First People in North America: Paleo‑Indians via Bering Land Bridge

The Peopling of the Americas

The first humans to enter North America were Paleo‑Indians.

How & When

• Route: Bering Land Bridge (Beringia) – exposed continental shelf connecting Siberia and Alaska during Last Glacial Maximum (sea levels ~120 m lower).
• Timing: Genetic/archaeological consensus: 15,000–20,000 years ago (some evidence pushes to 23,000+).
• Movement: Ice‑free corridor (between Cordilleran & Laurentide ice sheets) or coastal kelp‑highway route (boats along Pacific shore).

Who They Were

• Hunter‑gatherers with distinctive Clovis points (fluted spear tips) ~13,000 ya—once thought "first," now known to be post‑initial.
• Diversified into hundreds of distinct cultures across continents.

Key Point

All Indigenous peoples of the Americas descend from these founding populations. "Paleo‑Indian" is an archaeological term for the earliest widespread cultural horizon—not a single tribe.