1. Unit 1 Native Peoples of North America
How do people adapt to where they live?
Teacher Notes
The Big Idea: How do people adapt to where they live?
Native Peoples of North America
Unit 1 Native Peoples of North America

2. Big Idea
Lesson 1
Settling the Americas
Native Americans had to adapt to their environment. In other words if it was cold outside, they would need to hunt animals that had fur so they could use it to keep warm. If they were in the desert climate, they would have to find a way to get water to their crops. As a result, these Native Americans had to use the natural resources and animals around them. They did not use more than they needed.
Lesson 2
Native Americans of the West
Lesson 3
People of the Southwest
Lesson 4
Native Americans of the Plains
Click on a Lesson.
Lesson 5
People of the Eastern Woodlands
Lessons

3. Settling the Americas PREVIEW
Lesson 1
Vocabulary
How did early people adapt to life in North America?
archaeologist
glacier
civilization
irrigation
adobe
Teacher Notes
Visual Preview: How did early people adapt to life in North America?

4. Settling the Americas
FILL A glacier is a large mass of ice.
Some archaeologists believe that these glaciers eventually formed a land bridge that connected Asia to North America.
FILL An archaeologist is a person who studies tools, bones, and remains of ancient people.
Teacher Notes
Surpluses in food allowed people time to specialize in trade, building, and pottery.

5. Settling the Americas: hunter-gatherers
The first Native Americans arrived to North America by water routes and land routes created by glaciers
Hunter-gatherers came to America because they were following game that supplied their food and clothing.
SA A typical day for hunter-gathers would involve getting their food by hunting animals and gathering wild berries, mushrooms, and grasses for the long trips.
Teacher Notes
Glaciers trapped water to expose the floor of the Bering Sea between Siberia and Alaska. This formed a land bridge called Beringia.
Hunter-gatherers crossed a land bridge following animals and picked berries, grasses, and mushrooms.

6. Settling the Americas: The Olmec
FILL A civilization is a population whose people share systems of trade, art, religion, and science.
MC 2 Some of the Olmec’s achievements were that they used chocolate for food, developed a calendar, and understood the idea of zero.
Teacher Notes
The Olmec were the first to use chocolate, develop a calendar, and understand the idea of zero.
Teotihuacán was the first major city in the Americas. Its temples and streets were laid out according to the position of the sun
The Maya had a calendar, developed a mathematics system, built pyramids, created a system of writing, and studied the stars.

7. Settling the Americas: The Maya
MC 3 The powerful Mayan civilization declined because they could not produce enough food for everyone.

8. Settling the Americas: The Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo
FILL Irrigation is the method of supplying dry land with water through pipes and ditches.
FILL Adobe is bricks made from mud and straw.
MC 4 Three crops that were important to the Hohokam and the Ancestral Pueblo were maize, beans, and squash.
Teacher Notes
The Hohokam farmed using irrigation and built homes from adobe.
Irrigation supplies land with water through a series of pipes and ditches.
The Ancestral Pueblo built homes into the sides of cliffs and used dry farming.
Dry farming uses collected rainwater and melted snow.
Homes had special rooms, called kivas, for meetings and religious purposes.
Cahokia was the greatest Mississippian city. In 1100 A.D., it was one of the largest cities in the world.

9. Settling the Americas: The Mound Builders
Two factors that affect the way that cultures develop are climate and natural resources. 
MC 1 The Mound Builders lived along the Mississippi River to be near a water source for their crops and for drinking.
The Hopewell used mounds for burials and religious ceremonies.
Mississippians used mounds for burial and to watch the sun and stars.
Teacher Notes
Have students write predictions about why native people settled in specific regions. How did the availability of natural resources affect people’s decisions to settle.

10. Native Americans of the West PREVIEW
Lesson 2
How did the environments of the West affect the lives of Native Americans?
Vocabulary
totem pole
potlatch
Teacher Notes
Visual Preview: How did the environments of the West affect the lives of Native Americans?

11. Native Americans of the West: The Inuit and The Cahuilla
SA The Inuit and the Cahuilla ate different foods because they lived in different regions that provided different natural resources.
(e.g. The Inuit hunted walruses, seals and fish.)
MC 8 The Inuit built igloos for temporary shelters.
SA There were many more hunter-gathers in the Pacific NW because it was rich with natural resources.

