1. Great Basin
Mrs. McClary
4th Grade

2. Overview
The Great Basin Native Americans lived in the region east of the Northwest coast in today’s Nevada, Idaho, and Utah

3. How did they get their food?
Native American groups on the Great Basin were hunter/gatherers
The animals available to the Great Basin Indians included deer, sheep, antelope, rabbits, hares, reptiles, snakes and insects.
The sparse natural resources included seeds, berries, nuts, roots, leaves, stalks and bulbs. The principal resource were pinyon nuts (pine nuts). Seed bearing grass species, such as Indian rice grass were common in the high desert areas and important to the food supply of many of the peoples.

4. Way of Life
The Great Basin (or desert) groups lived in desert regions and lived on nuts, seeds, roots, cactus, insects and small game animals and birds. These tribes were influenced by Plains tribes, and by 1800 some had adopted the Great Plains culture. The climate, land and natural resources that were available to the Indian tribes resulted in the adoption of the Great Basin Indians culture.

5. Land
The Geography and Environment can be generally described as dry, desert areas with very low levels of rainfall. There are high mountains and arid plains and deserts, deep canyons and occasional lakes. Very hot summers and cold winters. The Basin Indians acquired horses from the Europeans in the 1700's and many migrated to the Great Plains to hunt buffalo.

6. Religion
The Religion, Ceremonies and Beliefs were based on Animism. Animism was a commonly shared doctrine, or belief, of the indigenous people of North America and Canada including the Great Basin Indian tribes. Animism is based on the spiritual or religious idea that the universe and all natural objects have souls or spirits. In this religion it is believed that souls or spirits exist not only in humans but also in animals, plants, trees, rocks etc. This belief is also extended to natural phenomena such as thunder storms and rain and geographic features such as mountains, caves or rivers also possess souls or spirits. Tricksters feature in the legends and mythology of the Great Basin peoples as do heroic figures or "transformers" who transform, or change, the world into its present state.

7. Should We Stay or Go? Great Basin people mostly migrated
The different types of Houses, Shelters and Homes depended on the materials available and whether the home was permanent or temporary. The homes of the Great Basin Indians included Hogans.

8. Clothing
These people made their clothing from animal skins and plants