What If There Were No Trees? PowerPoint Presentation By Dennis Rees K-12 STUDY CANADA Teacher Associate Supplement 1 to Lesson Plan - Native Americans in Tree-less Landscapes

Essential Question: How do people adapt to an environment where there are no trees?

The Great Plains Indians of North America lived in physical regions of both the U.S. and Canada known as prairies.

A prairie is a region of rolling hills and grasslands with few trees except along riverbanks and beside streams.

Many of the Great Plains Indian tribes built moveable shelters called tipis. They were easily put together and taken down.

Tipis were made of wooden poles leaned together and covered with buffalo hides. The interior floor was lined with animal furs with a fire pit in the center.

The Great Plains Indian tribes hunted buffalo as their main food source; however, they also hunted antelope, rabbit, and grouse to eat.

At first the Great Plains Indians hunted on foot. When the horse arrived with European explorers and settlers, they took advantage of it for improved hunting.

The meat they ate was either cooked or dried for future use.

Buffalo dung was the main fuel source. Wood was gathered when available.

These tribes used buffalo and antelope hides to make clothes. They added feathers, animal fur, and glass beads for decoration.

The hides were cleaned and stretched in the sun to tan them.

For transportation, the Great Plains Indian tribes used a stretcher-like sled called a travois. Typically, a person or a dog pulled the sled. Later, horses were used.

Travaux-Piegan (The North American Indian; v.06)

The Inuit people live far above the plains in Northern Canada. Their Arctic homelands are too cold for trees to grow. They live above the “tree line”.

This is a land without trees…

…but with lots of snow, ice, and water.

During the winter, the Inuit traditionally built shelters from blocks of snow called igloos (iglus). /

The interior was lined with animal hides and had a raised platform for a fire.

In the summer, the Inuit traditionally built tent homes called tupiq. The tents had a bone or driftwood frame covered with animal hides.

Fishing was an important way for the Inuit to get food.

They also hunted seals, walrus, and whales in the water…

…as well as caribou and Arctic foxes on the land.

The Inuit ate their food raw, boiled it, or dried it for future use.

For fuel, the Inuit primarily used seal or whale oil. Driftwood (when available) and animal dung were also used.

Traditional Inuit clothing was made of sealskin, caribou hide, and polar bear, Arctic fox, and wolf fur.

The hides were cleaned and stretched out to dry before using.

The Inuit invented kayaks to travel on water. A kayak (qujaq) is made of sealskin over a driftwood or whale bone frame.

On land, the Inuit used the dog sled (qumutiq). The sled was also made of seal skin over a drift wood or whale bone frame.

Now that you have learned about the traditional culture of Great Plains Indians and Inuit peoples… How did they adapt to an environment where there are no trees? Did you notice any similiarities? Did you notice any differences?