12. Native Americans of the West: The Tlingit
They got most of their food and goods from the sea.
MC 9 The Tlingit traveled mainly by canoe to trade their surplus of goods.
Because of the mild, warm, and wet climate, it was easy for them to travel in order to get good food and wood.
MC 7 The Tlingit had an extensive trade network that made them wealthy.
With a lot of free time they became skilled craftworkers making blankets and baskets.

13. Native Americans of the West: celebrations
POTLATCH
A special feast at which guests, not hosts, receive gifts.
The host could give hundreds of gifts at the feast which could last for several days.
Potlatches bring people together for events such as a birth, death, or marriage of a family member.
TOTEM POLES
They are carved logs that are painted with symbols, called totems, of animals or people.
These poles often told stories of important family members or celebrated special events.
As a celebration at a potlatch families would raise a totem pole.
ESSAY

14. People of the Southwest PREVIEW
Lesson 3
How did the desert environment affect people’s lives?
Vocabulary
migrate
hogan
Teacher Notes
Visual Preview: How did the desert environment affect people’s lives?

15. People of the Southwest: The Pueblo
MC 11 The Pueblo built their homes out of adobe. Adobe protects homes from extreme heat or cold.
SA Because they lived in a dry desert environment, they came up with a system of dry farming. Dry farming uses tiny dams and canals to direct water to their crops.
Teacher Notes
Pueblo
The Pueblo used dry farming and built homes from adobe. Homes were secured by raising ladders so intruders could not enter.
They also made jewelry.
Navajo
The Navajo were hunter-gatherers who migrated to the Southwest.
They borrowed ideas from the Pueblo to adapt to the desert environment. They used dry farming, wove cotton to make cloth, and made jewelry from silver and turquoise.
They lived in hogans, which are dome shaped homes made from log or stick frames then covered with mud or sod.
The Navajo captured sheep and became shepherds.
They used the meat for food and they used wool to make clothes and blankets.

16. People of the Southwest: The Navajo
The Navajo lived in hogans which are dome-shaped homes made with logs or sticks and covered with mud or sod.
MC 15 Sheep meat provided food and the wool was used for clothes and blankets for the Navajos.
MC 12 Native Americans of the Southwest lived in the Four Corners. (see map)

17. Native Americans of the Plains PREVIEW
Lesson 4
How did the natural resources of the Plains impact Native Americans?
Vocabulary
teepee
lodge
travois
coup stick
Teacher Notes
Visual Preview: How did the natural resources of the Plains impact Native Americans?

18. Native Americans of the Plains
MC 16 The Great Plains is a vast, nearly flat region filled with plateaus and cliffs where you can see for miles.
Because of the flat land, there are very powerful winds where the climate is blistering hot in the summer and bitter, cold winters.
Teacher Notes
Native Americans of the Plains hunted bison for food, clothing, and to make teepees.
Teepees are cone-shaped homes made with long poles and covered with animal hides.
The Lakota kept records of important events of each year. These records are called winter counts.
Boys and girls were taught different skills to prepare them for adulthood.

19. Native Americans of the Plains: Housing
FILL TEEPEES
Cone-shaped home made with long poles covered with animal skins
Temporary home
FILL & SA LODGES
Homes made of logs covered with grasses, sticks, and soil
permanent home

20. Native Americans of the Plains: Life Skills for Children
MC 17 All children learned good listening skills by listening to stories and singing songs.
FILL coup stick – weapon used by the Lakota to show courage by touching, but not killing an enemy

21. Native Americans of the Plains: Horses
BEFORE HORSES ARRIVED
1. NA hunted on foot. People would chase buffalo over cliffs.
3. NA traveled on foot. They could only travel to a small area around their homes.
AFTER HORSES ARRIVED
2. NA hunted on horseback. This made hunting faster and easier to trade with faraway tribes.
4. NA traveled on horseback. This made travel much faster and allowed groups to travel further from their homes.

22. Native Americans of the Plains: Artifacts
FILL A travois was a sled-like device that was dragged by people or animals.
MC 18 The Lakota used painted picture symbols formed in a circle on bison skin as a calendar.

