Native Americans Native Americans were the people who lived in America before people from other countries came here.

Native Americans respected nature. They took care of the earth and only used what they needed. **Cultural practices, including beliefs and religious practices, varied by the region and how they interacted with their physical environment.**

Native Americans used natural resources to meet their needs. trees water stones buffalo **They depended on the region in which they lived and how they interacted with their physical environment.**

Native Americans lived in culture groups. The people in a culture group have the same way of life. A culture group is a group of people who live in the same region. **Native Americans’ styles of governing were based on culture.**

Native Americans lived in five different regions.

Each region had different physical surroundings. Some regions had forests. Others were mostly desert.

Still others had oceans nearby.

Each region had different natural resources. Each culture group used the natural resources in its region to meet its needs.

For this reason, Native American culture groups had different homes. **Native Americans depended on the region in which they lived and how they interacted with their physical environment. Methods and types of food were based on region and physical environment The types of homes constructed were based on physical environments of the region.**

Let’s review. We know: Native Americans were the first Americans. Native Americans respected nature. Native Americans used natural resources. Native Americans lived in different regions. Native Americans had different homes. Native Americans got food in different ways. Native American culture groups had different ways of life due to their different physical surroundings and natural resources.