Indians of North America

Three Types of Cultural Levels in North America Bands Hunter-gatherers Equal, non-ranked society 15-50 people in band Large annual gatherings (macrobands) in spring for mate selection, ceremonial activities and re-organization of micro-bands

Tribal Level Societies Often based in agriculture or animal husbandry Tend to have semi-permanent or permanent villages Nominal leader (first among equals) More complexity Tribal “ownership” of land Villages held together by organizations based on specialties

Chiefdom Level Societies Based on agriculture Hereditary inequality (social classes) Chief---- Hereditary position Ritual Center (town) with villages surrounding it Leader “divine” Complex bureaucracy

Ages of Indians Paleo Ice Age Native Americans Archaic Woodland First used Bow and Arrow Mississippi-Oneonta Cahokia Mound builders Historic Today’s Native-Americans

Tribes of Northwest Coast West Coast Indians Game and fish plentiful Densely populated Very little agriculture Plank houses and seaworthy boats Affluent, complex society Potlatch: rank and prestige determined by how much you could give away

Tribes of Southeast Stretched from Atlantic Ocean to Trinity River in Texas Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Creek & Seminole: 5 Civilized Tribes Forced Relocation in 1800’s: Trail of Tears Settled in River Valleys Farmers primarily who fished and hunted Homes of wood

Tribes of Southwest Located SW of Utah & Colorado to Arizona and New Mexico Both farmers and nomadic tribes Farmers included Hopi & Zuni; irrigated fields Nomads included Apache and Navaho (hunter- gatherers- Most did not eat fish thought they were plentiful Horses changed the lifestyle of these tribes

Tribes of Northeast Tribes that encountered Pilgrims Territory included from Atlantic Ocean to Great Lakes Include Iroquois and Algonquin Traded with each other and warred on each other Many of these tribes matrilineal Iroquois League formed model for the coming together of colonists

Great Plains Indians Most well-known Indians Sioux, Pawnee, Blackfoot, Crow, Cheyenne and Arapaho Very tied to horse culture Buffalo key to survival Before buffalo and horses, they were hunter-gatherers and sometimes farmers