Native Americans
1. After the Archaic peoples (who lived 6000 BC to 100AD), there were
five main Ancient Southwest groups who lived and dispersed before
European explorers ever arrived. Who were these five groups? And
what regions did they each live in?
Hohokam lived in the Sonoran Desert of Central and South Arizona;
Salado lived in the Salt river Canyon in Eastern Arizona; Mogollon lived
in the central and southern areas of Arizona and into New Mexico;
Sinagua lived near Sunset Crate in Northern Arizona; and the Anasazi
lived in Utah, Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico in the Four Corners
region.
2. Did they all speak the same language? no
3. The earliest peoples in North America were nomadic - big game
hunters during the Ice Age, followed then by nomadic hunters and
gatherers. When the five groups emerged, what four developments
made them different from their predecessors.
A. They settled in villages
B. They built permanent houses
C. They raised crops
D. They changed from the spear and atlatl to the bow and arrow
4. The Basketmakers were a transitional group living from 100500AD in the Ancient Southwest. What did these Basketmakers
trade for from tribes in Mexico that changed life in North American
forever?
First they learned to grow corn and squash. Then beans from tribes in
Mexico, and they also learned to make pottery,
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5. By 500AD, the Basketmakers, ancestors of the Anasazi, began
making three important innovations. What were they?
Permanent pit house dwellings, pottery, bow and arrows
6. Goods moved from Mexico to the five main groups in the
Southwest – how did they know where to travel to trade?
Traders brought goods along trails worn by generations of traders,
stopping at the major cities that were hubs on these roads. The
Anasazi also built amazing 30 mile roads connecting their towns, and
Paquime also had a road system.
7. Pottery was one of the most beautiful innovations of the Ancient
Ones. Draw a Mimbres bowl and a black on red geometric pitcher
on the reverse.
8. What is a kiva? How do you get into it? What is it used for?
A kiva is a partially underground meeting house used for ceremonies,
dances, and town meetings. It is entered from the roof by a ladder.
9. Mesa Verde is famous for its large and small cliff dwelling sites.
Draw a picture on the reverse of the Mesa Verde ruin you find the
most interesting, including the rock arch and floor of the cliff as
part of your drawing.
10.
Chaco Canyon is also a large, impressive building site with
many pueblos. Draw the floor plan of Pueblo Bonito on the reverse.
How many rooms did it once have to hold mow many people?
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Pueblo Bonito had 600 rooms plus 3 great kivas and 30 small kivas. It
may have supported up to 6,000 people, but it is more likely it was a
ceremonial center that saw large groups gather there several times a
year.
11.
Why do you think the Anasazi left their villages and towns?
Where did they go? What new name is being given to them that is
related to where they went?
There was a drought in the region that limited the water supply, made
their crops fail, and it appears they moved towards the communities
along the Rio Grande River inorder to maintain their agriculture and way
of life. The new name is Ancestral Puebloans, reflecting their role as
being the predecessors of today’s pueblo people.
12.
If you could travel back in time to live in the Ancient
Southwest, which people and place would you chose to live with –
and why?
Dinosaurs and
Petrified Forests
1. What continents in the world have Dinosaurs been found on?
Eurasia, Africa, North America
2. When was their ancient reign? 250 million-65million years ago
3. Name the states in the Southwest where dinosaur bones have been
found:
California, Utah, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, also Texas and Baja
California
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4. Who finds dinosaur fossils? Scientists and amateurs out taking a
walk
5. Name nine plant eating dinosaurs who lived in the Ancient
Southwest:
Alamosaurus, Barosaurus, Diplodocus, Dryosaurus, Stegosaurus,
Nanosaurus, Pentaceratops, Parasaurolophus, Brachiasaurus
6. Name three flesh eating dinosaurs who lived in the Ancient
Southwest:
Alloasaurus, Segisaurus, Coelophysis
7. What type of dinosaur bones was first discovered in North America?
When? And did this same type of dinosaur live in the Ancient
Southwest?
