Transcript Native American Cultures in North America

Native American Cultures in
North America
Georgia Performance Standards
SS4H1: The student will describe how early Native
American cultures developed in North America.
a. Locate where the American Indians settled with
emphasis on Arctic (Inuit), Northwest (Kwakiutl),
Plateau (Nez Perce), Southwest (Hopi), Plains
(Pawnee), and Southeastern (Seminole).
b. Describe how the American Indians used their
environment to obtain food, clothing, and shelter.
SS4G2: The student will describe how physical
systems affect human systems.
a. Explain why each of the Native American groups
occupied the areas they did, with emphasis on why
some developed permanent villages and others did
not.
Essential Question
 How did the environments of the regions
of North America impact the choices
Native Americans (Arctic-Intuit, NorthwestKwakiutl, Plateau-Nez Perce, SouthwestHopi, Plains-Pawnee, and SoutheasternSeminole) made concerning food, clothing,
and shelter?
People Arrive in the Americas
• Scientists are not sure how the first
humans came to North America but there
are several theories.
• A theory is an explanation or belief about
how things happen or will happen.
Theory
• One theory about how the first humans
came to North America is that hunters
came across a land bridge between Asia
and North America.
• During the Ice Age, much of the Earth’s
water was frozen in glaciers. In some
areas, the ocean floor was no longer
covered by water. The Bering Strait,
between Alaska and Asia, became
grassland and formed a bridge that
scientists call Beringia.
• Humans hunted the animals that lived in
the Beringia. They followed the animals
from Asia, across the Beringia, into North
America.
• Movement like this, from one area to
another, is called MIGRATION.
• It is believed that migration over Beringia
stopped about 10,000 years ago. Around that
time the Ice Age began to end and the glaciers
slowly melted, filling the oceans with water.
• Water now covers the land bridge between Asia
and North America.
Theory
• Another theory is that people traveled by
boat along the coast or across the oceans.
• The people who came to North America
either by way of the land bridge or boat
followed the migrating animal herds across
North and South America.
Inuit (IN oo it)
• The Inuit Indians settled near the Arctic,
in what is now Alaska, Canada, and
Greenland. Their homeland has a very
cold climate where ice and snow cover the
land for up to nine months each year.
• Because of the extreme cold, there were
few plants to eat so the Inuit hunted seal,
whale, caribou, and other animals for their
food.
• Since there were few trees in the area, the
Inuit used other materials to build their
homes. They cut blocks of hard-packed
snow to build their shelters, called
IGLOOS. They also built shelters made of
stones, wood, and caribou skins.
Kwakiutl (kwah kee OOT l)
• The Kwakiutl Indians were a large American
Indian group in the Pacific Northwest.
• They built their villages near the coast or rivers
to make hunting and gathering food easier.
• Their main sources of food were fish and other
ocean animals.
• The Kwakiutl also found many uses for
wood. They built large homes from cedar
trees and then decorated them with
wooden carvings or paint.
• Because the Kwakiutl did not farm or herd
animals, they did not have cotton or wool.
• Instead, they made clothing from bark.
They shredded cedar bark to make skirts,
aprons, and waterproof capes and hats.
• Kwakiutl villages had houses built facing
the sea.
• Members of the same CLAN lived together
in a large house. A clan is a group of
related families.
• Each village also had houses that were
built for celebrations.
• In the spring, summer, and fall, the
Kwakiutl left their villages to settle near
good fishing grounds.
• During the winter months they returned to
their villages and lived off the food they
had dried, and used the time to carve,
weave, and hold celebrations such as
potlatches.
• Today most Kwakiutl people still live along the west
coast of Canada.
• Because fish are plentiful in that region, many still earn
their living by fishing.
• Some earn a living by working in the logging industry.
• The Kwakiutl carry on many of their cultural traditions
through dance, songs, stories, and works of art.
Nez Perce (NEHZ PURS)
• Lived in the Plateau region between the
Cascades and Rockies. They traveled on
the region’s many rivers and settled in the
valleys.
• In the Spring they caught salmon in the
river valleys. During the summer and fall
they gathered and hunted different plants
and berries. During the winter they settled
in the villages and lived on the food they
had trapped or gathered earlier in the
year.
• The Nez Perce were once one of the
largest nations of the Plateau region.
• Today they keep their traditional culture
alive and work to protect their fishing rights
in the region.
Hopi
• The Hopi are among the oldest Indian
groups in the Southwest. They began
living in what is now Arizona before 1350.
Hopi
• They are one of several groups known as
Pueblo (PWEH bloh) Indians.
• Pueblo means “town” in Spanish.
• The Hopi lived in an area of dry land.
• They used irrigation to grow beans, squash, and
corn (their most important crop).
• Corn was their main crop. They grew yellow,
blue, red, white, and purple corn. They grew
enough for the year and kept it in storage rooms
in their pueblos.
• The Hopi used the resources available to
them to make containers to store their
water and food.
• They dug clay and shaped it into large and
small pots. They were some of the first
people to fire their pottery with coal to
make it strong and hard.
• Today the Hopi still follow many of their cultural
traditions. They live in their villages in the
Southwest and continue to take part in dances
and ceremonies.
• They are skilled at making traditional pots,
weavings, baskets, and silver jewelry.
• Some Hopi hold jobs in local companies, are
teachers, or run their own business.
Pawnee
• The Pawnee lived in the Eastern Plains where there was
enough rainfall to farm.
• They live in what is now known as Nebraska and parts of
Kansas.
• They settled in permanent villages near rivers and built
earth lodges.
• A lodge is made using bark, earth, and grass. These
homes helped protect the Pawnee from cold and stormy
weather.
• Unlike other Plains Indians, the Pawnee had two
different economies. They farmed for half the
year and hunted for the rest of the year.
• In the spring and fall, the Pawnee stayed in their
villages and raised crops such as corn, squash,
and beans.
• In the summer and winter,
they hunted buffalo
on the Plains.
Seminole
• In the 1700’s, some of the Creek people
moved to Florida.
• They wanted better land for farming and hunting. They
also wanted to avoid conflict with other American
Indians.
• These Creek people became known as the Seminole
Indians.
• They built their homes along rivers and streams. Each
village was made up of about 30 families.
• They hunted birds and caught fish from the rivers. They
grew corn, melons, and beans.
• The Seminole made clothes from fur and
woven grasses.
• They traded goods with Spanish colonists
in Florida.
Essential Question
 How did the environments of the regions
of North America impact the choices
Native Americans (Arctic-Intuit, NorthwestKwakiutl, Plateau-Nez Perce, SouthwestHopi, Plains-Pawnee, and SoutheasternSeminole) made concerning food, clothing,
and shelter?
Region map of where Indians
lived