Native American Culture

1. Native AmericanCulture

2. Main Menu Vocabulary Cultural Areas Iroquois Aztecs Mayas Review Incas Olmecs

3. Native American Vocabulary Glacier15. Inuit Causeway16. Beringia Quipu17. Terrace Farming Culture Adobe Pueblo Mound Builders Cultural areas Tribe Potlatch Kachina Clan League of the Iroquois sachem Vocabulary Click title to go back to Main Menu

4. Glacier Click on title to return to vocabulary menu • A glacier is a thick sheet of ice.

5. Causeway Click on title to return to vocabulary menu A causeway is a raised roads made of packed earth.

6. Quipu Click on title to return to vocabulary menu Quipu is a cord or string with knots that stood for quantities and used by the Incas for record keeping. Return to Review

7. Culture Click on title to return to vocabulary menu Culture is the entire way of life of a people. Return to Review

8. Adobe Click on title to return to vocabulary menu Adobe is sun dried brick used by Native Americans in the Southwest cultural area to build dwellings.

9. Pueblo Click on title to return to vocabulary menu Pueblo is the Spanish word for village.

10. Mound Builders Click on title to return to vocabulary menu • Mound builders is the name given to various North American cultures that built large earth mounds beginning about 3,000 years ago.

11. Cultural Areas Click on title to return to vocabulary menu A cultural area is a region in which people share a similar way of life. North American Cultural Areas

12. Tribe Click on title to return to vocabulary menu A tribe is a community of people that share common customs, language and rituals.

13. Potlatch Click on title to return to vocabulary menu A potlatch was a ceremonial dinner held by some Native Americans of the Northwest Coast to show off their wealth.

14. Kachina Click on title to return to vocabulary menu A kachina was a masked dancer at religious ceremonies of the Southwest Indians.

15. Clan Click on title to return to vocabulary menu A clan is group of two or more related families.

16. League of Iroquois Click on title to return to vocabulary menu The League of Iroquois was an alliance of the five Iroquois Nations. Also called the Iroquois Confederacy. Learn more about the Iroquois by clicking the flag. Return To Review

17. Sachem Click on title to return to vocabulary menu A sachem was a member of the tribal chief council in the League of Iroquois.

18. North American Cultural Areas Click title to go back to Main Menu A cultural area is a region in which people share a similar way of life. Each cultural area was home to many different tribes. In each cultural area, Native Americans adapted to the geography to survive. In each cultural area, Native Americans had a unique life that different in some way to other Native Americans in other cultural areas. Click here to see map of cultural areas.

19. North American Cultural Areas Click on pictures in each cultural area to learn more.

20. Arctic and Subarctic Click title to go back to cultural area map Way of Life: • Lived as nomadic hunters and food gathers in cold climate. • Honored ocean, weather and animal spirits Return To Review

21. California/Great Basin/ Plateau Cultural Areas Way of Life: • Lived as hunters and gathers in small family groups • Ate mainly fish, berries, and acorns Click title to go back to cultural area map

22. Southwest Click title to go back to cultural area map Way of Life: • Lived in villages in homes made of adobe. • Built irrigation systems to grow corn and other crops • Honored earth, sky and water spirits Return To Review

23. Southeast Click title to go back to cultural area map Way of Life: • Grew corn, squash, beans and other crops. • Held yearly Green Corn Ceremony to mark end of year and celebrate harvest.

