American Indians
Inuit
Kwakiutl
Pueblo
Lakota
Iroquois
First Americans Arrive on the
Continent

Many archaeologists
believed that the first
Americans came from
Asia over a strip of
land called Beringia
that once connected
Asia and North
America.
Cactus Hill

Archaeologists have recently found
artifacts at Cactus Hill, a site which is
about 45 miles south of Richmond,
Virginia. These artifacts are 18,000 years
old. Now some scientists believe that the
first people who reached North America
came by boat from Europe, perhaps
following a route from Iceland to
Greenland to Canada.
Many Native American Nations
Many Native American cultures grew,
developed and even disappeared in the
12,000 years from the last Ice Age until
the present. By the year 1400 AD more
than 300 different nations were living in
North America. They spoke different
languages, lived in different types of
homes and had different cultures.
 This year we will study 5 groups of
Native Americans.

Inuit
Inhabited present-day
Alaska and northern
Canada
 They lived in Arctic
areas where the
temperature is below
freezing most of the
time
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Inuit Food
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Fish
Seal
Whale
Polar Bear
Caribou
Walrus
Musk Ox
Small Game (Arctic
Hare)
Inuit Clothing
Seal, polar bear, caribou skin and fur
 Inner and outer clothing
 Jackets, mittens, trousers, boots

Inuit Shelter (Housing)
Igloo
 Skin Tents
 Sod Houses with
underground rooms
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Inuit Transportation
 Sled
dogs
 Kayak
 Umiak
 Foot
Traditional Umiaks were
paddle craft. The open umiak
is significantly larger than the
enclosed kayak which was
built to carry one or two men
while hunting. A large umiak
is 6 to 10 meters long and can
hold more than 20 people.
About seven skins are needed
for the cover on a boat of
30 foot (9.1 meter). It has
traditionally been used in
summer to move people and
possessions to seasonal
hunting grounds and for
hunting whales and walrus.
Men race in a umiak in Nome, Alaska.
Role of Man and Woman
Men hunted, fished,
made tools, and
houses
 Women cooked,
prepared food, and
raised children
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Art and Music
 Carved
Ivory,
Soapstone and
Bone
 Scrimshaw
Kwakiutl
Homeland includes the
Pacific Northwest coast in
Washington (USA) and
British Columbia (Canada)
 Rainy, mild climate
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Kwakiutl Food
 Salmon
 Elk
 Deer
 Bear
 Nuts
 Berries
 Roots
 Trade
Kwakiutl Clothing
Woven Cedar Bark
 Animal Skins
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Kwakiutl Shelter (Housing)
 Plank
Houses
made of cedar
Totem Poles were often
in front of homes
Kwakiutl Transportation
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Dugout Canoes made
of Cedar
Kwakiutl Role of Man and Woman
Men hunted, fished, traded, built houses
and canoes
 Women gathered food, wove cedar, and
raised children
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Kwakiutl Art
Masks
 Totem Poles
 Carvings
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Pueblo
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Pueblo tribes inhabited
the Southwest in
present-day New
Mexico, Utah and
Arizona

