North Americans before
Christopher Columbus
8th Grade Social Studies
Four Culture Regions
• Native Americans
have been
classified into four
culture regions.
Four Culture Regions
• A Culture Region is
a place where
methods of living
are the same.
• Culture still exist
today. Think of an
example.
Four Culture Regions
• Four Native
American Culture
Regions were . . .
Four Culture Regions
Pacific
Northwest
Desert
Southwest
Plains
Eastern
Woodlands
Four Culture Regions
1.
2.
3.
4.
Pacific Northwest
• What modern states
did this cultural group
call home?
• Alaska, Washington,
Oregon, Northern
California, Idaho
Pacific Northwest
• What did they eat?
And how did they get
their food?
• Seafood was the
major ingredient in
their diet. They fished
with spears in lakes
and rivers, and
hunted whales in the
ocean.
Pacific Northwest
• How did they adapt to
their environment?
• They built their homes
near water ways to be
near their food. Their
homes were made
from wood with
slanted roofs and
sometimes on stilts.
Desert Southwest
• What modern states
did this cultural group
call home?
• Utah, Colorado,
Arizona, New Mexico
Desert Southwest
• What did they eat?
And how did they get
their food?
• They dug canals to
plant gardens for
food.
Desert Southwest
• How did they adapt to
their environment?
• They built clay homes
out of dried mud
called “adobe.”
These home were
usually built in
canyons or the tops of
mesas.
Plains
• What modern states
did this cultural group
call home?
• North and South
Dakota, Wyoming,
Montana, Kansas,
Oklahoma, Texas
Plains
• What did they eat?
And how did they get
their food?
• Buffalo was the
source of life for the
Plains culture. They
used the buffalo for
food, clothing, tools,
and weapons.
Plains
• How did they adapt to
their environment?
• Most of the years
these people lived in
tipis, which are
moveable homes.
This was necessary
because they always
followed the buffalo.
Eastern Woodlands
• What modern states
did this cultural group
call home?
• All states along the
east coast including
North Carolina.
Eastern Woodlands
• What did they eat?
And how did they get
their food?
• They hunted animals
in the forests and
farmed the fertile soil.
Eastern Woodlands
• How did they adapt to
their environment?
• Since most of the
land was forest, they
used “slash and burn”
to clear land for
planting crops.