Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
Native American Religion
Native American religion is hard to explain. This is because there were very many tribes
the religious principles were passed down verbally. Many of these groups had their own
beliefs though many of them were similar in the major aspects.
Native American religion tends to focus around nature. The landscape, animals, plants, and
other environmental elements play a major role in the religion of Native Americans. Many
of the legends passed down were an attempt to explain events that occurred in nature.
Native American religion includes a number of practices, ceremonies, and traditions. These
ceremonies may be in honor of a number of events. Ceremonies may include feasts, music,
dances, and other performances.
Symbolism, especially with animals, is often a common part of Native American religion.
Animals were used to represent certain ideas, characteristics, and spirits. Some Native
American tribes used animals to tell the story of creation, or how the world came to be.
Some creation stories were centered on a raven.
1. Native American religion tends to focus on ____________________________________.
2. What do Native Americans do at religious ceremonies?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________.
3. How do Native Americans use symbolism?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________________________________.
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
Native American Culture
Perhaps no other group of people has quite the rich and storied culture as those
of the Native Americans. They have a history rich in struggle, strife, and triumph.
So many aspects of our modern life were adapted from the old Indian cultures
practiced centuries ago. Many familiar symbols were originated by Native
Americans.
The teepee, totem pole, peace pipe, and moccasins are just a few examples, but
each of these symbols was actually integral pieces of a larger picture that wove
together the tapestry of Native American life. Everything from native plants and
animals to housing to the weather became a part of the culture in Indian life. The
animals were revered as spirits, and although they were hunted and killed, their
skins and hides were used as clothing and drums, their
meat was never wasted, and their spirits lived on in the
mind of the tribes. Most native groups did not believe in
land ownership as the lands were there to share. Though
the land was shared, some groups used the land to grow
crops. They cultivated and harvested plants and used for
various things such as dyes for blankets. The rain and sun
were considered to be Gods, giving a sign to the Indians
as
the seasons changed.
Totem poles were a very integral part of Native American culture. The Indians
believed that each person was assigned the spirit of a particular animal, and that
their spirit was absorbed into this animal in death. The totem pole was a large, tall
wooden carving of various animals, each representing a family member of a loved
one who had passed away. Many people see dream catchers hanging from peoples’
car rearview mirrors, but few know their significance.
The dream catcher is based on a legend told by the Lakota tribe.
It symbolizes holding onto good things in life, while the holes in
the catcher are there to filter out bad thoughts and feelings.
Smoke signals are another interesting aspect of Native American
culture. They were used to communicate to others over a long
distance and are yet another symbol of the proud heritage of the
Native American.
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
1. What are some familiar Native American symbols?
_______________________________________________________
2. How did Native Americans feel about animals? How do you know?
________________________________________________________________________
_______________________________________
3. How did many Native Americans view land and crop ownership?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
4. What does a totem pole symbolize?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
5. What does a dream catcher symbolize?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
6. What does a smoke signal symbolize?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
Native American Women
Women played a very important role in the life of the Native American. They were more than
just mothers of the tribes’ children. They were builders, warriors, farmers, and craftswomen.
Their strength was essential to the survival of the tribes.
In most cases, the women were actually in charge of gathering materials and then building the
homes for everyone. They maintained their homes’ roof, and created new houses for tribes to
live in. This is an astonishing achievement, particularly for the women of their time. The men
knew that women were the source of life, and provided a feeling of strength and consistency to
their lives. The women in Native American tribes often helped their men to hunt down buffalo.
Then, when the buffalo were harvested, the women were responsible for skinning, cutting, and
cooking the animal. They also gathered firewood, cooked, and repaired clothing and shoes.
Native American women were not simply homemakers. In fact, many tribes like the Lenape and
the Iroquois were matrilineal. Ancestors were traced through the mother’s side; women took
part in major decisions like choosing leaders and deciding whether or not to go to war. They
served a great deal of important purposes and were essential to the tribe in other ways as well.
