Transcript Native Americans of North America

Native Americans of
North America
Objectives:
Explain what makes a culture a civilization.
Discover the different Native American of our
Country.
The Maya
• About 7,000 years ago people in the Western
Hemisphere learned to plant seeds from foods they ate.
• Civilization is a culture that has developed complex
systems of government, education and religion.
• People were able to grow a surplus of food. A surplus is
an amount greater than what is needed.
• Archaeologists are people who have studied monuments
that the Maya have left behind. An archaeologist is a
scientist who looks for and studies evidence from long
ago.
Aztec
• Objectives
• Analyze the development of the Aztec
empire.
• Evaluate the achievements of the Aztec
civilization.
The Aztec
• By the 1500’s the Inca people had built an
empire that stretched over 1.000 miles. An
empire is a large area of different groups of
people controlled by one ruler or government.
• The Inca were mostly located in the Andes
Mountains. Farther north lay the empire of the
Aztec people.
• In the Aztec empire the Tepanec ruled the Valley
of Mexico. They forced the Aztec to give them
tribute, or payment in the form of valuable
goods.
• War was an important part of the Aztec life.
• The Aztec conquered over 400 cities in central Mexico.
• One purpose for conquering the cities was to obtain
tribute from the people.
• The Aztec had other reasons for conquering peoples as
well. From an early age boys were trained as soldiers.
• Soldiers were sent to fight but not to kill the enemy.
Instead they took prisoners.
• Some prisoners were forced into slavery. Slavery is the
practice of owning people and forcing them to work.
Other prisoners were sacrificed to Aztec gods. To
sacrifice means to give up or destroy for the sake of
something else.
The Anasazi
• Objectives:
• Identify the early Native Americans of the
Southeast and Southwest.
• Analyze the effects that geography had on
the Native Americans in the Southeast and
Southwest.
The Anasazi
• The Anasazi were desert dwellers and
they faced many challenges caused by
geography.
• In moist climates, most artifacts rot or
decay quickly.
• An Artifact is an object left behind by
people who lived long ago.
• Most artifacts have been found in an area
known as Four Corners.
• The Anasazi are known as the “Cliff
Dwellers” because they carved houses
into the sides of cliffs on top of mesas.
• A mesa is a high, flat landform that rises
steeply from the land around it.
• Mesa means “table” in Spanish.
• No one really knows why the Anasazi tribe
can’t be found today, however one theory
states that a severe drought caused them
to have to relocate.
• A drought is a long time without rain.
The Eastern Woodlands
Indians
The Iroquois
• The Eastern Woodland Indians resided
from as far South as Florida to as far North
as Canada.
• There were five groups of tribes of
American Indians.
• A tribe is a group of families bound
together under a single leadership.
• The five tribes were the Seneca, Cayuga,
Onondaga, Oneida, and Mohawk.
• These tribes came together to form a
league called the Iroquois League.
• A league is an organization that people
form which unites them for a particular
purpose.
• A cultural region is an area in which
people with similar cultures live.
Living in the Woodlands
• The Eastern Woodlands Indians lived in thick
forests with nearly endless supplies of wood.
• They used skins for many things such as
clothes. They also traded furs for other needed
supplies.
• The Iroquois lived in a longhouse, a building
used for shelter.
• The longhouse could be as long as 150 feel.
• Each house held as many as 12 families.
• The Iroquois used trees to make swift
birch-bark canoes.
The Great Plains Indians
Life on the Plains
• The Great Plains Indians lived in the Great
Plains Cultural Region.
• This region is a fairly flat region covered
with a sea of grass.
• Unlike the Eastern Woodlands Indians, the
natives of the Great Plains had very few
trees.
• Most natives of this region lived in homes
called lodges.
• Lodges large round huts built over a deep
hole. The walls of a lodge was made of
earth packed over a wooden frame.
• Buffalo was important to the lives of the
Plains Indians. In the summer the Indians
would disguise themselves while hunting
buffalo.
• They disguised themselves like sheep and
wandered quietly into the pack.
• While on the hunt, the Indians would live in
Teepees.
• To make a teepee, women would stand
tall poles in a circle, their tops coming
together in a point. Then they covered the
poles with animal skins.
• People used travois to carry their houses
when they moved.
• A travois is like a wagon pulled by dogs.
The Cheyenne
• The Cheyenne lived in the middle part of
the country.
• In the 1700’s the horse came to them from
Spanish explorers. The horse became a
wonderful help to the native.
• The horse made their settlements easier
to move.
• The horse became so important that they
measured wealth in horses.
The Cheyenne Today
• Today, about 12,000 Cheyenne live on the
Great Plains.
• Some live on a reservation in Montana.
The Southwest Desert
Indians
• People of the Southwest Desert live in the
Southwestern part of the United States.
• Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, just to name
a few are home to many of this tribe.
• They live in the Southwest Desert Cultural
Region.
• They developed a village way of life.
• Pueblo is the Spanish word for village.
Ceremonies of the Hopi
• A kachina is believed to be a spirit of help.
• Natives of this region used to dance to the
Kachina’s for rain. They also danced to
celebrate and honor the Kachina’s for
coming to their aid.
The Northwest Coast
Indians
• Next time you go to or give a party call it a
“potlach”
• A potlach is a party given to celebrate many
things such as a wedding.
• Instead of the host getting gifts they would give
gifts to their guests. The type of gift you received
was directly related to your standing in the
village.
• If you are the Chief you would receive the most
elaborate gift.
Rich Resources
• The Indians lived in the Northwest Coast
Cultural Region.
• This region occupied the north west coast
of the United States and into Canada and
Alaska.
• These Indians were famous for their totem
poles.
• They usually ate from the forest and
ocean.
Customs and Traditions
• A shaman was an important person in the
Kwakiutl culture.
• A shaman was a person people came to
when they were not feeling well.
• They believed the shaman could cure
them.