Lived in desert areas
and areas bordering
cliffs and mountains
Pueblo Food
Grew corn, beans,
squash
 Irrigated crops during
drought
 Hunted rabbit and
made stew
 Hunted antelope
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Pueblo Clothing
Grew cotton for cloth
 Men wove cotton
 Used some animal
skins (rabbit)
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Pueblo Shelter
Pueblo made of stone
and adobe
(mud/clay bricks)
 Many levels
 Cliff Dwellers
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Pueblo Transportation
Foot (walk and run)
 Homes in Pueblos were all near one
another
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Pueblo Art and Music
Pottery
 Baskets
 Kachinas
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Pueblo Role of Man and Woman
Men farmed, made tools, gathered cotton
and wove it into clothing.
 Men also built the pueblos, hunted and
were warriors when neeeded
 Women ground corn, prepared food and
taught children.
 Women wove baskets and made pottery.
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Pueblo is a Spanish word that means “village”
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The Pueblo nation includes the Tewa, Hopi
and Zuni tribes. They are the descendents
of the Anasazi – the Ancient Ones – who
built the great adobe cities in the
Southwest. Around 750 a huge city was
built by the Anasazi in what is now New
Mexico. What happened to that city? It
was abandoned. Perhaps climate changes
in the 1300’s and long periods without rain
forced the people to move away.
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Some Pueblo people still live traditional
lives in the American Southwest. Many of
them still farm, weave baskets , make
beautiful rugs, silver jewelry and fine
pottery. Some of their homes, like the
Taos Pueblo in New Mexico, were built
about 1,000 years ago.
The Pueblo live along side the Navajo in
Arizona, Utah and New Mexico. The
Navajo and the Pueblo are alike in many
ways.
Lakota
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Lakota people inhabited the Great Plains, an
area with limited rain, grasslands and
rolling hills. It was the perfect environment
for the buffalo.
What is the difference between the
Lakota, the Dakota and the Sioux?
There is no real difference. "Lakota" and
"Dakota" are different pronunciations of the
same tribal name, which means "the allies.“
"Sioux," on the other hand, is not a Lakota
name. It comes from the Ojibway name for
the tribe, which means "little snakes." Many
Lakotas use the word Sioux to refer to
themselves when they're speaking English,
however. Most prefer the name Lakota.
Lakota Food
Hunted and ate bison,
which are buffalo
 Also hunted elk,
antelope and other
animals.
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Lakota Clothing
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Buffalo hides, very
decorated and
sewn with sinew
(animal tendon)
Lakota Shelter
Tepees of buffalo
hides
 Tepees can be
taken down quickly
and move with the
tribe. This was
important to the
Lakota, who were
nomads following
buffalo herds.
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Lakota Transportation
Horses (after 1730’s)
 Dogs and horses pulled
a travois (type of sled)
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The Lakota Indians of the northern plains have
been called a “horse nation” because they have
strong ties, culturally and historically, with horses.
The Lakota originally lived by the Great Lakes.
When European-American settlers came it forced
many tribes to move westward, often into
neighboring tribal land. The Lakota migrated west
from the Great Lakes region to the Great Plains.
They were introduced to horse culture by the
Cheyenne about 1730.
After their adoption of the horse their society
centered on the buffalo hunt with the horse.
Lakota Role of Man and Woman
Women made
tepees and
butchered buffalo
 Women cooked and
cared for children
 Men hunted and
protected the tribe
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Lakota Art and Music
Very decorated
clothing and
headdresses
 Drums and pipes
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The Lakota weren’t the only people living in the
Great Plains. There were Cheyenne, Arapaho,
Blackfeet, Comanche and Pawnee. All had many
things in common, but one of the biggest was
the importance of the buffalo.
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The Plains Indians depended on the bison for
almost everything. These huge shaggy beasts
provided meat, leather, sinew for bows, grease,
dried dung for fires, and even the hooves could
be boiled for glue. When times were bad, bison
were consumed down to the last bit of marrow.
Iroquois
Their homeland is in northeast North America,
the Eastern Woodland. This region is heavily
forested and gets plenty of rain and snow.
The Iroquois nation was in the area that is now New York.
Iroquios
The Iroquois Indians originally lived near Lake
Ontario and along the Mohawk River in New
York State. Five tribes, the Mohawks, the
Oneidas, the Onondagas, the Cayugas, and the
Senecas, banded together to form a
confederacy, the Iroquios Nation. Later a sixth
tribe, the Tuscarora, joined.
 This confederacy created the Great Law of
Peace which explained how to settle diputes. It
brought peace and prosperity to the Iroquois for
hundreds of years.
 That peace was shattered when settlers came
from Europe.
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Iroquois Food
Grew corn, squash, beans
 Fish
 Deer
 Bear
 Small Game (rabbits, squirrels, turkeys)
 Pumpkins
 Nuts, berries
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Iroquois Clothing
Deerskin clothing
 Long fringed skirts,
breech cloths,
moccasins,
leggings
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Iroquois Shelter
Longhouses made of wood, bark, animal
skins
 Up to 100 feet long—4 or 5 families
shared one longhouse
 Hole in ceiling for cooking
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Iroquois Transportation
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Canoes made of
elm or birch bark
Role of Man and Woman
Women were the head of the family and
owned land. Women held a powerful
position in the Iroquois tribe. They owned
longhouses, controlled the land, and chose
the chief and the ruling group.
 Children belonged to their mother's clan.
When a man married, he lived with his
wife's clan.
 Men were hunters and fishers and built the
longhouses. They also made canoes and
tools.
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Iroquois Art and Music
Baskets
 Pottery
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