Southwest Native Americans

Southwest Native Americans By Antonia, Frances and Zoe

Beliefs and Ceremonies Of the southwest Native Americans. By Zoe

Beliefs • The Indians of the southwest had many beliefs. Some of them were: The Hopi thought spirits called “Kachinas” brought rain, good health, good harvest, and, above all, peace.Because they were invisible, worshipers* wore colorful masks and costumes.

Beliefs Cont. • The Hopi also believed in bad Kachinas. Sometimes they dressed up as a troll Kachina to make the children behave. They also thought that under the world was a world of water, and springs were small openings.

Ceremonies • The Indians of the southwest had many different ceremonies. Two are: When a Pueblo Indian died, they were buried with food, drink, and tools to help her/him in the spirit world.

Ceremonies Cont. • When a Pueblo child was born, the new grandmother was in charge. She would purify the child with a sacred bath of yucca suds. The Pueblos thought a child’s spirit doesn’t arrive until 4 days after birth.

Ceremonies cont.cont. • Before that a baby has no name. Then a ritual is performed. Sacred corn meal is sprinkled on the door way of the new home.

Southwest Native American Language and Clothes By Frances M. Love

Language and Communication The languages spoken by the southwest natives included Shoshonean, Athap-ascan,Zuni, Uto-Aztecan, Puenutian, and Kiowa-Tanoan.

Women’s Clothes Women wore animal skin moccasins. They also wore skin and cotton clothes. They wrapped themselves in woven shawls.They also wore cotton belted dresses.

Men wore loose shirts and leggings They also wore large blankets around themselves to keep warm. They often wrapped their legs in buckskins to protect themselves from the harsh dessert plants. Men's clothes

The Three Clothes Materials The three materials they mainly used for clothes were skins, fiber, and cotton. They depended on the wild to get most of these materials.

Interesting Facts and Food of the Southwest Native Americans. By Antonia Benson

Interesting Facts • The Indian of the southwest developed their unique cultures in Arizona, New Mexico, Southwest, Colorado, Southern Utah, and Southwest Nevada and Oklahoma, the California border of Colorado river and Northern Mexico.

Interesting Facts • The largest early pueblo complex was pueblo Bonito in Chaco Canyon, New Mexico.

Food • The southwest Indians grew corn, wild plants, beans, squash, pine nuts, cactus fruit, wild potatoes, seeds, and grains. They also ate meat and depended on live stock for their food.

Food • How Obtained: • They grew, hunted, and planted their food.

Southwest Native Americans