Native American Societies

Learning Objective: Students will analyze how geography plays a role in shaping culture Do Now: List three ways in which the geography of a region may shape the culture of the people that live there.

Vocabulary Pueblos- above ground houses made of heavy clay (adobe) Kivas- underground ceremonial chambers Totems- ancestors or animal spirits on tall wooden poles Teepees- cone-shaped shelters Matrilineal- people trace their ancestry through their mothers, not fathers Iroquois League- confederation established by the Cayuga Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, and Seneca

Background… Several early societies developed in North America long before Europeans arrived. Geographic areas influenced Native American cultures Native cultures shared similar beliefs about religion and land ownership.

Early Societies The earliest people were hunter-gatherers After ~5000 BC, some learned how to farm and settled in villages North America had many complex societies

Anasazi One of the Early farm cultures in the Southwest Lived in the four corner region (AZ, NM, Colorado, and Utah) Adapted to a dry environment and grew maize, beans and squash Developed an irrigation system to increase productivity Skilled basket makers and potters Lived in pit houses dug into the ground, after about 750- they began to build pueblos (some housed over a thousand people!!)

Anasazi Often built their houses in canyon walls and had to use ladders to enter…cliff dwellings provided protection! Built kivas at the center of each community. Sacred areas used for religious ceremonies (many rituals focused on harvest and rain) Thrived for hundreds of years… after 1300 they began to abandon their villages due to drought and disease

Mound Builders Several farming societies developed in the eastern part of North America after 1000 BC The Hopewell lived along the Mississippi, Ohio, and lower Missouri river valleys. Large populations were supported by agriculture and trade Large burial mounds built to honor the dead Mounds had flat tops and temples were built on top of the mounds (HUGE!! Some over 1000 feet high

Mound Builders Over 10,000 mounds found in the Ohio river valley alone! Mound building culture declined by the time European settlers came to the Americas (early 1700s)

North and Northwest The far North region of North America is called the Artic. Few plants grow because of the frozen ground Inuit & Aleut

Aluet Inuit Western and South Alaska, lived in multifamily houses and partially underground in modern day Alaska and Canada, lived in igloos and tents -Shared language -Survived by fishing & hunting large animals -depended on Dogs for hunting and pulling sleads

Subarctic Dogrib and Montagnais peoples… followed seasonal migration of deer, lived in shelters made of Animal skins at some points and log cabins at others. Large supply of Fish and game resulted in no need for farming

For Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest, Totem Poles- healed great religious and historic significance

West and Southwest California region…food sources were plenty so farming was not necessary Acorns- major food source!! Ground into flower Fished and hunted Lived in family units of Hupu, Miwok, and Yokuts

Nevada & The Great Basin- received little rain, survived by gathering seeds and digging roots and trapping small animals for food. Most groups in this region spoke the same language

Think about it… Why did some culture areas have fewer groups of people than other culture areas did? What are some natural features that may serve as boarders between cultural areas?

Southwest Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Texas Pueblo groups such as the Hopi and Zuni lived there Adapted to a dry climate (like the Anasazi!)- irrigated the land and grew maize, squash, and beans Religion focused on rain and maize

Apache and Navajo Also lived in the Southwest Nomadic Navajo- also raided Pueblo villages to support themselves

Great Plains Canada to Texas, boarder- rocky mountains Buffalo, deer, elk and other game Nomadic hunters Sometimes chased animals over cliffs and then trapped them in a ring of fire Lived in Teepees made of buffalo skin Many Native American groups- like the Pawnee were Matrilinea

Northeast and Southeast RICH in food and shelter, woodlands Cherokee, Creek, and Seminole- lived in farming villages governed by village councils Algonquin- hunter gatherer (Northeast) South- farmed, hunted, and gathered Many used groups of beaded string known as wampum for money

Iroquois Lived to the east of the Algonquin Farmers, hunters and traders Lived in longhouses (8-10 families) Daily life changed with changing seasons and weather patterns (often moved during winter) IROQUOIS LEAGUE- waged war against and made peace with non-Iroquois people Goal= strengthen alliance against invasion…made Iroquois among the most powerful people in North America