Anasazi Indians

1. Anasazi Indians http://www.edenseeds.com.au/pics/full/V_Corn_Sweet_Anasazi.jpg http://blog.hmns.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/lakota_dress.jpg http://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/ancient/images/sw/mesa-verde-ruins-687679-sw.jpg http://www.acheinc.org/ache2010/NM%20Monthly/anasazi%20pottery-small.jpg http://www.go4costumes.com/stockimages/75014.jpg Kelsie and Natalie

2. Introduction Squawk! Squawk! A Bald Eagle soared high above  the mesa tops where the Anasazi houses lay. Under the great bird, the Anasazi people continued going about their daily activities including pottery making, basket weaving, farming, and many other daily contributions. The Anasazi people were nature lovers, artists, farmers, hunters, and had many other spectacular events during the early days in the desert. The Anasazi carved holes in the sides of the mesas to protect them from harsh weather, fierce animals, and enemy tribes. http://www.thefurtrapper.com/images/Anasazi%20Basket.jpg http://blogs.vassar.edu/designinlivingthings/files/2010/04/lightning.jpg http://mbiru.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Mesa-Verde-national-park.jpg Before the anasazi people descovered clay and pottery, they wove their own baskets that could hold water. The girls had to be at least ten to use clay so they don’t mess up or waste.

3. Home and Shelter The Anasazi Indians had many homes. In their early days they were nomadic with many homes. As the years passed, they soon began to settle in one spot. Before they lived on mesas, they began to make crude shelters and settle in caves. Later they began to be farmers and make houses in which they would settle in permanently. The homes they built were pit houses made out of tree branches and dirt from the ground. Soon enough they learned how to built houses using blocks of sand stone. That is when they began to build their homes (Pueblos) on Mesa tops. The rooms, or in other words the homes, they  lived in measured about ten feet by twenty feet. They built their homes high up in the cliffs  to protect themselves from other Indian tribes and white soldiers. http://cache2.artprintimages.com/p/LRG/26/2685/P9KUD00Z/art-print/paul-chesley-ancient-anasazi-indian-cliff-dwellings.jpg http://anasazi.wikispaces.com/file/view/cro02.jpg/87964141/cro02.jpg The Anasazi lived in mesa tops in the four corners region. Kelsie # 6 The Anasazis homes were eight to ten stories high.

4. Clothing The Anasazi people wore different clothing in the summer than in the winter because of the weather. Younger children often wore no clothes during the day, especially in the summer. In the winter, both young and old wore blankets and robes made from rabbit skins and turkey feathers. No matter what every body had the same amount of clothing in the village. During the summer, men and women wore skirts woven from cotton or yucca fibers. When temperatures were low young children and elders mostly wore blanket to keep warm for clothes. http://www.wyomingtradingpost.com/mm5/graphics/00000001/820-54519.jpg http://www.amarjah.com/images/Dress.jpg Anasazi women often wore deerskin dresses. Kelsie #6

5. Food, Appetites The Anasazi tribe consumed many different types of food. The Anasazi planted most if not all of their food. The tribe mostly planted corn, tobacco, beans, peppers, onions, and other vegetables to eat and trade. But, the Anasazi did eat some meat. The Anasazi kept wild turkeys that they would slaughter for meat and bones. They would also hunt some, especially when in the winter when crops wouldn’t grow. http://www.mariquita.com/images/photogallery/rougevif.jpg http://cottageintheoaks.files.wordpress.com/2011/05/corn-featured-vegetable.jpg Sadly, the Anasazi do not use their pumpkins for carving. They instead used it in stews, soup, and other things. The Anasazi included corn in many of their meals. This includes corn bread, corn soup, corn patties and more. Natalie #23

6. Relationships, Trading The Anasazi Indians had few enemies and some trading partners When the Spanish came the Anasazi would not give up any land in the 1300’s. The Spanish soldiers killed many of the Anasazi Indians. The Anasazi traded with some other cultures from the North and Southeast region. Four thousand years after the Anasazi disappeared Spanish settlers would settle in to one of their cities and call it Pueblo Bonito which meant beautiful land. Sometimes the Anasazi tribes would trade with tribes near the ocean. http://images.wikia.com/indianajones/images/6/6d/Hostile_African_tribe.jpg http://www.paintingmania.com/arts/charles-marion-russell/large/indian-trading-post-156_11012.jpg Sometimes, the Anasazi would trade with other tribes near the ocean. The Hostile Indian tribe were enemies to the Anasazi and they loved war. Kelsie # 6