Women made tools and weapons out of animal bone. Not only were there medicine men in
the tribes but there were medicine women as well. In fact, many Native American tribes
believed that the women had more healing power and were able to soothe ill souls with their
chants and connection to the spirit world. Medicine women gathered herbs to create healing
medicines for those who fell sick within the tribe. Additionally, most Native American women
were master craftsman who made beautiful blankets, baskets, and pottery. Jewelry was
another favorite. There was a feeling of mutual respect between the men and women of the
tribes. They cared for their children and husbands, just like the modern woman does today.
Without their help, it would have been very difficult for the Native Americans to survive.
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
1. What are examples of responsibilities women had inside of the home?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
2. What are examples of responsibilities women had outside of the home?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
3. What was the role of a medicine woman?
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
Spotlight on Native American Nations
Powhatan Federation (1547 –1618)
Powhatan was the leader, or chief, of the
Powhatan federation of Indians, a group of
some thirty tribes, that occupied Virginia in
the 1600s. Originally, there were many
different Algonquian tribes in Virginia,
including the Powhatan, Pamunkey,
Mattaponi, and Chickahominy tribes. They
shared the same language and culture, but
each village was independent from the others. In the 16th century, Chief
Powhatan united all these villages into the Powhatan Confederacy. Many
villages joined the Powhatan Confederacy willingly. Others were conquered
by Chief Powhatan.
His proper name was Wahunsenacawh and he was the father of Pocahontas.
The Powhatan spoke an Algonquian language.
Location
Powhatan was actually the name of one of the towns where
Wahunsenacawh lived, in the east end of the city of Richmond, Virginia. It
was also the name of the adjacent river, which today is called the James
River. When he created a powerful empire by conquering most of Tidewater
Virginia, he called himself the "Powhatan", which is actually a title rather
than his given name.
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
They lived in small round houses called wigwams, or in larger Iroquoisstyle longhouses. Some Powhatan villages were palisaded (surrounded by log
walls for protection), and each village had a council house and food storage
building.
The Powhatans were farming people. Powhatan women planted and
harvested corn, squash and beans. Powhatan men hunted for deer, turkeys,
and small game and went fishing on the shores. Powhatan foods included
soup, cornbread, and stews. Powhatan warriors used tomahawks or heavy
wooden war clubs. They also carried shields. Powhatan hunters used bows
and arrows. Fishermen used nets and pronged spears to catch fish from
their dugout canoes.
1. Where did the Powhatan live? ______________________________________________________
2. What were their homes? _______________________________________________________________
3. How did the Powhatan get their food?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What were the Powhatan known for?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
Iroquois Confederacy (1575-1787)
The Iroquois Confederacy, made up of six Nations, was formed in about 1575. The Iroquois
Nation includes the Onondaga, the Oneida, the Seneca, the Mohawk, the Cayuga, and the
Tuscarora. In order to join the confederacy, each nation had to abandon cannibalism and
advance “peace, civil authority, righteousness, and the great law.” Held together mainly by
their desire to stand together against invasion, the tribes united in a common council
composed of clan and village chiefs; each tribe had one vote, and unanimity was required
for decisions. The joint group of 50 peace chiefs embraced all civil affairs at the intertribal
level. The Iroquois League is the name for the cultural union of these nations; the Iroquois
Confederation is the name for the political union.
The Iroquois are from New York State. Near their palisaded villages (villages surrounded
by walls made of wooden stakes or tree trunks for defense) which were often surrounded
by moats, the Iroquois planted maize, squash, and beans--the Three Sisters. They hunted
deer and bear, caught fish, tapped the sugar maples, and gathered a variety of plant foods.
They lived in large bark longhouses, each house holding as many as sixty people and
headed by a clan mother.
The Iroquois Confederacy allied with the British during the Revolutionary War. Though the
Iroquois Confederacy was dissolved after the British lost the Revolutionary War, the
Iroquois League still exists today. The Iroquois have always prided themselves on
diplomacy and even today the Iroquois travel the world speaking of peace.
