Indicator 4-1.2: Compare the everyday life, physical environment, an culture of the major Native American groupings; including, The Eastern Woodlands, The Plains, the Southwest, the Great Basin, an the Pacific Northwest.

Chapter 2 Lesson 1 Page 76

Vocabulary Tribe- a group of families bound together under a single leadership. Cultural region- an area in which people with similar cultures live League- an organization that people form which unites them for a particular purpose. Longhouse- an Iroquois building used for shelter. Wampum- belts of strings of polished seashells that were used for trading an gift-giving by Iroquois and other Native Americans Reservation- land set aside by the United States government for Native Americans

Who were they and where did they live? The people of the Eastern Woodlands live in the eastern part of North America. They settle the areas between just north of the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico an west as far as the Mississippi River. The Appalachian Mountains fun along this region. The two main language groups make up the tribes in this region. They are the Iroquios and the Algonquian Indians. We will be focusing on learning about the Iroquios. The Iroquois was not one tribe but a group of several tribes that lived near each other and spoke similar languages. The "Five Tribes" that first joined to form the Iroquois Confederacy, or League, were the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.

How did they live? The Eastern Woodland tribes lived in one of the largest forests in North America. The thick forests offered nearly endless supplies of wood. Iroquois lived in villages near streams or on hilltops. They used the plants and trees for food, medicines, and shelter. The bark and logs of the trees were used to make canoes, utensils, weapons, and homes. The animals of the forest provide the people with food. They used animal skins for clothing. People hunted animals that were plentiful in the area-such as deer, bear, elk, and beaver.

The Iroquois used the woodlands for both food and clothing. Men hunted for deer; they used the animal hides for clothing and the meat for food. Women tanned the hides and sewed them into shirts and leggings. They also cleared parts of the woodlands of trees to make fields for crops. Thousands of lakes, rivers, and streams provided water and fish. Native Americans grew crops such as corn, beans, and squash in the fertile soil.

The Iroquois people live in longhouses. The longhouses were built of elm logs covered with strips of elm bark. Each house was a home to several families. It could provide for up to twelve families. Each family had a separate space inside the longhouse. Rows of shared cooking fires were placed in a center aisle of the longhouse. It was called a longhouse because it could be as long as 150 feet (half of a football field). The Iroquois called themselves the “People of the Longhouse.”

Native Americans felt a deep connection to their natural surroundings. Their spiritual culture was a part of every aspect of their daily lives. They were very careful to treat animals an the environment with respect. When hunting an animal, a hunter would thank it for its life. They felt that the animal was a brother sent from the Creator to provide them with the gift of food. To show their appreciation for a successful harvest, they had ceremonies to honor the “Great Spirit in heaven”. At harvest time, the Iroquois gave thanks for their crops: “Great Spirit in heaven, we salute you with our thanks, that you have preserve so many of us for another year, to participate in the ceremonies of this occasion.”

A wampum belt might serve as a gift to honor a marriage. It might be given to comfort someone after the death of a loved one. Some belts were create to symbolize an important event. They could even be use as an invitation to peaceful talks. Wampum was highly valued by the Iroquois.

How were they governed? All five Indian tribes formed a union. A union is also called a confederacy. Their government was called The Great Peace Law. Eventually, there were six tribes in the confederacy. The nations who once fought against each other now worked together as brothers and sisters. They worked together as one people. If any one of these nations was attacked, the injury was felt by all of the union’s other nations too.

White leaders like Benjamin Franklin watched the Confederacy and learned democracy from it. One of the good ideas he learned is that each person should be able to speak without being interrupted. Today, our United States government is a lot like the Confederacy.

Chapter 1 Lesson 2 Page 82

Vocabulary Lodges- large, round huts built over a deep hole Tepee- dwelling built by Plains Native Americans, made of poles arranged in a circle covered by buffalo hides. Travois- sled made of poles tied together; used by Native Americans to transport goods across the plains.

Lets explore the Great Plains! The Great Plains were and still are a fairly flat region. Very few trees grew on the dry Great Plains, but millions of buffalo grazed the huge area. Tribes of the Great Plains include the Lakota, the Pawnee, Osage, and the Cheyenne. For a long time, most Plains people followed a farming and hunting life. Because the land was so dry, they settled their villages along rivers. The water from the rivers allowed them to grow crops-corn, beans, squash, and pumpkins.

People used buffalo as a major source of meat. The people made buffalo hides into articles like clothing and blankets. They carved buffalo horns into bowls. They even used the stomachs of buffalos as cooking pots for stew. The Native Americans even used buffalo dung, or manure, to start fires! Buffalos were hunted during the summer and fall. Three or four buffalo could feed a family for several months. Plains Indians could kill their prey by crouching near them in an animal disguise, or by getting the buffalo to stampede over a cliff.

When hunting, people lived in tepees. They built lodges to live in. These were large, round huts built over a deep hole. The walls of the lodge were made of earth, packed over a wood frame. The Plains Indians made travois by lashing the load to two poles. Dogs pulled the travois; the load could weigh up about 75 pounds. Eventually, horses, brought by the Spanish explorers, were introduced to the Plains tribes. The Plains people were very spiritual; they respected the land and everything on it.

How were they governed? The tribes of the Great Plains were led by groups of people, not just one person. They did not have a king. Sometimes these leaders were called “chiefs.” The governments of many Plains tribes were democratic. This means that the chiefs were chosen by the people. Chiefs made the decisions with their people. They were chosen to be chiefs because people trusted them.