7. Weapons and Tools The Anasazi men were in charge of making the weapons and tools. The Indian boys watched  very carefully as their fathers worked at the flint, chert, and other rocks. When they grew up the boys would have to make them. The men crafted the rock with another rock until they had the shape they were satisfied with, like a arrow or spear head. Then, they sometimes put handles on their tools so they can be more efficient. The woman also made tools out of animal bone and other materials. Unlike the men, the woman made objects like hide scrapers, and other tools. The Anasazi tribe were defiantly not aggressive people. This knife head could be used for scraping, a weapon, and much more. The woman in the tribe were in charge of the animal hides. One step the woman had to do was scrape off all the extra meat and blood with a object similar to this. http://t1.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcSz5xdr5s3XgIZeX_eYiuj-8GJyafgXB _ytgWkBDvxFg_Vi6E2MDg Natalie #23

8. Legends and Traditions The Anasazi have many traditions they gathered during their years in the Colorado Western Slope. The Anasazi harvested many types of plants for food. These plants include wheat,  juicy corn,  delicious squash (including festive pumpkins)  spicy peppers, beans of all colors, and many other activities. The Anasazi also believed that spirits lived in animals, plants, and trees. They also said that everything, living or not, had a sacred soul.  The Anasazi girls made beautiful weaved baskets and soon after very fine pottery with mystifying designs. Unfortunately, many of these traditions were lost in the dust when the people moved. It is still a mystery of why they left their homes. Either they starved or they were forced out. The result was that the ancient tribe moved to New Mexico and Arizona and away from their mesa tops in the southwest deserts in the United States of America. Before the Anasazi discovered pottery, they weaved baskets with great skill . The Anasazi always decorated their pottery the same colors, black and white. Natalie #23

9. Games and Entertainment The Anasazi Indians had many events to entertain themselves.The girls had numbers of activities to entertain themselves with. The girls sewed or knitted beautiful blankets, fine clothes, or tough rugs. The Anasazi girls also made pottery with beautiful designs or wove baskets with fascinating patterns. The boys could participate in many events as well. They  were usually the ones who ventured with the fathers to trade items. The boys also made small tools like arrow or spearheads. The girls have to watch there mothers carefully as they sew, for they will want to sew the best clothes and blankets for their family. http://www.mydeerantlers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/12/deer-antler-sheds.jpg The fathers let the boys carry some of the thing they are going to trade while going to the arranged meeting place. Natalie #23

10. Interesting Facts While the Anasazi lived between 0 and 1300 A.D , they left behind a plethora of interesting information about themselves. Did you know that the name Anasazi means Ancient Ones? Another name for the Anasazi is the basket makers. Around the year 1000 A.D. during Europe's middle ages, the Anasazi built thirteen towns occupied by 3,000 people near Chaco Canyon, New Mexico. They were forced to leave their homes because of bad  relationships with the other tribes in the area. These cities were later taken over by the Ute and Navajo tribes. http://1raindrop.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/06/14/pueblo_bonito_aerial_chaco_canyon.jpg http://www.nps.gov/zion/historyculture/images/ZION_18592_r_1.jpg By the middle of the 12th century, the Anasazi had vanished and no one knows why. When the Anasazi first started, they were basket makers. Kelsie #6

11. Conclusion Without a doubt, the Anasazi were very spiritual, and interacted in nature during the 1200’s and 1300’s and 1400’s well before the other tribes settled in the desert. The Anasazi actions leave the reader with questions about their behavior. How did they communicate with other tribes? Were they agreeing with them? And if not, Why?  What happened to them after they left? These questions remain unanswered to this very day. http://www.historyforkids.org/learn/northamerica/before1500/architecture/pictures/pueblo.jpg Once the Spanish people came into Anasazi territory, when the Anasazi were gone, they called it Pueblo Bonito.

12. Resources BibliographyFreedman, Russell. Buffalo Hunt. New York, NY: Scholastic Inc., 1988. Print.D'Apice, Mary. Native American People The Pueblo. Vero Beach, FL: Rourke Publications Inc., 1990. PrintPetersen, David. The Anasazi. Chicago, IL: Childrens Press, 1991. Print. The Ancient Cliff Dwellers of Mesa VerdeWebliographyhttp://www.evgschool.org/anasazi_indians.htmhttp://player.discoveryeducation.com/index.cfm?guidAssetId=A818A8D7-31CE-434E-8B93-F97F2A91E12D&blnFromSearchhttp://www.cliffdwellingsmuseum.com/anasazi1.htmhttp://search.discoveryeducation.com/http://www.indigenouspeople.net/kokopelli.htm