CHAPTER TWO VOCABULARY

Native Americans of North America

• A group of families bound together under a single leadership.

league

• An organization that people form which unites them for a particular purpose.

Cultural region

• An area in which people with similar cultures live.

longhouse

• An Iroquois building used for shelter.

wampum

• Polished seashells that were hung on strings or woven into belts.

reservations

• Land set aside by the United States government for Native Americans

• Large, round huts built over a deep hole. Walls of a lodge were made of earth, packed over a wood frame.

• To make a tepee, women set up poles in a circle with their tops coming together at a point and covered the frame with buffalo hides.

travois

• Poles lashed together to transport buffalo meat and other goods.

powwow

• A powwow is a gathering of American Indians.

pueblo

• Spanish word for village

potlatch

• A potlatch is a party. Potlatch comes from a Chinook word meaning “to give away”.

Totem pole

• A carved post with animals or other images representing a person’s ancestors.

Shaman

• A shaman was a person people came to when they were not feeling well.

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