5. What nations make up the Iroquois Confederacy?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
6. Where did the Iroquois live? ______________________________________________________
7. What were their homes? _______________________________________________________________
8
Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
8. How did the Iroquois get their food?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
9. What were the Iroquois known for?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
10. What is the difference between the Iroquois League and the Iroquois Confederacy?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Algonquin
The Algonquin are original natives of southern Quebec and
eastern Ontario, in Canada. For most of the year they lived in
settled villages of birch bark houses, called wigwams. During
the winter, the village split up to go to hunting camps, and each
Algonquin family built a smaller cone-shaped wigwam like this
for their camp, also made from birch bark. Algonquin Indian
tribe was famous for their birch bark canoes. Over land, the
Algonquin used dogs as pack animals. (There were no horses in North America until
colonists brought them over from Europe.) The Algonquin used sleds and snowshoes to
help them travel in the winter.
Algonquin women gathered plants to eat and did most of the
child care and cooking. Men were hunters and sometimes went
to war to protect their families. Both genders took part in
storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. In the
past, the Algonquin Indian chief was always a man, but today a
woman can be chief too.
The Algonquin were semi-nomadic hunter-gatherers. That means they didn't do much
farming, and moved around a lot as they collected food for their families. Besides fish and
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
meat, the Algonquin gathered berries and wild plants to eat. They also traded with
neighboring tribes to get corn, and made maple syrup from tree sap.
The Algonquin often fought with the Iroquois, but when they weren't at war with them, they
were trading partners. The Algonquin traded beaver pelts and other furs for Iroquois corn
and tobacco from the south.
1. Where did the Algonquin live? ____________________________________________________________
2. What were their homes? ____________________________________________________________________
3. How did the Algonquin get their food?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What were the Algonquin known for?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What was the Algonquin relationship with the Iroquois?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
Delaware/Lenape Natives
The Delaware natives, also called the Lenape, originally lived along the Delaware River
in the Delaware Valley in Eastern Pennsylvania and western New Jersey. They speak a
form of the Algonquian language and are thus related to the
Miami natives, Ottawa natives, and Shawnee natives. The
Delaware were called "Grandfathers" by the other Algonquian
tribes because of their belief that the Delawares were among the
oldest groups in the Algonquian nation.
Like the Algonquins, the Lenape Indians lived in bark houses
called wigwams. The frame was made by bending branches to form a dome shape.
These branches were tied together with vines or leather thongs. The wigwam was then
covered by bark or hides. There was a hole at the top to let out smoke from the small
fireplace inside.
They constructed large fish baskets to gather the catch. Using bows and arrows, the
men hunted a variety of animals, although deer, elk and bear were the Lenape’s largest
prey. Deer were often hunted by surrounding or herding them into pens or rivers. This
method involved many people forming into a large a circle as possible and by using fire
or noise to drive the animals to the hunters where they could be easily killed.
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Name _________________________________________ Date ____________________ Period ______
Native Americans in North America (pre 1600s)
Chapter 1, Section 2 notes
Trapping was another means by which the Lenape caught animals
like beaver, otter, muskrat, raccoon, mink and wild cats. Turkey,
eagle and other birds like partridge, pigeon, wild ducks and geese
were also shot or caught in traps to be part of the Lenape
diet. Women were responsible for the planting and harvesting of
crops and gathering wild foods.
Delaware/Lenape social system has matrilineal clans, that is, children belong to their
mother's clan, from which they gain social status and identity. The mother's eldest
brother was more significant as a mentor to the male children than was their father,
who was of another clan. Leadership passed through the mother’s
bloodline, and women elders could remove leaders of whom they
disapproved. Agricultural land was managed by women and allotted
according to the subsistence needs of their extended families.
As British colonists immigrated to North America, the Delawares
fled westward away from the land-hungry Europeans. While trying
to escape the British colonists, the Delawares encountered the
Iroquois natives, who struggled with the Delawares and drove them
further west. Some Delaware natives came to live in eastern Ohio
along the Muskingum River, while others resided in northwestern Ohio along the
Auglaize River. Once in Ohio, the Delawares grew into a powerful tribe that often
resisted the further advances of the Iroquois.
1. Where did the Delaware live? ____________________________________________________________
2. What were their homes? ____________________________________________________________________
3. How did the Delaware get their food?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What were the Delaware known for?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
5. What was the Delaware relationship with the Iroquois? The Europeans?
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________________________________
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