Hadrosaurus were the first found in North America in 1858 and they
are also found in the Southwest.
8. What are the largest and smallest dinosaurs found to date in the
Southwest? How big were they?
Largest : Brachiosaurus, 75’ – 80’ long and 40’ tall
Smallest : Nanosaur. 12” tall and 2’ long
9. Who researches dinosaurs today and where do they work?
Paleontologists and Ichnologists work in the field, in laboratories,
and in colleges and museums.
10.
Where is the largest known accumulation of petrified logs in
the world?
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Painted Desert and Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona
11.
What events cause wood to petrify? Tell us the entire process.
Trees topple, logs are washed down stream in a storm, settle in a low
area, are covered with mud. Then a volcanic explosion takes place and
the silica in the ash seep into the water table. When the silica
permeates the log’s cellulose fibers, it turns to hard crystal minerals.
12.
What types of crystals formed in petrified trees in the
Southwest?
Amethyst, jasper, and smoky quartz
Geology and Earth Sciences
1. Name the most famous canyon in the Southwest. What is its length
and depth?
Grand Canyon is 277 miles long and 5,000 feet deep from rim to river
at the bottom.
2. What natural forces formed this huge canyon, and how old is it?
Plate tectonics forced the land to rise when the Pacific plate slammed
into the North American plate on the west coast. As the inland areas
rose, they tilted and their streams turned into roaring rivers that
eroded out deep canyons over millions of years.
3. In the Southwest there are unusual ancient red rock arches
spanning hundreds of feet like rainbows, only touching the ground
on either end. What are these arches made of? How are they
formed? And where are they most commonly found?
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The arches are most commonly found in Utah, but exist all over the
Colorado Plateau. Some are caused by streams eroding out a mesa as
they try to change course, carving a tunnel through a mesa until it
erodes down to become and arch. Others are caused by wind and ice.
4. What minerals are mined in the Southwest? Are any dangerous?
Coal, uranium ( very dangerous), copper, turquoise and silver have
been the most common minerals mined.
5. What and where is the Colorado Plateau?
This is the land raised to over a mile above sea level in the Four
Corners area where Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico meet. In
its are carved incredible rock formations and famous canyons.
6. Name the two main rivers in the Southwest and where they meet
the sea:
The Colorado River meets the sea in the Gulf of California; the Rio
Grande River meets the sea in the Gulf of Mexico
7. Ancient peoples watched the starry night sky and built stone
calendars that helped them mark time. What types of stone
calendars were made in the Ancient Southwest?
Rock art was sometimes carved or painted on a rock surface in a
position where a beam of light would pierce cracks in the stone above
and shine a dagger of light across the carved or painted rock art at
certain times of the year. Other types of calendars were built into
actual stone and adobe buildings where cracks let light into the
structure where it would shine on certain locations on only certain
days of the year.
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8. What do scientists think the Ancient Ones measured with their
calendars?
The change of the seasons measured by noting the sun’s position on
the horizon at the Solstices; the cycle of the night sky that changes
with the seasons; comets and eclipses.
9. Where is the Sonoran Desert?
Southern Arizona and Northern Mexico
10.
What other deserts are in the Southwest, and where?
Chihuahua Desert is in Southern Mexico and Northern Mexico; Mojave
Desert is in Southern California and Southern Nevada; Colorado Desert
is a smaller desert along the southern border of California and into
Baja California.
11.
What was the Ancient Southwest climate like during the Age
of the Dinosaurs?
Some areas were wet, tropical, and swampy, other areas were dry and
desert like, and in-between areas had moderate rainfall.
12.
How is it different today?
The moist tropical weather has disappeared, and along with it the
plants and animals that need that moisture.
Southwest Artists And Plants
1. Look at the Southwest art works online, and then name five wellknown
19th-20th
century
artists
landscapes of the Southwest.