24. Eastern Woodlands Click title to go back to cultural area map Way of Life: • Lived in farming villages, but also hunted for food. • Long houses used to house several families. • Women shared social and political parties. Return To review

25. Northwest Coast Way of Life: • Lived in villages • Benefited from rich natural resources in forest, rivers and oceans. • Held potlatches, ceremonial dinners, where host families gave gifts to quests to show wealth and gain status

26. Olmec Civilization • Earliest known civilization in the Americas • Located in Central America. • They lived along the Gulf of Mexico about 3,500 years ago. • Built huge stone heads some ten feet tall and weighing several thousands of pounds. Click title to go back to Main Menu Main Menu

27. The Maya Civilization Click title to go back to Main Menu • Culture was influenced by the Olmecs. • Lived in rain forests in what is now the modern day country of Quatemala. • Drained swamps to create farmland. • Corn was major part of their diet Click on the below links to learn more about the Mayas. Social Classes Accomplishments Main Menu

28. The Maya Civilization Social Classes

29. Priests • Priests were very powerful in Maya culture. They conducted the religious ceremonies

30. Nobles • Nobles were under priests. They served as warriors and government officials.

31. Farmers • Farmers grew corn, squash

32. Accomplishments • Priests created advanced calendars based on their observations of the sun, moon and stars. • Had an accurate 365 day calendar • Had a number system which include the concept of zero. Calendar Return To Review

33. Aztecs Click title to go back to Main Menu Click on boxes to learn more

34. General Information http://library.thinkquest.org/27981/ • Located in central Mexico • Capital city was Tenochtitlan • Tenochtitlan was located on an island out in middle of Lake Texaco. • Traded with neighboring cities • Tenochtitlan had a population of 60,000 people • Aztec empire flourished between 1300-1519 when they were conquered by Spanish conquistadors led by Hernando Cortes.

35. Aztec Empire's Location • Located in Central Mexico • Capital was Tenochtitlan Return To Review

36. Religion • Aztecs worshipped the sun god. • Called themselves “Warriors of the Sun” • Believed the Sun needed human sacrifices in order to rise each day. • Thousands of captives were sacrificed each year. • Believed in many other gods as well.

37. Social Classes

38. Great Plains Click title to go back to cultural area map Way of Life: • Lived in tepees • Animals hunted by men, crops grown by women • Relied on buffalo to meet basic needs for food, shelter and clothing. Return To Review

39. Accomplishments • Used causeways to connect their island capital city, Tenochtitlan, to the mainland. • Used drawbridges to protect entrances into the city from attack. • Used canals to get around city. • Used chinampas, floating gardens, to grow crops like corn. Chinampas Return To Review

40. Click title to go back to Main Menu The Incas http://www.kidskonnect.com/AncientInca/AncientIncaHome.html

41. The Incas • Had the largest empire in the Americas. • 2,500 miles long • Capital was called Cuzco • Located on the west coast of South America along the Andes Mountains. • Cuzco had huge temples and palaces made of stone Return To Review

42. Social Classes

43. Accomplishments • Built stepped terraces into mountain to grow crops. • Built huge system of roads to connect the empire together. 10,000 miles of roads • Developed system of record keeping that consisted of a string with knots with each knot representing quantities of different items.

44. Location • Incas were located in South America along the West Coast.

45. Sapa Inca • The Sapa Inca was the emperor of the Inca empire. • It was believed that the emperor was regarded as a god who descended from the sun god.

46. Iroquois Click title to go back to Main Menu

47. Location The Iroquois lived in the Eastern Woodland cultural area in what is now New York State. Return to Review

48. Adaptation to Environment • Called themselves “People of the Longhouse” because they lived in longhouses built from the trees from the forests in which they lived. • Learned to fish and hunt the animals located within the Eastern Woodland.

49. Roles of Men and Women • Men were the warriors, hunters and chieftains in Iroquois culture. • Women were held much power in Iroquois culture. They owned all the household property and were in charge of all the planting and harvesting of the crops. • Women also held political power. They chose clan leaders and they also selected the sachems for the Iroquois Confederacy.

50. Spatial Patterns • The Iroquois’s villages were located on hilltops and close to streams or rivers. • They built their villages on hilltops for protection so they could see enemies approaching. • They located their village close to rivers, streams and lakes to irrigate their fields, for travel and for drinking water. • Every village had a large fence that encircled the village to protect against enemy attack. The fields in which they grew crops were located outside of the wooden fence.