Ch. 1 Sec. 2

THE WEST

Mesoamerican civilizations helped shaped Natchez society.

By the time Europeans arrived in the Americas, Native Americans were fragmented into many different groups.

The different groups were scattered across many different regions throughout the Americas.

The fragmentation of the American west was especially severed due to the extreme variations in climate and geography.

THE SOUTHWEST

Were descendents of the Anasazi and the Hohokam.

These groups included the Zuni, Hopi, and other Pueblo peoples.

Depended mainly on corn for food, but also planted squash and beans.

When a man and a women got married, they went to live with the mother in her home.

THE SOUTHWEST

Work between men and women was separate among the Indians of the American Southwest.

Men farmed and herded sheep, performed ceremonies, made moccasins, and wove clothing.

Women took care of the home, crafted pottery, and hauled water.

THE SOUTHWEST

When boys turned six, they joined the Kachina cult.

The Kachina cult was responsible for bringing in good messages from the gods.

The Kachina cult would visit towns wearing mask and performed ceremonial dances that were supposed to represent “good spirits.”

THE PACIFIC COAST

Groups included the Tlingit, Haida, Kwakiutls, Nootkas, Chinook, the Pomo and the Salish.

Lived in areas bordering the Pacific Ocean stretching from southwestern Alaska to Washington state and California.

Pacific Coast Indians didn’t practice agriculture. The relied mainly on fish and hunting animals like deer.

Pacific Coast Indians are most famous for their ceremonial mask and totem poles.

THE GREAT PLAINS

Included the Kansas, Pawnee, Sioux, and Iowa peoples

Great Plains Indians were influenced by the Hopewell and the Mississippi cultures.

Before the Europeans came to the Americas, most of these native cultures were nomads because they were forced to abandon their villages due to war.

The most well known of the Great Plains group was the Sioux.

THE GREAT PLAINS

The life of the Sioux changed dramatically after the arrival the Europeans because the Spanish introduced them to horses.

The Sioux were able tame and train the newly introduced horses and became some of the fiercest mounted warriors ever to exist.

The Sioux were very well known for scalping the heads of the enemy the defeated in battle.

THE FAR NORTH

The Inuit and the Aleut made their home in the far north areas of the Americas (Alaska, Greenland, and the Aleutian Islands).

Depended heavily on hunting (seals, walrus, polar bears, and caribou).

Invented a wide variety of things to help them deal with the harsh cold environment (harpoon, kayak, dogsled, ivory spikes, and snow goggles).

THE EASTERN WOODLANDS

Located East of the Mississippi River and south of the Great Lakes.

Provided for themselves by combining hunting , fishing, and farming.

Also planted corn, beans, and squash.

PEOPLE OF THE NORTHEAST

Divided into two major groups, those who spoke Algonquin and those who spoke Iroquoian.

Algonquian speaking people lived in present-day New England, and in areas around the Delaware and Ohio River Valleys.

Succotash, hominy, moccasin, and papoose are all words that come from the Algonquin language.

PEOPLE OF THE NORTHEAST

Stretching west from the Hudson River, southern Ontario, and the north Georgian Bay.

Included the Huron, Neutral, Erie, Wenro, Seneca, Cayuga, Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk.

Practiced slash and burn agriculture. Lived in longhouses and wigwams

PEOPLE OF THE NORTHEAST

All of the Iroquoian people lived in kinship groups that were led by the elder woman of the family.

Iroquois women were in charge of harvesting crops of up to 10 related families that lived together.

Separate Iroquois tribes began to fight one another and started killing each other off.

In an effort to prevent the Iroquois from dying off, tribal leaders got together put together The Constitution of the Five Nations.

PEOPLE OF THE NORTHEAST

The Constitution of the Five Nations was an alliance among all Iroquoian people that was later named the Iroquois League.

Under the Iroquois League, Iroquois tribes followed the Great Binding Law that defined how the alliance worked.

Women selected the tribal chiefs, and would get rid of appointees if they felt they did a bad job.

PEOPLE OF THE SOUTHEAST

Included the Cherokee, Choctaw, Chickasaw, Natchez, and Creek.

People of the Southeast divided themselves into two groups.

War Towns were where war leaders lived and men trained for war.

Peace Towns were where political leaders lived.

THE END