecture-2a-Script-Spring-2026docx/
, mainland Arawak small group low density population in comparison to the Aztecs or Mayas which
were actually quite large in number and had fairly high density. And so we had a number of groups
not only in Caribbean and South America but some of the bigger groups were actually in what we
call Mesoamerica which refers to basically Mexico Central America today that term Mesoamerica is
a historical term referring to the pre-Columbian civilizations that existed there and Mesoamerica
has though the pre-Columbian group here contributed a lot, a tremendous amount. In fact a lot
that's still very evident in Mexican Central American society today for instance one thing that
Mesoamerica contributed was what we call this food trilogy which was very nutritional
combination of corn or maize um and beans and squash now that's very white nutrition
combination that's what they consumed primarily supplemented with some hunting and gathering
in Mesoamerica and some fishing and some other resources but primarily this maize or corn beans
and squash coming out of Mesoamerica which of course when the Spanish arrived they readily
adopted and it's still big part of the culture in Mexico Central America today. So the Mesoamerican
groups of course include the Aztecs which were quite large in number and that's where Cortez first
came and conquered the Aztecs in what is now Mexico City, Tenochtitlan. You also have the Olmec,
the Mayan groups and something's about also the Chichimex these are very large groups that
occupy areas in Mexico and in central America for instance Maya was today primarily in southern
Mexico, Yucatan Peninsula but also in Guatemala. And there's a lot of evidence of course of these
different groups in Mexico City just outside of Mexico City we have these famous pyramids at
Tenochtitlan they're estimated that maybe 100,000 people in this city before the Spanish arrived.
Of course it's today Mexico City, the Valley of Mexico which is the largest city in Mexico and second
largest city today in all Latin America. São Paulo is Brazil's largest so you also had various different
Mayan ruins which you can see throughout Yucatan Peninsula and southern Mexico, Chiapas state
also into Guatemala. Some of these were actually not quote-unquote discovered until 1920s by
archaeologists because the forest had grown so thick in parts of Yucatan people that know Well
some locals of course knew they existed but by outsiders archaeologists and others they didn't
know about these for quite some time. This is an Olmec head that had been unearthed in southern
Mexico actually in Oaxaca state of Oaxaca which is just slightly to the northwest of Chiapas which is
the far southern Mexican state. So these groups are still with us particularly the Maya their
descendants. It's not we talk about the Maya in terms of the Mayan Empire when they were big at
one point but there's still a lot of Mayan speakers and descendants of the Maya today particularly in
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico also in parts of Chiapas which is the state the foremost southern
Mexican state that borders Guatemala but also Guatemala itself. We also have some of the Zapotec
groups which are actually descended from some Olmec and Aztecs and we have a number of
different groups. One of the big contributions of the Aztecs is that a lot of people in Mexico still have
Aztec blood in them many of them Spanish, conquistadors and others intermarried with Aztecs and
other Native American groups in Mexico to create this mestizo class which means people have both
Native American and European ancestry. Well it turns out that about 60% of Mexico that's three out
of five Mexicans are mestizo have both Native American as well as European ancestry but these are
some areas where native languages are spoken by more than half the people and there's a lot of
Spanish spoken but some people only speak Mayan in a few villages and a few more remote
locations and it's not just Mayan here but that's quite common on Yucatan and also Guatemala,
Southern Mexico but there's other groups like the Zapotec I mentioned some other Native American
This study source was downloaded by 100000900412927 from CourseHero.com on 01-21-2026 14:18:01 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/253673324/GCU-323-Lecture-2a-Script-Spring-2026docx/
Script:
All right. This is module 2, which is on cultural, historical, and political geography. So we can talk
about some cultural historical aspects here in this lecture. Now there's actually a very large pre-
Columbian population in the Americas prior, which was prior to the arrival of Spanish. We'll say
pre-Columbian of course before Columbus. You have a lot of large groups and some of these are
quite populous. Native Americans are Amerindian groups and sometimes I turn Amerindian when I
mean American Indian groups in the Americas and in the Caribbean and what is now Latin America
before the arrival of the Spanish. So two groups in the Caribbean particular with the Arawak and
the Carib groups. Of course that's where the word Caribbean comes from. So these are two major
groups that were found in the Caribbean but there's also mainland equivalents to them. So if we
take a look here we have what's called the island Arawak and island Carib. The island Arawak were
primarily on the bigger islands of the Caribbean, the Greater Antilles, and then you have the island
Carib which are mostly on the smaller what we call the Lesser Antilles. Now these groups were
fairly large in number, island Arawak and island Carib. You also had some mainland Carib groups.
