Ep. 139 Cahokia: Why We Misunderstand the Scale of Indigenous Civilizations in North America
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Ep. 139 Cahokia: Why We Misunderstand the Scale of Indigenous Civilizations in North America

42:51 Nov 16, 2025
About this episode
This week I’m shattering preconceived notions that Indigenous Americans north of Mexico didn’t build cities. That they organized, instead, into only small, nomadic villages. Because, for around 800 years there was a great city, the largest pre-Colombian city north of Mexico, a city that, if you were to have visited in the year 1200, is theorized to have been larger than both London and Paris at that same time. In fact, it held the record for largest city in the now United States for almost 700 years from around 1100 until Philadelphia broke the record in the 1780s. I’m talking about the city of Cahokia which sprawled along the Mississippi River in southern Illinois, a testament to the true scale, potential, and abilities of Indigenous Americans in what is now the United States. Never heard of it? I hadn’t either. Let’s fix that. Support the show! Join the Patreon (patreon.com/historyfixpodcast)Buy some merchBuy Me a CoffeeVenmo @Shea-LaFountaineSources: “Cahokia: A Pre-Colombian American City” by Timothy R. PauketatCahokia Mounds Museum SocietyEBSCO “Cahokia Becomes the First North American City”Wikipedia “Cahokia”Wikipedia “Mississippian Culture”Shoot me a message! Support the show
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