Native American Cultures in North America

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Native American Cultures in North America
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Georgia Performance Standards

• SS4H1 The student will describe how early Native
  American cultures developed in North America.
• a. Locate where the American Indians
  settled with emphasis on Arctic (Inuit),
  Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plateau (Nez Perce),
  Southwest (Hopi), Plains (Pawnee), and
  Southeastern (Seminole).
• b. Describe how the American Indians used
  their environment to obtain food, clothing, and
  shelter.
• SS4G2 The student will describe how physical
  systems affect human systems.
• a. Explain why each of the Native American
  groups occupied the areas they did, with emphasis
  on why some developed permanent villages and
  others did not.

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Essential Question

• How did the environments of the regions of North
  America impact the choices Native Americans
  (Arctic-Intuit, Northwest-Kwakiutl, Plateau-Nez
  Perce, Southwest-Hopi, Plains-Pawnee, and
  Southeastern-Seminole) made concerning food,
  clothing, and shelter?

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People Arrive in the Americas

• Scientists are not sure how the first humans came
  to North America but there are several theories.
• A theory is an explanation or belief about how
  things happen or will happen.

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Theory

• One theory about how the first humans came to
  North America is that hunters came across a land
  bridge between Asia and North America.

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• During the Ice Age, much of the Earths water was
  frozen in glaciers. In some areas, the ocean
  floor was no longer covered by water. The Bering
  Strait, between Alaska and Asia, became grassland
  and formed a bridge that scientists call Beringia.

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• Humans hunted the animals that lived in the
  Beringia. They followed the animals from Asia,
  across the Beringia, into North America.
• Movement like this, from one area to another, is
  called MIGRATION.

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• It is believed that migration over Beringia
  stopped about 10,000 years ago. Around that time
  the Ice Age began to end and the glaciers slowly
  melted, filling the oceans with water.
• Water now covers the land bridge between Asia and
  North America.

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Theory

• Another theory is that people traveled by boat
  along the coast or across the oceans.

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• The people who came to North America either by
  way of the land bridge or boat followed the
  migrating animal herds across North and South
  America.

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Inuit (IN oo it)

• The Inuit Indians settled near the Arctic, in
  what is now Alaska, Canada, and Greenland. Their
  homeland has a very cold climate where ice and
  snow cover the land for up to nine months each
  year.

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• Because of the extreme cold, their were few
  plants to eat so the Inuit hunted seal, whale,
  caribou, and other animals for their food.

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• Since there were few trees in the area, the Inuit
  used other materials to build their homes. They
  cut blocks of hard-packed snow to build their
  shelters, called IGLOOS. They also built shelters
  made of stones, wood, and caribou skins.

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Kwakiutl (kwah kee OOT l)

• The Kwakiutl Indians were a large American Indian
  group in the Pacific Northwest.
• They built their villages near the coast or
  rivers to make hunting and gathering food easier.
• Their main sources of food were fish and other
  ocean animals.

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• The Kwakiutl also found many uses for wood. They
  built large homes from cedar trees and then
  decorated them with wooden carvings or paint.

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• Because the Kwakiutl did not farm or herd
  animals, they did not have cotton or wool.
• Instead, they made clothing from bark. They
  shredded cedar bark to make skirts, aprons, and
  waterproof capes and hats.

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• Kwakiutl villages had houses built facing the
  sea.
• Members of the same CLAN lived together in a
  large house. A clan is a group of related
  families.
• Each village also had houses that were built for
  celebrations.

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• In the spring, summer, and fall, the Kwakiutl
  left their villages to settle near good fishing
  grounds.
• During the winter months they returned to their
  villages and lived off the food they had dried,
  and used the time to carve, weave, and hold
  celebrations such as potlatches.

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• Today most Kwakiutl people still live along the
  west coast of Canada.
• Because fish are plentiful in that region, many
  still earn their living by fishing.
• Some earn a living by working in the logging
  industry.
• The Kwakiutl carry on many of their cultural
  traditions through dance, songs, stories, and
  works of art.

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Nez Perce (NEHZ PURS)

• Lived in the Plateau region between the Cascades
  and Rockies. They traveled on the regions many
  rivers and settled in the valleys.

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• In the Spring they caught salmon in the river
  valleys. During the summer and fall they gathered
  and hunted different plants and berries. During
  the winter they settled in the villages and lived
  on the food they had trapped or gathered earlier
  in the year.

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• The Nez Perce were once one of the largest
  nations of the Plateau region.
• Today they keep their traditional culture alive
  and work to protect their fishing rights in the
  region.

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Hopi

• The Hopi are among the oldest Indian groups in
  the Southwest. They began living in what is now
  Arizona before 1350.

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Hopi

• They are one of several groups known as Pueblo
  (PWEH bloh) Indians.
• Pueblo means town in Spanish.

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• The Hopi lived in an area of dry land.
• They used irrigation to grow beans, squash, and
  corn (their most important crop).
• Corn was their main crop. They grew yellow, blue,
  red, white, and purple corn. They grew enough for
  the year and kept it in storage rooms in their
  pueblos.

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• The Hopi used the resources available to them to
  make containers to store their water and food.
• They dug clay and shaped it into large and small
  pots. They were some of the first people to fire
  their pottery with coal to make it strong and
  hard.

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• Today the Hopi still follow many of their
  cultural traditions. They live in their villages
  in the Southwest and continue to take part in
  dances and ceremonies.
• They are skilled at making traditional pots,
  weavings, baskets, and silver jewelry.
• Some Hopi hold jobs in local companies, are
  teachers, or run their own business.

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Pawnee

• The Pawnee lived in the Eastern Plains where
  there was enough rainfall to farm.
• They live in what is now known as Nebraska and
  parts of Kansas.

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• They settled in permanent villages near rivers
  and built earth lodges.
• A lodge is made using bark, earth, and grass.
  These homes helped protect the Pawnee from cold
  and stormy weather.

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• Unlike other Plains Indians, the Pawnee had two
  different economies. They farmed for half the
  year and hunted for the rest of the year.
• In the spring and fall, the Pawnee stayed in
  their villages and raised crops such as corn,
  squash, and beans.
• In the summer and winter,
• they hunted buffalo
• on the Plains.

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Seminole

• In the 1700s, some of the Creek people moved to
  Florida.

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• They wanted better land for farming and hunting.
  They also wanted to avoid conflict with other
  American Indians.
• These Creek people became known as the Seminole
  Indians.
• They built their homes along rivers and streams.
  Each village was made up of about 30 families.
• They hunted birds and caught fish from the
  rivers. They grew corn, melons, and beans.

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• The Seminole made clothes from fur and woven
  grasses.
• They traded goods with Spanish colonists in
  Florida.

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Essential Question

• How did the environments of the regions of North
  America impact the choices Native Americans
  (Arctic-Intuit, Northwest-Kwakiutl, Plateau-Nez
  Perce, Southwest-Hopi, Plains-Pawnee, and
  Southeastern-Seminole) made concerning food,
  clothing, and shelter?

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