THIS IS A SIDE ABOUT THE CULTURES OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS
I LOVE THE WAY THEY LIVED AND FEEL VERY CONNECTED TO THEM
Many different Indian groups lived in North America. Each groups had its own language and customs. Several groups of Indians often shared the same culture. A culture is the way of life of a group of people, for example, the Plains Indians shared the same land, dressed the same way, spoke the same language, hunted for food, and practiced religion in the same way. That is why they are considered to be their own culture group.
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Culture |
Homes
|
Food |
Clothing |
Interesting
Facts |
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Northwest culture |
wooden
lodges |
salmon and
other fish |
made
of tree bark |
totem poles
potlatch ceremony |
|
California-Intermountain
culture
|
wickiups
|
acorns, fish and shellfish |
made
of animal skins |
basket-making |
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Southwest
culture
|
adobe apartment
buildings |
corn, beans and squash |
made
of cotton fibers |
pottery and basket-making Kachina dolls |
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Plains
culture
|
tepees
|
buffalo
|
made
of buffalo hides |
war bonnets |
|
Eastern Woodland culture |
longhouses,
wigwams |
deer, rabbit squirrel, berries |
made
from hides of small animals |
la crosse, wampum, weaving |
California-Intermountain culture:
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The Great Basin got
it's name because it is an area between two mountain ranges and the rivers
there do not flow to the ocean. There were few people living in the area.
The names of tribes in this area were Shoshone, Paiute and Mono. |
|
The plateau area
north and west of the Great Basin was home to tribes named the Nez Perce,
the Ute, and the Umatilla. |
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Before the
Europeans came to California,
there were many native people living there in many different small tribes.
Californian people spoke at least eighty languages. The Hupa and the
Shasta were tribes that lived in northern California. The Cumash and the
Salina people lived along the coastline. The Maidu and the Miwok lived in
the desertlike eastern area and the Pomo lived in the area just north of
what is now San Francisco. |
In the northern area, the plateau, there are mountains and forests.
Spruce, balsams and aspens grow higher in the mountains.
The states of Washington, Oregon and Idaho are in the
plateau area.
In the southern area, the Great Basin, there are flatlands with salty soil and sand
where very little grows but sagebrush. It is very dry and desertlike, but cold.
As in the southwest desert, piñon and ponderosa pines and juniper grow.
This area
includes Utah, Nevada and parts of Wyoming and Colorado.
California is the area west of the Sierra Nevada mountains to the Pacific Ocean.
Northern California has a cool, moist climate.
There are dry, hot deserts in eastern
California, and southern California is sunny and mild.
The people of the Plateau built structures that were like the teepees of the Plains people,
but instead of animal skins, the pole framework was covered with woven mats of plants and reeds.
The Northwest Indian Culture was in what is today the states of Washington, Oregon, and northern California. Many small tribes such as the the Makah the Chinook, and the Tillamook lived in this culture area. The tribes in this culture were much smaller than the other cultures.
Outside of each wooden lodge was a totem pole. The totem pole was
considered a very important part of the lodge. Some lodges even had totem poles
decorated on the inside beams of their homes.
Each lodge had a
different totem pole.
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The Makah were a tribe of Northwest Indians. They lived in what is now the state of Washington. They were great whale
hunters. The
Makah hunted whales in a canoe. This was very dangerous because the whale
might turn and cause the canoe to tip over or break the canoe in half. The
harpooner stood in the front of the canoe. He always talked to the whale.
He promised the whale that if it let itself be killed, it would be
rewarded in the village with singing and dancing. After the harpooner had
promised the whale these things, he raised his harpoon and threw it into
the side of the whale. There was a rope tied to the end of the har
poon. All the men held on tightly. Eventually the whale would tire and
stop fighting. Then it was harpooned until it died. Every part of the whale
was used. The skin and meat were eaten, the blubber , or fat, was used
for oil, and the tendons were used to make
rope.
The Makah kept their promise. When the whale was brought to the village there was much celebrating! |
The
California Indians lived in a culture where food
was plentiful and the land was rich. Because of this, these Indians had much
less trouble finding food than some of the other Indian cultures.