The mainland Carib were primarily what is now Venezuela and Colombia today, and you also had a
mainland Arawak now this group is actually quite small it would be the least dense in population of
all these different groups because they're largely in Amazon basin but most of groups in Amazon
basin were actually quite small there are quite widespread but they're actually quite small now the
This study source was downloaded by 100000900412927 from CourseHero.com on 01-21-2026 14:18:01 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/253673324/GCU-323-Lecture-2a-Script-Spring-2026docx/
, mainland Arawak small group low density population in comparison to the Aztecs or Mayas which
were actually quite large in number and had fairly high density. And so we had a number of groups
not only in Caribbean and South America but some of the bigger groups were actually in what we
call Mesoamerica which refers to basically Mexico Central America today that term Mesoamerica is
a historical term referring to the pre-Columbian civilizations that existed there and Mesoamerica
has though the pre-Columbian group here contributed a lot, a tremendous amount. In fact a lot
that's still very evident in Mexican Central American society today for instance one thing that
Mesoamerica contributed was what we call this food trilogy which was very nutritional
combination of corn or maize um and beans and squash now that's very white nutrition
combination that's what they consumed primarily supplemented with some hunting and gathering
in Mesoamerica and some fishing and some other resources but primarily this maize or corn beans
and squash coming out of Mesoamerica which of course when the Spanish arrived they readily
adopted and it's still big part of the culture in Mexico Central America today. So the Mesoamerican
groups of course include the Aztecs which were quite large in number and that's where Cortez first
came and conquered the Aztecs in what is now Mexico City, Tenochtitlan. You also have the Olmec,
the Mayan groups and something's about also the Chichimex these are very large groups that
occupy areas in Mexico and in central America for instance Maya was today primarily in southern
Mexico, Yucatan Peninsula but also in Guatemala. And there's a lot of evidence of course of these
different groups in Mexico City just outside of Mexico City we have these famous pyramids at
Tenochtitlan they're estimated that maybe 100,000 people in this city before the Spanish arrived.
Of course it's today Mexico City, the Valley of Mexico which is the largest city in Mexico and second
largest city today in all Latin America. São Paulo is Brazil's largest so you also had various different
Mayan ruins which you can see throughout Yucatan Peninsula and southern Mexico, Chiapas state
also into Guatemala. Some of these were actually not quote-unquote discovered until 1920s by
archaeologists because the forest had grown so thick in parts of Yucatan people that know Well
some locals of course knew they existed but by outsiders archaeologists and others they didn't
know about these for quite some time. This is an Olmec head that had been unearthed in southern
Mexico actually in Oaxaca state of Oaxaca which is just slightly to the northwest of Chiapas which is
the far southern Mexican state. So these groups are still with us particularly the Maya their
descendants. It's not we talk about the Maya in terms of the Mayan Empire when they were big at
one point but there's still a lot of Mayan speakers and descendants of the Maya today particularly in
Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico also in parts of Chiapas which is the state the foremost southern
Mexican state that borders Guatemala but also Guatemala itself. We also have some of the Zapotec
groups which are actually descended from some Olmec and Aztecs and we have a number of
different groups. One of the big contributions of the Aztecs is that a lot of people in Mexico still have
Aztec blood in them many of them Spanish, conquistadors and others intermarried with Aztecs and
other Native American groups in Mexico to create this mestizo class which means people have both
Native American and European ancestry. Well it turns out that about 60% of Mexico that's three out
of five Mexicans are mestizo have both Native American as well as European ancestry but these are
some areas where native languages are spoken by more than half the people and there's a lot of
Spanish spoken but some people only speak Mayan in a few villages and a few more remote
locations and it's not just Mayan here but that's quite common on Yucatan and also Guatemala,
Southern Mexico but there's other groups like the Zapotec I mentioned some other Native American
This study source was downloaded by 100000900412927 from CourseHero.com on 01-21-2026 14:18:01 GMT -06:00
https://www.coursehero.com/file/253673324/GCU-323-Lecture-2a-Script-Spring-2026docx/
