Early Native Americans Of

North America

Did you Know?

Native Americans who hunted buffalo, such as the Apache and Navajo, relied on the animal for meat. The buffalo, however, served other uses such as hides for clothing, pouches, and dolls; hair for headdresses and pillow stuffing; tails for whips; hoofs for glue; and horns for cups and spoons.

Click on me to learn more

Many Native American cultures existed in North America before Europeans arrived in the 1500’s.

The Hopi

Natives of the Pueblo

The Hopi

• Hopiti- means “the gentle people”.• The Hopi were one of the Pueblo people.

(They still are.) Their religion and the way they governed themselves was the same as all Pueblo people. Their language, however, was unique, which was one reason the Hopi were different from other Pueblos.

Daily Life

• The Hopi learned to adapt to a desert environment.

• Skilled farmers, builders and potters.

• Homes were made of clay called adobe.

Basic Needs

• Like all Pueblos, the Hopi were excellent farmers. They grew corn, beans, squash, melons, pumpkins, and fruit. They made wool and fabric clothing. Their homes were made of adobe. They stacked their homes, like the Ancient Ones, and used ladders to reach the various levels.

• Most pueblo towns had a round structure called a kivas that was used for religious ceremonies.

Natacka Festival

• This festival is somewhat like Halloween, only the trick and treaters are adult men. During the 9-day Hopi purification ceremony, giant Natackas (men in costume) go from house to house, begging. The Natackas hoot and whistle if they are turned down.

Click on the butterfly toView the Hopi Butterfly Dance

Kachina Ceremonies

• Important part of Hopi religion.• Spirits came for half the year to bring rain and

help the crops grow.• Spirits also helped the people to learn how to

live and behave.• During the dances dolls were given out and

were used to teach children about their culture, the land and religious beliefs.

Marriage

• In ancient times, a bride and groom announced their engagement by brushing each other's hair. Once people noticed they were engaged, the bride would visit her future husband's family. While visiting, she would prove her skills by grinding corn or baking bread.

• The groom and his male relatives wove the wedding clothes. The bride always wore a dark blue blanket dress and a cotton shawl. Wedding dresses were not handed down from one generation to the next. Each person received his or her own wedding garments. In the Hopi way, people were buried in their wedding clothes.

Roles of men and Women

• Women owned the land and the house. Husbands lived their wives' families, as was the custom in most Pueblo tribes. Women cooked, cleaned, took care of the kids, and wove baskets. The men planted and harvested the food, hunted, performed ceremonies, and did the weaving. Weaving was important as the cloth would be used to make ceremonial costumes - costumes used in religious ceremonies.

• The men planted and harvested the food, hunted, performed ceremonies, and did the weaving. Weaving was important as the cloth would be used to make ceremonial costumes - costumes used in religious ceremonies.

Customs

• When a child was born, it was the Hopi custom that he or she would receive a gift of a birth blanket and a perfect ear of corn.

Naming Ceremony

• Naming a baby was very important to the Hopi. Everyone in the village made suggestions. The parents would not be the ones to finally name the baby. That honor was reserved for the tribal or village leaders, not the parents. But everyone in the family could come with blessings and give suggestions of names for the baby.

Hopi Children

• Like all Pueblo, children had very strong ties to everyone in their family. As they got older, everyone in their family would begin to teach the children the Hopi ways

• . The girls would learn how to design clay pottery, make food, and weave baskets. The boys would learn how to make tools and weapons and how to hunt

• Before children could become adults and marry, they had to pass a test of courage. Girls would go off with the women, and boys with the men. The actual coming of age ceremony for each individual was secret. But all ceremonies were tests of courage.

Pottery

• All the southwest tribes made gorgeous clay pottery. The Hopi were no exception. They made beautiful pots, carved and painted with designs that told a story. Some pots were used for cooking. Other were used for storage. The best pots were used for religious ceremonies.

Weaving

• Once, weaving was done only by the men. Hopi weavers made all the white cotton kilts worn by the men. They made all the ceremonial customs. Their designs were bright and cheerful, with patterns of birds and flowers in a great many colors. Only a few knew how to braid the rain sash with its many intricate knots.

Jewelry

• The southwestern tribes used turquoise to make jewelry, and still do. They believed turquoise was the stone of happiness, health, and good fortune.

Baskets

• The Hopi method of making baskets has not changed for hundreds of years. They still make baskets with the old patterns, in the old way, woven with long grasses, and designed with natural dyes

Dry Farming

• Geographic features: tall mountains deep canyons steep mesa

Annual rainfall 4 to 20 inches

What is dry farming?

• Dry farming involves raising drought-resistant or drought-evasive crops (that is, crops that mature in late spring or fall) and makes the best use of a limited water supply by maintaining good surface conditions—loosening the soil so that water may enter easily and weeding so that the moisture is better utilized

•Mesa: a mountain or hill with a flat top and steep sides.

• The Hopi’s built dams and irrigation canals.• Grew crops with long roots to

reach the underground water.