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The California Indians were hunters and gatherers. They gathered nuts, seeds, berries, roots, bulbs, and tubers. Deer, rabbits, and game birds provided meat for these Indians. Fish also provided food the these Indians.
The climate of the Southwest is very dry. Much of the land is a desert where few plants will grow. The Southwest is made of uneven land with canyons and mesas (ma' suz). A mesa is a landform that is made of rock, and that is shaped like a high flat table.Water was a precious natural resource in this culture. The Indians in this culture had strict rules about the use of water. Even the very young children were taught to be careful with the water they used. There were very few animals in the desert. This meant that the Indians could not depend on hunting to find food. They had to find other ways to get food. They became farmers. Some important Southwest Culture tribes are the Anasazi, Hopi, Pueblo,Navajo.
The Anasazi were farmers. They lived at the base, or bottom, of the mesa, but they farmed on the top of the mesa.They carved small toe and finger holes into the side of the cliff. In this way, they were able to climb up and down the mesa carrying heavy burdens.The Anasazi men went to a special room for religious ceremonies. This special room was called a kiva. (keeva) A kiva was a round room built underground at the base of the homes. Only men were allowed into the kiva.
The Hopi Indians have lived in the same area of the Southwest since before the time of Columbus. They lived in what is now Arizona. They lived on desert land at the foot of the mesas.
The Hopi
Indians believed in many gods. The Hopi used Kachinas to talk to their gods.
Kachinas were Hopi spirits or gods which lived within the mountains. Hopi
dancers would dress like Kachinas to represent, or stand for, the gods.
Wooden Kachina dolls were made to teach the children about the gods. The
Hopi believed the Kachina costume gave magic power to the man who wore it.
They felt a man needed magic to talk to the gods. Hopi Kachinas talked to
the gods by singing and dancing. The Kachinas danced and sang for rain. They
did their dances over and over. Sometimes the gods did not seem to hear the
Kachinas, and it would not rain for weeks. At other times the gods seemed to
hear the Kachinas right away, for it would rain and rain. .
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Rain was very
important to the people of the southwest.
In their ceremonies, they would perform rain dances
in the hope that more rain would come.
The Southwest people practice many arts.
They are excellent silversmiths, pottery makers and weavers.
In the northern region of the southwest are tall mountains and deep canyons where rivers flow. The Grand Canyon is in this region. Forests of pine, juniper and piñon grow on the mountains in the middle of the region. The south is mostly desert with sagebruch and cacti. The days can be very hot and the nights very cold because the air is dry. There is not much rain. In parts of Arizona and New Mexico it rains less than ten inches a year.
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The land of the Plains Native Americans stretched from the the Mississippi River to the Rocky Mountains, and from Canada to Texas. Groups like the Lakota and Dakota (Sioux), Pawnee and Arapaho lived in the northern and central part of the region. Tribes like the Kiowa, Apache and Comanche lived in the southern
area. The people of the Plains came from other areas after being pushed out by other tribes. In their old lands, they had
been farmers. In the plains they became buffalo hunters
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The Plains Indian Culture followed the buffalo migration-or movement of the buffalo.
This was called a travois.Buffalo were especially important to southeast Native Americans.
Plains tribes used every part of the buffalo.The hide was used for teepees,
clothing, and drums. Tools used for hunting, building and eating were made from bones.
The meat from the animal provided food. Even the
dung
was used for fuel.
This couple are from the Sioux tribe and are wearing ceremonial dress.
The man is wearing a war bonnet decorated with eagle feathers.
The Plains Indians lived in the area of our country known as the Great Plains.
This culture group of Indians is well-known for the importance of the buffalo,
their religious ceremonies, the use of the tepee, and their war-path customs.
Four important tribes in this culture include the Dakota, Cheyenne, Sioux, and Comanche.
The Plains Indians believed in many gods. They believed the gods showed themselves in the form of the sun, moon, stars, and anything that was strong or strange, such as an animal, person, or even an odd-shaped stone. Powwows were one of the Plains Indian ceremonies. A powwow was a celebration or prayer to the Great Spirit.
An important Plains ceremony
was called the Sun Dance.
