Cultures of North America

Chapter 1 Section 2

Culture

Culture is the entire way of life developed by a people.

Example: customs, ideas, beliefs, homes, clothes, religion, economy, language, skills taught to new generations.

Mound Builders

Some things that archeologists discovered about Mound Builders are:

Mounds were used as burial grounds for important leaders.

Shells and turquoise were found in the mounds which showed that they traded with other peoples.

Mounds were used for religious ceremonies.

Anasazi The Anasazi lived in Southern Utah, Colorado, Northern

Arizona, and New Mexico. The Anasazi used irrigation to farm. They built their homes are large cliffs made from adobe

(sun dried brick) to protect themselves from attacks by other tribes.

They were skilled at making baskets, pottery, and jewelry. They were involved in trade.

Hohokams

The Hohokams lived in Arizona. They used irrigation from the Salt and Gila Rivers

in present day Arizona to farm. They traded seashells which they used to make

jewelry and used them during religious ceremonies.

Ways of Life

The Native Americans can be classified as living in several cultural areas.

A cultural area is a region in which groups of people have a similar way of life.

Although regions were different, the Native American groups shared some basic traits.

Basic Traits

Women collected roots, wild berries, nuts, acorns, and seeds.

Men hunted for game and fish. Native Americans learned to grow crops native to the

climate in which they lived. They used pointed sticks to dig holes in the ground. They also used bones and shells to help cultivate the land.

Shared Beliefs

Native Americans felt a close relationship to nature.

They believed in spirits of nature and these spirits were a part of their everyday life.

Storytellers memorized history and beliefs and then recited them.

This is how tradition was passed from generation to generation.

Native Americans of the Far North Inuit were the Native Americans who lived in the far

North. They lived in harsh conditions where much of their land

was covered with ice year round. They lived on fish, shellfish, and birds. They hunted caribou, moose, bear, and smaller animals. They used kayaks to hunt seals, walruses, whales. Kayaks are small boats made from animal skins.

The Native Americans from the North West

The Native American tribes who lived in the North West stretched from Alaska to Northern California.

They lived off of deer, bears, berries, roots, and salmon. High ranking people of the North West practiced a custom

called Potlatch. A Potlatch is a custom where the host showered his guests

with gifts such as woven cloth, baskets canoes, and furs.

Native Americans of the Far West The Native American tribes who lived in the far west could face

very cold winters in the North and desert-like conditions in the South.

In California, the warm summers and mild winters allowed for an abundance of food.

Some Native Americans lived in pit houses and others lived in cone shaped houses made from bark.

The Native Americans of the South West

The Native American of the South West lived in Arizona, New Mexico, Southern parts of Utah and Colorado.

These people faced dry times as well as wet lands due to the ever changing weather.

These people farmed, and were able to find a way to store water during times of drought.

Pueblo People

The tribes such as the Hopis and the Zunis built large apartment houses out of adobe.

The Native Americans of the Great Plains

The People of the Great Plains lived in area that stretched between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains.

They lived mainly from farming. Women planted corn, beans, and squash in the

river valley.

Great Plains cont. The people who lived on the Plains built their

houses from wooden sticks and animal skins in the form of teepees.

Some people dug pits and lived near their field that they grew their crops on.

Hunters followed the buffalo where they ate the meat, used their skin for teepees, and bones for tools.

Eastern Woodland The Native Americans from the Eastern

Woodlands lived in Southern Canada, The Great Lakes, and along the Atlantic Coast to Virginia.

These people lived off of hunting, fishing and foraging for nuts and berries.

Algonquians lived in the Southern Canada to Great Lakes area.

The Iroquois lived in the New York area.

Iroquois

The Iroquois were made up of five distinct nations. Each nation had its own clan or family that were

related to one another. Membership in a clan was passed on from mother

to child. Women held great importance to the Iroquois. Women chose the sachem or tribal leader.

The League of the Iroquois During the 1500’s, the 5 nations went through a

period of constant warfare. The Iroquois leaders convinced their people to

make peace. They formed the Union of the League of the

Iroquois. It established a council to make laws to keep the

peace.