The Navajo

Natives of the Pueblo

The Navajo• Navajo :means great planted fields. • Dine: means “ the people”.• Name given to the largest non-Pueblo people

by the Spanish.

• Today Navajo tribes live in the region called the Four Corners of the United States.

History

• Related to the Apache • Arrived in northern New Mexico in the late

1300’s. • Often raided other tribes creating conflict.• However, did have a peaceful relationship with

the Hopi.

• The Navajo learned many things from the Hopi.

Farming methods Weaving Jewelry making

Basic Needs

• The Navajo were farmers, hunters and gatherers. They hunted on horseback. But they tended sheep and planted corn. The sheep were important. Sheep provided wool and food. Corn was even more important. In olden times, the Navajo held religious ceremonies to honor "The Corn People", the supernatural beings who kept the corn safe. The Navajo also grew beans, squash, melons, pumpkins, and fruit.

Clothing

• When the weather was cold, they wore clothing made from deerskin, sheepskin, and wool. These clothes were very colorful. They wore silver jewelry and decorated with turquoise.

• When the weather was hot, they wore very little clothing.

• In olden times, the Navajo did not live in villages. They lived in small family groups. Each family lived near their corn fields. The men hunted deer and the women took care of the sheep and the crops.

• They lived in homes called Hogans. They had winter and summer homes.

• Hogans were made of wooden poles covered with tree bark and mud. They were permanent structures. They were also very dark and gloomy. They had no windows, and only a small hole in the ceiling to let out smoke. The door of a hogan always faced east to welcome the rising sun.

• Hogans were usually one room affairs. People sheltered in the hogan at night. The only furniture in a hogan was bedding. Bedding was usually a sheepskin on the floor.

• Each Navajo family had two hogans - one in the desert and one in the mountains.

• The southwest area of the county, especially the areas in which the Navajo lived, were subject to flash floods. In case of any disaster, having two homes allowed them to move quickly. They also moved seasonally. And they moved if they needed fresh grazing land, or if their food and water supply dried up.

• The Navajo believed in being prepared. You can see this in their homes.

Navajo homes appear to be very simple, they are organized in a very special way, which reflects their belief that all things play a role in maintaining harmony in the world. The front door facing east toward the rising sun of the new day.

The hogan was organized inside to reflect different activities,

knowledge, and objects that relate to the four sacred directions:

• East: physical and mental knowledge – emphasis that one should exercise the body and train the mind.

• South: daily work responsibility, place for storing tools associated with daily work.

• West: social responsibility, place for telling/hearing oral history and Navajo way of life.

• North: protection and ceremonial knowledge, place for storing herbs, medicines for healing, and other objects used to restore balance.

Roles of Women and Men• Women: Women owned the property. Property

was passed down from mother to daughter.

• Men: The men spent their lives with a small group of relatives on their mother's side. Whey Navajo men traveled, they looked for members of their mother's clan. He knew these relatives would offer shelter, food, and entertainment. When a Navajo man married, he moved to this wife's home.

Coming of Age Ceremony

• A woman's coming of age was the day the tribe officially recognized that she was no longer a girl - she was a woman.

• As part of the ceremony, the medicine man conducted a "sing ".

• Once the sing was concluded, the girl ran to the east. She was escorted by a group of young men who made a terrible racket to keep evil spirits away.

• Everyone gathered for a feast presented by her family. The main dish at the feast was a huge corn cake.

• Navajo children are encouraged to run at dawn when the sun is rising in the east.

• The Navajo believe that physical and mental knowledge come from this sacred direction.

Customs

• In olden times, as part of the Navajo wedding ceremony, a bride and groom would eat out of the same basket.

• While they were eating, all their relatives would get a chance to lecture them about anything at all.

• A Blessingway was performed to bless the new marriage.

• After the ceremony, the groom became a member of his wife's family. When he traveled, he looked for members of his wife's family with whom to stay, not his own family.

• The Eastern Woodlands extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River and from Canada to Florida.

• This region was abundant with natural resources.

• The forest provided wildlife for hunting, wood for building homes and canoes and plants and berries for medicine.

• The soil was fertile and ideal for farming. The water bodies were filled with fish, shellfish and sea animals.

North and South

• The Native Americans that live in the various parts of the Woodland regions adapted to the different seasons and type of land.

• The Penobscot lived in the mountain region known today as Maine. Since farming is difficult in this part of the region they were nomads and moved as the game that they hunted moved. The Penobscot were also hunters and gathers.

North and South

• In the South the Natchez lived in a mild climate. Here the land was fertile and the people were farmers.

• The Natchez were descendants of the Mound Builders.

The Hodenosaunee(The Iroquois)

• Mainly lived in what is now New York.

• Include 5 tribes or nations. These included the Seneca, the Mohawk, the Cayuga, the Onondaga, and the Oneida.

Culture of the Iroquois• Lived in longhouses that were buildings made

of poles and covered in sheets of bark.• These homes held several families that share a

common space but also had their own private space.