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The way for a Plains Indian warrior to earn respect was through battle. Warfare consisted of short raids by small groups to capture horses or kill enemies. A warrior who killed an enemy brought home his scalp to prove it. Warriors would trim their pants and shirts with scalps to show their success. "Counting coup" was an Indian expression that meant the Indian got close enough to his enemy to actually touch him with his hand or his special decorated stick. To be able to do this was considered a high honor. Indians would keep count of how many enemies they had killed by adding a feather to their headdresses or war bonnets. A war bonnet was a head piece worn by certain Indians. The feathers on it represented acts of bravery. |
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Sitting Bull was one of the
most famous Indian Chiefs of the Plains Culture. He was a Sioux leader
in the area that is now known as South Dakota. He lived from l83l-l890.
sioux counsil
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There were two main language groups of Native Americans in the northeast region: Iroquois and Algonquin.
Within those language groups were many individual tribes or nations. In 1570, the League of the Iroquois was
formed from five tribes: the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca.
The Tuscarora tribe joined in 1772, and it became the Six Nations. This
group of people lived in what is now New York state. The Iroquois call
themselves the Hodenosaunee, which means "People of the
Longhouse". |
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The Iroquois built strong fences, called palisades, around their villages to keep out enemies. The villagers met in the center of the village for meetings and ceremonies. They were farmers and grew their crops on the outside of the palisade. |
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The Indians in the Eastern Woodland Culture lived east of the Plains Indians. Because these Indians lived in the forests, they were called the Eastern Woodland Indians.
The Iroquois Indians
lived in the Northeastern part of the Woodland Culture. Today we call this part
of our country New York. The Iroquois Indians were actually a "nation" of
Indians made up of 5 tribes. These tribes were the Senecas, Onondagas, Oneidas,
and Mohawks. These tribes were hostile, or war-like, to each other until
they joined together to become the "League of the Five Nations". Even after the
forming of this nation there was still some fighting among the 5 tribes.
The Iroquois built
log walls all around their villages.
The most important foods for
the woodland people were corn, beans, pumpkins and squash. They called them the
"Three Sisters". The native Americans of the woodlands, especially the Iroquois,
were farmers.
Deer were especially important to woodland Native Americans.
They provided many things for them.
Clothing was made from skins of animals.
Tools used for hunting, building and eating were made from antlers, bones.
The meat from the animal provided food
Another important food for the woodland people was wild rice. The women would paddle their birch bark canoes in the shallow water on the edges of the lakes. They bent the wild rice plants over the canoe and hit the plants so the rice fell into the boat.
The Cherokee lived mainly in what is
now Tennessee and Georgia.The Cherokee were considered to be excellent farmers.
They had large farms which grew corns, beans, and squash. The men would paint
their skin and decorate it with tattoos. The women would sew feathers into light
capes made of netting.The Cherokee were considered one of the most "civilized"
Indian tribes of North America. They had their own government, laws, courts, and
schools.IN ONE of the saddest stories in our history, thousands of men, women,
and children were forced off of the land they loved and moved into crowded forts
with very little food. This horribly long, sad journey of the Cherokee has
become known in history as "The Trail of Tears".
The land of the southeast woodland Native
Americans stretched from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and from the Gulf of Mexico to the
Ohio River. What are now the states of Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama,
Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Florida are in the
southeastern region.Large groups like the Cherokee, the Chickasaw and the Creek lived in the northern part of the region. Tribes like the Natchez, Biloxi and Seminole lived in the southern area |
The southeast is a land of mountains, rivers and forests in the northern area
and grasses and swamps in the south. Natives grew corn and tobacco.
| Mound Builders were Inidans who built large mounds, or hills, or earth. There were two types of mounds, flat-topped and conical. Flat-topped mounds were flat on the top. These mounds were used as the base for temples or chief's homes. |
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The Mound Builders were like the
Pueblo Indians.
Mound Builders was not their name, just a name given to them
because of the types of homes or type of community they lived in.
The culture of the Mississippian Mound Builders is found in Cahokia, Illinois,
which is very close to where we live.The Mound Builders were farmers.
They planted corn, squash, beans, and other seed plants.
They also hunted for nuts, berries, and small animals.
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