VOA慢速英语2019--美洲原住民是美国首都地区的第一批居民

During his time as president of the United States, Gerald Ford¹ decided² to build an outdoor swimming pool at the White House. National Park Service workers examined the ground where the pool would be built. They found Native American artifacts, evidence of the people who lived in Washington, D.C. up to 1,000 years ago.

"Very little is known about the earliest Native Americans in Washington, say from 12,000 to 16,000 years ago," said Ruth Trocolli. She is the city archaeologist for the District of Columbia (D.C.). She works³ to identify and protect the city's archaeological treasures.

Washington sits at the place where two major rivers, the Potomac and the Anacostia, come together. Those waterways date back to Earth's Ice Age.

"The location was hot, hot, hot for Native Americans...because there was water available all year round," Trocolli said.

The Native Americans went fishing in the Potomac and the Anacostia. Once a year, when shad swam upriver from the Chesapeake Bay, tribes⁴ would come inland to what is today Washington and camp near the water.

"They would catch... the fish, probably drying it, and while everyone was together, they probably had parties and feasts⁶ and weddings and funerals and spiritual ceremonies," Trocolli said.

At the time when Europeans first arrived in the area, three Native groups had come to power: The Piscataway in southern Maryland; the Susquehannock in Pennsylvania; and the Powhatan in Virginia.

The Nacotchtanke

The people of Nacotchtanke were allied⁷ with the Piscataway. They were first noted⁸ by English Captain John Smith on a 1612 map of the area. Later changed to "Anacostia," Nacotchtanke was an Algonquin word for "town of traders," wrote the 19th Century Algonquin educator William Wallace Tucker.

Nacotchtanke was made of as many as five villages with a total population of fewer than 400 people, about 80 of them "able men," noted Smith. The main village sat on the east side of the Potomac River at the point where it flows into the Anacostia River. It was the perfect place for trading with other tribes and keeping watch for the arrival of their enemies.

Smith did not describe the people of Nacotchtanke, but eyewitness⁹ reports from other Algonquin groups give a good idea of what they looked like and how they lived.

"The natives are of tall...stature¹⁰, of a skin by nature somewhat¹¹ tawny¹²," Jesuit clergyman Andrew White wrote of the Yaocomico in 1634.

The men did not have facial hair, he said, but painted the lower half of their faces black. They wore deer skin around their bodies for clothing, and White said they also tied their long hair "in a fashionable style" to one side.

"Their weapons are bows and arrows," wrote White. "They direct these with so much skill that at a distance, they can shoot a (small bird) through the middle."

Moving out of Washington

White also wrote that the Yoacomico had a single god but did not worship¹³ him in a formal ceremony. However, they did recognize an evil¹⁴ spirit they called "Okee," and they tried to keep him happy.

About a thousand years ago, the Native Americans in Washington went from being hunters to being farmers.

Just a few streets from the White House, archaeologists in the 1980s found burial grounds. They held the remains¹⁵ of an adult woman who died at least 1,200 years ago.

A half century after the arrival of European settlers, the population of Nacotchtanke had begun to decrease. Some moved to nearby Analostan Island. Others died from disease¹⁶ or joined the Piscataway.

By the time slaves started building the White House in 1792, the Nacotchtanke people were gone.

Words In This Story

artifact – n. something discovered at an ancient site

feast⁵ – n. a large meal of celebration

wedding – n. a marriage ceremony

stature – n. height

tawny – adj. a brownish yellow color

fashionable – adj. influenced by popular culture

worship – v. to honor or recognize a supernatural being

1 Ford   

n.浅滩，水浅可涉处；v.涉水，涉过

参考例句：

• They were guarding the bridge,so we forded the river.他们驻守在那座桥上，所以我们只能涉水过河。
• If you decide to ford a stream,be extremely careful.如果已决定要涉过小溪，必须极度小心。

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

4 tribes   

n.部落( tribe的名词复数 )；（动、植物的）族；（一）帮；大群

参考例句：

• tribes living in remote areas of the Amazonian rainforest 居住在亚马孙河雨林偏远地区的部落
• In Africa the snake is still sacred with many tribes. 非洲许多部落仍认为蛇是不可冒犯的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 feast   

n.盛宴，筵席，节日

参考例句：

• After the feast she spent a week dieting to salve her conscience.大吃了一顿之后，她花了一周时间节食以安慰自己。
• You shouldn't have troubled yourself to prepare such a feast!你不该准备这样丰盛的饭菜，这样太麻烦你了！

6 feasts   

n.盛会( feast的名词复数 )；宴会；宗教节日；使人欢快的事物（或活动）

参考例句：

• There were feasts and drinking and singing by the bards. 他们欢宴狂饮，还有吟游诗人的歌唱作伴助兴。 来自英汉非文学 - 历史
• The fruit was often served at wedding feasts. 婚宴上经常有水果供应。 来自辞典例句

7 allied   

adj.协约国的；同盟国的

参考例句：

• Britain was allied with the United States many times in history.历史上英国曾多次与美国结盟。
• Allied forces sustained heavy losses in the first few weeks of the campaign.同盟国在最初几周内遭受了巨大的损失。

8 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

9 eyewitness   

n.目击者，见证人

参考例句：

• The police questioned several eyewitness to the murder.警察询问了谋杀案的几位目击者。
• He was the only eyewitness of the robbery.他是那起抢劫案的唯一目击者。

10 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

11 somewhat   

pron.一些，某物；adv.多少，几分

参考例句：

• The cake we made was somewhat of a failure.我们做的蛋糕不大成功。
• The two office buildings are somewhat alike in appearance.这两座办公楼在外形上有点相似。

12 tawny   

adj.茶色的，黄褐色的；n.黄褐色

参考例句：

• Her black hair springs in fine strands across her tawny,ruddy cheek.她的一头乌发分披在健康红润的脸颊旁。
• None of them noticed a large,tawny owl flutter past the window.他们谁也没注意到一只大的、褐色的猫头鹰飞过了窗户。

13 worship   

n.崇拜，礼拜；v.崇拜，敬仰；做礼拜

参考例句：

• The Greeks used to worship several gods.过去，希腊人崇奉好几种神。
• Blind worship must be ended.盲目崇拜必须停止。

14 evil   

n.邪恶，不幸，罪恶；adj.邪恶的，不幸的，有害的，诽谤的

参考例句：

• We pray to God to deliver us from evil.我们祈求上帝把我们从罪恶中拯救出来。
• Love of money is the root of all evil.爱钱是邪恶的根源。

15 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

16 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。