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who
painted
the
amazing
Thomas Moran, Edgar Payne, Georgia O’Keefe, Taos Society
2. Photographers have also sought to capture the dramatic beauty of
the Southwest. Look at their work online and name four
photographers who helped the world better understand the human
and physical life of the Southwest.
Edward Curtis, Ansel Adams, David Muench, Paul Strand
3. Draw on the reverse a copy of the painting or photograph you liked
the best. What is it about that work that you like?
4. What is the earliest art form from the Ancient Southwest that can
be hundreds of feet across, and is still visible today? Why do you
think they made it?
Rock Art – petroglyphs and pictographs
5. What types of ancient arts and crafts are today’s Pueblos carrying
into the future?
Pottery, baskets, jewelry, painted wood carvings
6. What do Navajo and Pueblo weavers obtain to make natural dyes
for their weavings and which members of their tribes do what kind
of weavings?
Plant leaves and roots, rocks and minerals, are used to color their
yarn. Navajo women are weavers, and Hopi men are weavers.
7. Name the flower Georgia O’Keeffe painted that was an important
part of special religious ceremonies and initiation rites for native
Southwest peoples from California to New Mexico and down in to
Mexico?
Jimson Weed
8. What types of trees did the Chaco Canyon builders use in their
structures? Are there any of those trees left growing there today?
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Ponderosa pines, Douglas fir and spruce from the distant mountains
were hauled to Chaco Canyon from 30-60 miles away. None grow
there today.
9. What plant has been used since ancient times for rope, shoes,
basketry, nets and more?
Yucca
10.
What prehistoric plants did the Ancient Ones gather for food?
Inland Southwest :
Fruits and pads of the cholla, saguaro and prickly pear cactus*
Beans and berries from mesquite and juniper*
Seeds and greens from pigweed, goosefoot, and tansy mustard
Pine Nuts*
Sage*
Coastal Southwest :
Jicama - a juicy root*
Chia seeds - from sage*
Islay - hollyleaf cherry
Indian milkweed - for chewing gum
Tule roots
Pine nuts*
Black Sage - leaves dried and used as an herb
Elderberry - ripe berries were eaten or made into a beverage
Lemonade Berry - berries made into a beverage similar to lemonade
Manzanita - berries were used to make cider or ground into flour
Miner's Lettuce - a succulent wild green that provides salad greens
and a good source of vitamin C
Oak acorn - an important part of the diet of native North Americans
and was the basic flour for cakes and soups
Prickly Pear Cactus - green paddle-like branches and fruit are edible*
Toyon - berries were dried and eaten like raisins
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White Sage - leaves were dried and used as an herb and to make tea*
11.
What wild plants do Native Southwest peoples eat today?
See plants above with * for most commonly eaten wild foods.
12.
Writers as well as painters have worked to capture the
mystery and beauty of the Ancient Southwest and Puebloan life
today. Which of the American writer’s stories on Camp Internet did
you enjoy reading the most? Why?
Southwest Animals and Legends
1. There are endangered animals struggling to survive in the
Southwest. Name these animals and identify what threats they face.
A. What is the endangered four legged, spotted cat that is rarely
seen in the Southwest?
Jaguar – shot at by cattle ranchers
B. What is the cloven hoofed, curved horn animal growing
increasingly rare in the Southwest?
Big horn sheep – threatened by diseases from domesticated sheep herds
C. What animal that howls at night is endangered in the
Southwest?
Grey Wolf
2. Name 15 mammals found all across the Southwest, including
California and northern Mexico (write them on the back and draw a
small sketch of each one):
Mountain lion, mule deer, skunk, bob cat, badger, bear, gray fox,
coyote, porcupine, deer mouse, gopher, rock squirrel, black-tailed
jack rabbit, cottontail rabbit, opossum.
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3. What reptiles live in the Southwest?
