The First AmericansNative/Indians

The First Americans

• Native Americans were the first people to live in America.

• The believed that the land was for everyone to use and share.

• Some were hunters and some were farmers.

Tribes

• Not all Indians looked alike or acted alike.

• Each had different cultures and customs like people today

• Four Major groups were The Plains, Eastern (Woodland), Southwestern and Northwestern

Language

Tribes

• Tribes from different areas looked and talked differently

• Plains-Sioux, Cheyenne, Crow,

• Northeastern (Woodland)-Iroquois, Hurons, Abenaki

• Southwestern- Pueblo, Navajo, Pima

• Northwestern, Chinook, Tillamook, Tlingit.

Homes

• Because each tribes lived in different areas of the countries, they had different kinds of house– Teppees

– Longhouses

– Adobe

– Wighwams,

– Chickees

– Wickiup

Food

• Native Americans ate from the land. They hunted, fished, and farmed depending on where they lived– buffalo, deer, wild

animals, fish

– corn, squash, pumpkin, beans, berries, and nuts

Clothing

• Native Americans did not dress like us today. They made their own clothes out of animal skins (buffalo, deer, ect..., furs, feathers, wild cotton, beads and even plants

Plains

• Lived in the central United States between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. They all depended on the buffalo for clothing, food, and many of their daily items.

Plains Indianshttp://inkido.indiana.edu/w310work/romac/plains.html

Summary

• Plains Indians lived in the Central U.S.

• Traveled around and used sign language

• Depended on the Buffalo for food and daily living items

• Lived in tepees

• Ate buffalo meat, corn, squash, and beans

• Wore buffalo skins, and beads

Southwest Indians

• Lived in Arizona, New Mexico, northern Mexico, and southern Utah. Many different groups lived in this area. One of the most important and highly developed and civilized were the Pueblo

Southwest Indianshttp://inkido.indiana.edu/w310work/romac/swest.htm

Summary

• Lived in villages and desert lands

• Were farmers and raised wild cotton and turkey. Several crops included corn, bean, pumpkin,and squash,

• Made clothes from wild cotton

• Lived in adobe houses in high cliffs or caves

Northwest Coast Indians

• Lived along the Pacific Ocean from northern California to Alaska with the ocean on one side and thick forest on the other

• Their lives were similar to the Plains Indian but also included fishing

Northwest Coast Indianshttp://inkido.indiana.edu/w310work/romac/nwindian.htm

Summary

• Lived in an area bordered by an ocean on one side and forest on the other

• Hunted and fished for food which included seafood, berries, wild game, whales, and otters

• Made their clothing out of wood (woven cedar bark

• Lived in long houses

Eastern Woodlands

• Lived east of the Mississippi River in wooded areas. They used wood to make weapons, tools, many daily items, and even their clothes.

• Different areas lived in different kinds of houses, longhouse, chickee, or wigwams.

Eastern Woodland Indianshttp://www.germantown.k12.il.us/indians/woodland2.html

Summary

• Lived in wooded areas• They gathered nuts, berries, and hunted game in

the woods for food. Some groups fished and raised corn, beans, and squash.

• Lived in many different types of houses which included longhouse, chickee, and wigwam

• Their clothes were made out of skins, furs, feathers, and woven plants

• They traded Wampum beads