1. Native American Cultures
Chapter 1 Section 2
Native American Cultures

2. Native American Cultures
Early Societies
Anasazi
1500 B.C.
Lived in the American Southwest (Four Corners Region)
Farmers were able to do dry land farming of maize, beans and squash
Started to use irrigation
Skilled basket makers and skilled potters
Early members of group lived in pit houses dug into the ground, then about 750 A.D. they built pueblos made of adobe
Pueblos built on top of one another, could house over 1,000 people

3. Native American Cultures
Early Societies
Anasazi
Also built their houses in canyon walls and had to use ladders to get to them which gave them a great defense against foes
Kivas were underground ceremonial chambers at the center of communities
Culture started to disappear by 1300 A.D.
Think it was brought on by drought, disease and raids by other groups

4. Native American Cultures

5. Native American Cultures
Mound Builders
In the Eastern part of North America, many farming societies developed after 1000 B.C.
The Hopewell was one of these
Lived along the Mississippi, Ohio and Missouri River valleys
Supported society with trade and agriculture
Mississippian took control after the decline of the Hopewell around 700 A.D.
Largest City around present day St. Louis was Cahokia and had about 30,000 people
Build hundreds of mounds for religious ceremonies and burial.
Had flat tops with temples built on them.
Size was great (some as big as 100 feet tall and 16 acres)
Others also built mounds, but mound building society no longer was around by the 1700’s.

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7. Native American Cultures

8. Native American Cultures
Native American Cultural Areas
North and Northwest
Divided into Arctic and Subarctic area
Arctic
Little plant life
Home to Inuit and Aleut
Homes were igloos, hide tents and huts
Both shared same language and both fished and hunted
Subarctic
Dogrib and Montagnais
Follow seasonal migrations of animals such as deer
Shelters made of animals skins or log houses
Farther south is the Kwakiutl and the Chinook peoples
Northwest people carved totems on large poles
Held feasts called potlatches

9. Native American Cultures
West and Southwest
Coastal
Food sources were plentiful along Pacific Coast so these groups tended not to farm
Large family groups
Tribes included- Hupa, Miwok and Yokuts
More than 100 languages
East of Sierra Nevada Mountains
Little rain so groups gathered, trapped and hunted for food
Most groups spoke the same language
Groups include- Paiute, Shoshone, and Ute
Southwest
Very dry- irrigated land
Known as Pueblo groups
Religion focused on rain and maize
Built large housing structures out of Adobe
Made fine pottery
Groups included Hopi, Zuni
Apache and Navajo were also groups that supported themselves by raiding the Pueblo people

10. Native American Cultures
Great Plains
Abundance of wildlife such as deer and buffalo
People of Great plains were nomadic hunters
Lived in Teepees
Some were farmers and settled in villages
Pawnee and Mandan
Pawnee were matrilineal or traced ancestry through mothers

11. Native American Cultures
Northeast and Southeast
Areas full of resources for food and shelter
Most groups lived in villages (Cherokee, Creek, Seminole
Northeast groups such as the Algonquin hunted
Many tribes used wampum (string of beads) as a currency
Build log homes or longhouses
Iroquois created the Iroquois League
Confederation of various groups and fought against non-Iroquois people
Iroquois tribes became some of the most powerful in North America
Tribes included Cayuga, Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga and Seneca

12. Native American Cultures
Shared Beliefs
Religion linked to nature
Tried to honor spirits everyday
Individual ownership only applied to crops, the land was for everyone
Land preservation for the future
Didn’t want to join together to form political units so no large empires ever formed.