Chapter One – Converging Cultures

Section 2 – Native American Cultures

1. The Westa. The Southwest

1. Zuni (NM) and Hopi (AZ) tribes developed from the descendants of the Anasazi and Hohokam tribes.

A. Depended on corn to surviveB. Matrilineal cultureC. Boys joined kachinas at age six

1. Brought messages from the gods

a. The Pacific Coast1. From SE Alaska to Washington state2. Did not depend on agriculture3. Used lumber from dense forests4. Abundant fish (salmon)5. Tribes further inland relied on hunting/farming

a. The Great Plains1. Became nomadic after 1500 (war or drought?)2. Pawnee, Kansas, Iowa farmed as well as hunted3. Sioux traveled following buffalo herds (lived in teepees)

A. Sioux mastered horses B. Achieved fame through bravery (hunting,war) scalps

1. The Far Northa. Two major tribes were Inuit and Aleut

1. Relied heavily on huntingA. Polar bears, walruses, seals, whales, caribou

2. Developed harpoons, dogsleds and kayaks, boots with spikes to walk on ice, goggles to prevent snow blindness, all to adapt to the climate.

3. First to use lamps heated from whale oil or blubber

1. The Eastern Woodlandsa. The Northeast

1. Divided into two language groups (Iroquois or Algonquian)2. Algonquian speaking people settled in what is now New England3. Many practices slash and burn agriculture (nitrogen rich)4. Wooden longhouses or wigwams

1. Wamponoag (MA) Pequot (CT) Narragansett (RI) Powhatan (VA) Delaware (DE, PA) and Shawnee (OH)

a. The Iroquois League1. Lived in longhouses and large towns protected by stockades2. Also lived in kinship groups (extended families headed by elder woman)3. Formed Iroquois League to maintain peace to protect from the Huron People4. Agreed to a Great Binding Law5. Led by 50 chiefs selected by the women who led the kinship groups

a. The Southeast1. Almost all people lived in towns2. Women farmed and men hunted (deer, bear, bear, waterfowl, alligator)3. Influenced by the Mississippian culture4. Towns arranged around a central plaza5. Largest group was the Cherokee (NC, TN)

A. 20,000 people among 60 towns6. Creeks were also a large group (GA,AL)

A. Lived in War Towns and Peace Towns