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Native American Cultures in North America
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.
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?
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.
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.
• During the Ice Age, much of the Earth’s 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.
• 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.
• 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.
Theory
• Another theory is that people traveled by boat along the coast or across the oceans.
• 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.
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.
• Because of the extreme cold, there were few plants to eat so the Inuit hunted seal, whale, caribou, and other animals for their food.
• 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.
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.
• The Kwakiutl also found many uses for wood. They built large homes from cedar trees and then decorated them with wooden carvings or paint.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
Nez Perce (NEHZ PURS)
• Lived in the Plateau region between the Cascades and Rockies. They traveled on the region’s many rivers and settled in the valleys.
• 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.
• 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.
Hopi
• The Hopi are among the oldest Indian groups in the Southwest. They began living in what is now Arizona before 1350.
Hopi
• They are one of several groups known as Pueblo (PWEH bloh) Indians.
• Pueblo means “town” in Spanish.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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.
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.
• 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.
• 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.
Seminole
• In the 1700’s, some of the Creek people moved to Florida.
• 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.
• The Seminole made clothes from fur and woven grasses.
• They traded goods with Spanish colonists in Florida.
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?
