How and why did American Indian cultural regions differ?
CHAPTER 3
AMERICAN INDIAN CULTURAL REGIONS
3.1 INTRODUCTION

Adapting to surroundings
 Variety
 Ways

of cultures
of living
American Indians
 Settled
 Nomadic

Cultural Regions
7
different regions
 Use
artifacts to determine regions
3.1 INTRODUCTION

Artifact
 Human-made
object that helps us understand how
the people who made them lived
 Hopi’s
use clay pots to store food
 Indians in the Northwest uses wooden boxes

why>?
3.2 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST
COAST

Lived on a narrow strip along Pacific Coast


South of Inuits
Geography

Dense fir, pine, cedar grew to the coastline
 Settled

Mild climate
 Heavy

on rocky beaches
rainfall
Wildlife

Fish, whales, deer, elk, mountain goats, bears, wolves
3.2 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE NORTHWEST
COAST

Shelter
 Kwakiutls
 Totem

used would from forest
poles outside each home
Clothes
 Cedar
bark
 Protect
from rain
 Also used for rope

Fishing nets and traps
3.3 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE CALIFORNIAINTERMOUNTAIN REGION

Inland from pacific coast
 Southern
California
 Sierra
Nevada
 Great Basin

Various Environments
 Great
Basin=dessert
 California=milder climate

Tribes/Nations/Families
 Shoshones,
Paiutes, Miwoks, Pomos
3.3 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE CALIFORNIAINTERMOUNTAIN REGION

Homes
 Ice

cream
Using nature
 Shells
and beads
 Roots, branches, grasses, reeds, etc
3.4 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST

Driest cultural region
 Southwestern
United States – Northern Mexico
 Mountains, mesas, canyons, and deserts
 Little rainfall & extreme temperatures

Tribes
 Apaches
 nomadics
 Hopis
 settled
3.4 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE SOUTHWEST

Homes
Stone and adobe
 Cliff dwellings
 pueblos


Clothing
Wore cotton
 Weaving for blankets and cloth
 Dyes and decorations


Food

Clay pots
3.5 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU

Between the Cascade and the Rocky
mountains
 Flatlands,
rolling hill, and gorges
 Include Canada and states
 Summers and winters
 Little rainfall
 Water

from rivers
Tribes
 Nez
Perces, Spokanes, and Yakimas
3.5 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE PLATEAU

Natural environment

Plants and animals
 Deer
and bear
 Jackrabbits
 fish
Forests
 Thick grasses, berries and camas


Culture
Underground homes
 Grass clothing
 Digging stick

3.6 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS

East of the Plateau
 Rocky
Mountains to Mississippi Valley
 Canada to Texas
 Mostly treeless grassland
 Many animals
 buffalo

Tribes
 Cheyennes,
Pawnees, Comanches, and Sioux
3.6 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE GREAT PLAINS

Buffalo considered sacred
 Extremely
valuable
 teepee

How were buffalos used?
3.7 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE EASTERN
WOODLANDS

Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean
Four seasons
 Rain=streams and rivers
 Birch, oak and maple trees
 Turkey, deer and beaver


Tribes

Iroquois
 Mohawks,

Senecas
Algonquin
 Mohegans,
Delawares
3.7 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE EASTERN
WOODLANDS

Homes
 Wigwams
 Winter

and summer
Clothing
 Deer
hide and other animal skins
 Capes from turkey feathers

Canoes
 Multiple
trees
 Light weight
3.8 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEAST

Ohio Valley to Gulf of Mexico and Texas to Atlantic
Ocean
River valleys, mountains, coastal plans, and swamps
 Hot weather


Seminoles lived in the Florida Swamplands
Various plants
 Deer, alligators, fish and snakes


Creeks lived in Georgia and Alabama

Became Seminoles under Spanish rule
 Escaped
slaves also joined the tribe
3.8 AMERICAN INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEAST

Homes
 Chickees
 Wooden
platforms
 Slanted roof
 No walls

Clothes
 Leggings

Canoes
for protection
READING FURTHER

The Makahs
READING FURTHER

The Taos
READING FURTHER

The Iowas
READING FURTHER

The Senecas