Rattlesnakes, horned lizards, chuckwalla lizards, gila monster, toad,
tortoise, collared lizard, frogs.
4. Your Camp Mascot is a Coyote. What opposite characteristics do
Native Southwest peoples give Coyote in their stories? Name at
least four pairs of opposite characteristics.
Wise / foolish. Brave / coward, Creator / greedy, clever / selfdefeating.
5. Thunderbird is a mighty figure in nearly all Southwest tribal stories
and legends. What bird is Thunderbird ? Eagle.
6. In ancient and contemporary Indian art, parrots are featured as an
important part of the rainmaking magic. Where did the parrots
come from in prehistory?
Large colorful Macaws were carried up by traders from Mexico and
also raised near the border in Paquime. Another smaller parrot was
native to the area.
7. What animals or animal products did ancient Southwest people
import? And what were they used for?
Sea shells form the Gulf of California and the Pacific Coast. Parrots.
Buffalo.
8. What native animals were an important part of the Ancient Ones
food source or ceremonial use?
Rabbits, snakes, antelope, bear, buffalo, eagles
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9. Who was Kokopelli?
Believed to be a mythological character inspired by real life traders
who arrived from distant lands with sacks of trade goods on their
backs. Kokopelli symbolizes the bringing of gifts, flute music,
knowledge and culture from other lands, and is a fertility symbol.
10.
What Pueblo legend that you read online is your favorite? And
why?
11.
What are the basic elements of the Hopi Prophecy?
Awareness that the traditional ways, spanning thousands of years of
knowledge, need to be kept alive, and that the Hopi people will face
challenges to their traditional ways – new technologies, foreigners,
hostile forces. That there will be people from other lands who become
their allies, and that the Hopi wisdom can benefit other peoples.
Native American Culture Today
1. Where do the descendents of the Mesa Verde and Chacoan people
live today – and why did they move there?
The direct descendents of these ancestral Puebloans – as the new
name explains – migrated to pueblos on Black Mesa (Arizona) and
along the Rio Grande (New Mexico) and in the surrounding mountains
and mesas. Some are thought to have perhaps moved further south to
form Paquime as it rose to be the largest city in the Southwest just as
the northern cities were being abandoned. But there is no architectural
similarity to support this.
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2. What types of prehistoric work do the Puebloan people still do
today?
Farm, keep sheep, weave, make jewelry, form, paint and fire pottery,
carve and paint wooden dolls, wands, and headdresses, make music,
teacher one another, and trade with outsiders.
3. What types of new work do Native Peoples in the Southwest do
today to support their families?
Build roads, mine new metals, attend boarding schools, go to college,
herd cattle, record music on CDs and tapes, design clothing, work in
museums and National Parks, operate gambling casinos, become
archaeologists, work for government agencies, but many are
unemployed and suffer from difficult health problems.
4. Where do Southwest Indian children go to school? And why ?
Students may have a day school nearby on their reservation if their
people live close enough together to reach the school easily every day.
If they live far apart from one another and it would take hours
everyday to reach the school, they may travel to a boarding school
Monday-Friday, returning home on the weekends.
5. How do the Native Southwest peoples keep their ancient ways alive
today ?
They attend ceremonies and dances, learn traditional songs and
dances, wear traditional clothing and ornaments, create ceremonial
objects, costumes and dance paraphernalia, share stories passed
down for generations, learn about the Holy People revered by their
people and about the dangerous forces wisely feared by their people.
They also visit museums that hold their people’s ancient artifacts to
study them and learn about the ancient ways. They make pilgrimages
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to ancient sites to experience the ways of those earlier times first
hand.
6. What type of large inter-tribal gatherings is held every year and
what takes place?
‘Pow-wows’ are held all over the United States, drawing tribal people
together to share their culture and to reinforce the importance of
keeping these different cultures intact for future generations.