23. People of the Eastern Woodlands PREVIEW
Lesson 5
Vocabulary
slash-and-burn
longhouse
wampum
Creek Confederacy
clan
Iroquois Confederacy
How did the environment shape Eastern Woodlands cultures?
Teacher Notes
Visual Preview: How did the environment shape Eastern Woodlands cultures?

24. People of the Eastern Woodlands
FILL clans – groups of families that share the same ancestor
MC 21 Clan mothers chose the leaders of the Iroquois.
FILL slash-and-burn - trees were cut/slashed and then the ground was burned to make the soil very fertile.
Teacher Notes
Eastern Woodlands groups used materials from the forest for food and clothing. for example, they ate muskrat and deer meat.
Slash-and-burn farming is when people cut down, or slash, trees to allow rays of sunlight to reach a plot of land. Then they burn the undergrowth to clear room for crops.
After the harvest, they leave the plot of land empty for several years. This prevents the soil from wearing out.
MC 19 & FILL longhouses – built with tree bark on tops of steep-sided hills (Iroquois)

25. People of the Eastern Woodlands
Iroquois
Creek
Alike
had huts for individual families
used wattle-and-daub
arranged around a council hut
stamped designs on pottery
grew corn
celebrated Green Corn Festival
played lacrosse
had longhouses for several families
built of wood
FILL wampum (polished beads made from shells)
Teacher Notes
Creek
The Creek built wattle-and-daub huts for individual families. Huts were made from poles and covered with grass, mud, or thatch.
They arranged the town around a council house or Chokofa.
They also decorated pots with stamps.
Iroquois
The Iroquois built homes on top of steep-sided hills with wood. These homes are called longhouses.
The used high log fences to protect their villages.

26. People of the Eastern Woodlands
Government in the Woodlands
FILL Creek Confederacy - Divided towns into two types: war towns and peace towns.
War towns (red)—declared war, planned battles, and held meetings with enemy groups
Peace towns (white)—passed laws and held prisoners
Teacher Notes

27. People of the Eastern Woodlands
Government in the Woodlands
MC 20 & FILL The Iroquois Confederacy was formed to promote peace among the five Iroquois groups. This was led by Deganawida and Hiawatha.
Became known as Six Nations after the six Iroquois groups that formed it. It is still active today.
Teacher Notes
The League of Six Nations is an example of an early democracy.
Benjamin Franklin borrowed some of its ideas to include in the U.S. Constitution.

28. How do people adapt to where they live?
Big Idea
How do people adapt to where they live?
Inuit of the Pacific Northwest
Live in present-day Alaska
Bitter-cold climate
In the winter they built igloos when they went hunting. In warm weather, they made tents from wooden poles and animal skins.
They hunted walruses, seals, fish, and whales. They used skins for clothing and bones were turned into weapons.
Navajo of the Southwest
Live in present day Four Corners area
Hot-dry climate
They live in hogans which are dome-shaped homes, made with mud or sod and a smoke hole in the roof.
They used dry farming to grow crops in the dry weather. Sheep provided food and wool so they could make clothes and blankets.
Answers
SA Native Americans had to use the natural resources and animals around them. 28

29. How do people adapt to where they live?
Big Idea
How do people adapt to where they live?
Lakota of the Great Plains
Area covered from present-day Montana and the Dakotas down to Texas and Louisiana
The land has powerful winds, blistering summer heat, and cold winters because it is a vast, nearly-flat region.
They would live in lodges for a long time or live in tepees if they were following their food.
They hunted mostly bison and used the meat for food and the skin for clothing, blankets, and shelter.
Iroquois of the Eastern Woodlands
Area covered from east of the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean.
The land was thick with forests so they practiced slash-and-burn to clear the land for farming.
They lived in a longhouse made of tree bark that provided shelter for several families and made high, log fences for protection.
They hunted deer which provided food and clothing and planted the “Three Sisters” of maize, squash, and beans.
Answers
SA Native Americans had to use the natural resources and animals around them. 29

30. How do people adapt to where they live?
Big Idea
How do people adapt to where they live?
Native Americans had to adapt to their environment. In other words if it was cold outside, they would need to hunt animals that had fur so they could use it to keep warm. If they were in the desert climate, they would have to find a way to get water to their crops. As a result, these Native Americans had to use the natural resources and animals around them. They did not use more than they needed.
Answers
Two factors that affect the way that cultures develop are climate and natural resources.  30