Transcript The First Americans - NHA7

North American Tribes
The first Americans
descended, or came from
immigrants who originated in
Asia. These were the first
people to live in North
America. That is why we call
them Native Americans.
These people have lived in
North America for thousands
of years, and there are still
Native communities today.
• Native Americans were the
first people to live in America.
• They believed that the land
was for everyone to use and
share.
• Some were hunters and some
were farmers.
Native
American
Regions in
North
America
Native Americans of the
Northwest Coast
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These tribes were located in what today are the states of Washington,
Oregon, and northern California.
Indians of the Northwest Coast lived between the ocean and rugged
mountain ranges.
There were plenty of fish in the area, especially salmon, so fish were an
important food source for these tribes
Many native peoples in this region traveled by water in dugouts canoes,
boats made from large, hollowed out logs.
Outside the wooded log structures they used for homes, stood a wooden
pole called a totem pole.
Each totem pole was beautifully carved with shapes of people and
animals. The carvings showed each family’s history and importance.
Native Americans of the
Southwest
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These tribes lived in the region that today is Arizona, New Mexico,
northern Mexico, and southern Utah.
Many different tribes lived in this area.
However, the climate of the Southwest was and is very dry/arid and
much of the land is desert, so the tribes had to adapt to this environment.
While men worked in the fields doing farming work, women ground corn
into flour, using flat, smooth stones and used the mixture to make breads.
Many of these native peoples lived in Pueblos (adobe houses) or Hogans
(a cone shaped home covered with mud or grass).
Native Americans of the
Great Plains
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Native Americans groups also lived on the Great Plains.
Buffalo was the most important natural resource for Native Americans
living in this area.
The Native Americans in this region hunted the buffalo for food and used
every part of the animal.
Buffalo provided these Indians with their basic needs, food, clothing, and
shelter.
Tribes on the Great Plains often lived in tepees a tent like structure that
could be moved from place to place as the people followed the herds.
Native Americans of the
Eastern Woodlands
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The region where these Native Americans lived covered an area from the
east coast of the United States, west to the Mississippi River.
These Native Americans, like the others, depended on the natural
resources around them for all of their basic needs.
The Native Americans of the Eastern Woodlands lived in longhouses.
Longhouses were wooden framed houses in which many families lived
together.
The Iroquois, one of the tribes in this region, often used legends, or stories
handed down over time, to explain the past.
In 1570, the five tribes in this region formed the Iroquois League. This
league was formed because the Indians wanted to work together for
trade partnerships and to deal with the threat of colonization by
Europeans.