7. Name three serious cultural, political, and health challenges that
the Native Southwest peoples face today:
Loss of tribal identity is a problem for members who leave the
reservation for school or work. Alcoholism has been a long time
problem both for the psychological reasons caused by despair and for
health reasons. U.S. Government policies have also been a challenge
as the policies have many times not been fair, consistent, or if fair, not
enforced.
8. Look at the Native American art available for you to view online.
What themes do you see in these works?
Landscapes, traditional dancers in costumes, religious symbols, wild
animals, struggle to adapt to western society, every day life of women
and children
9. When you read the Native American writing available online on
Camp Internet, what do you think drives these Native people to
write? What cultural challenges do they address in their writings?
They write about the challenge of keeping their old tribal ways alive in
the face of adapting to modern technologies, high unemployment,
health problems, keeping traditional stories intact, and changes in
attitude between generations.
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10.
What is an Indian Reservation?
An Indian Reservation is a specific area of land set aside by the U.S.
Government and given to an Indian tribe as compensation for the
native lands that were taken during the period of conquest.
11.
What division of the US Government was established to
oversee Indian/US Got relations? Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
12.
When the US Government recognizes a Native American tribe,
it receives a different status and different opportunities than tribal
groups who have not yet qualified for recognition. What are this
status and its resulting opportunities?
Each reservation exists as its own nation, and the US Government is
required to relate to each nation in many ways as if it were a foreign
country with its own form of internal government. Some tribes issue
their own passports and appoint delegates to interact with the US
Government. The US Government also invest in Indian Schools, peace
keeping forces, housing, roads, energy, telephone, and other
infrastructure costs. These reservations are also allowed to operate
gambling casinos on their land, even in States where gambling is not
otherwise allowed as a commercial business. Trial peoples who have
not yet acquired government recognition are not able to enjoy these
benefits, and it may take many years to prove their Native American
lineage and demonstrate they qualify for tribal recognition.
Protecting the Magical Southwest
1. Name the Southwest National Parks and Monuments covered on
Camp Internet:
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Mesa Verde National Park, Chaco Culture National Historic Park,
Bandalier National Monument, Grand Canyon National Park, Joshua
Tress National Park, Channel Islands National Park, Indian Canyons,
Bryce Canyon National Park, Canyon de Chelly National Monument,
Casa Grande Ruins National Monument,
Hubbell trading Post National Historic Site, Natural Bridges National
Monument, Arches National Park, Petrified Forest National Park,
Petroglyph National Park, Rainbow bridge National Park, Saguaro
National Park, Sunset Crater National Park, Zion National Park,
Dinosaur National Monument.
2. Many different peoples are working to protect the magic of the
Southwest. Use Camp Internet and the Internet at large to write
down at least 12 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) working
to preserve the Southwest’s plants, people, places, and heritage –
and include their web site URL.
UNESCO World Heritage Sites http://www.unesco.org/whc/heritage.htm
American Rock Art Research Association http://www.arara.org/
The Wildlands Project http://www.twp.org/
National Wildlife Federation http://www.nwf.org/
The Nature Conservancy http://nature.org/
Heard Museum http://www.heardmuseum.org/
Museum of Northern Arizona http://www.musnaz.org/
Crow Canyon http://www.crowcanyon.org/
Dinosaur Journey http://www.dinosaurjourney.org/
Anasazi Heritage Center Museum
http://www.swcolo.org/Tourism/Archaeology/ahc.html
Georgia O’Keeffe Museum http://www.okeeffemuseum.org/
Southwest Research Center of Northern new Mexico
http://www.taosmuseums.org/research.html
Southwest Volcano Research Center http://www.swvrc.org/
And others found by students
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3. Which sites in the Southwest have been recognized as World
Heritage sites by what division of the United Nations?
Mesa Verde, Grand Canyon, Chaco Culture, Pueblo de Taos, Carlsbad
Caverns, Paquime have been recognized by UNESCO as World Heritage
Sites.
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