1. Unit 1
The First
Americans
Geography and Climate
Change the World
By: Mr. Casey
2. How did they get here?
• Scientists believe Native Americans came from
Asia to what is now North America between
10,000 and 40,000 years ago.
Two Ways Native Americans Came:
1. Land Bridges (Bering Strait)
2.Watercrafts along the coast
5. Why did they come?
• FOOD “I’m Hungry!”
• Many nomads followed their food
American Mastodon
Big-horned bison
6. Agriculture Changes
A Way of Life
• American Indians began to grow food. They still
hunted and gathered but were able to stay in one
place by growing crops.
Three Main Crops: “Three Sisters”
1. Squash
2. Beans
3. Corn
*Usually Men hunted and fished, women gathered
and farmed
7. Cultural Regions
There are four cultural regions
1. Pacific Northwest
2. Desert Southwest
3. Great Plains
4.Eastern Woodlands
*Each region had to adapt to
meet their survival needs
11. Climate and Geography
• Take 10 minutes and discuss: “How did
climate and geography effect...”
1. Food
2. Shelter
3. Clothing
4. Agriculture
5. Hunting
6. Tools
7. Government
12. NOrhtwest Region
Geography - Land stretching up the Pacific Coast
from northwest California to southern Alaska
Climate - Long winters, heavy precipitation
Shelter - Multifamily houses made of wooden planks
Tools - Wood Carving tools to build and shape canoes
and household containers, dishes, and spoons made of
animal horns
Food - Fish, especially salmon; whales, seals, roots and
berries
Clothing - Thick clothing made from animal skins and
fur
13. The Showoffs
• The tribes of the northwest region
were rich in comparison to most
other native american tribes.
• All the people in the tribe were not
equal - your status was based on
wealth, property and prestige
17. Climate and Geography
• Take 10 minutes and discuss: “How did
climate and geography effect...”
1. Food
2. Shelter
3. Clothing
4. Agriculture
5. Hunting
6. Tools
7. Government
18. Southwest Region
Geography - Between the rocky mountains and the
Mexican Sierra Madre (present day Arizona)
Climate - Desert
Shelter - Villages of large stone and adobe dwellings
known as pueblos
Tools - Looms for making textiles; pottery
Food - Corn and beans; game such as deer, antelope,
and rabbit
Clothing - Breechcloths made of cotton, with deerskin
leggings and moccasins, (men) wraparound dresses made
of cotton, and deerskin moccasins (women)
19. The “Pueblo” Indians
• The Native Americans of the southwest were
called the Pueblo Indians because of the homes
they built that looked like apartment complexes
• The word “pueblo” means village in Spanish
20. Pueblo Indians
Peaceful Tribes except for the Apache
They were great craftsman. They made
very ornate baskets, sandals, and belts.
21. Pueblo indians
• Sipapu - The Great Creator
Kachinas- supernatural
beings that were the
Kiva- sacred, ceremonial
messengers of the gods;
building
they brought good
fortune
23. Climate and Geography
• Take 5 minutes and discuss: “How the
climate and geography may have effected...”
1. Food
2. Shelter
3. Clothing
4. Agriculture
5. Hunting
6. Tools
7. Government
24. Plains Region
Geography - Between the Mississippi River and the
Rocky Mountains, stretching north into Canada
Climate - Temperate with four seasons
Shelter - Tepees (Crow); Earth lodges (Cheyenne)
Tools - Bows and Arrows, knives
Food - Large game such as bison, deer, elk, and
antelope; sometimes traded for corn
Clothing -Shirts, leggings and moccasins made from
deer or bison skin (men); dresses of deerskin and
moccasins (women)
25. Different lives
Most tribes were
nomadic
(Comanche, Sioux, and
Blackfoot) and
carried their
homes with
them teepees... these could
be broken down and
turned into a sledge
called a travois
27. Different lives
Some tribes were not nomadic (Mandans). They
grew crops and stayed in one place. They did
hunt, but stayed close to their homes and lived in
permanent dwellings
Most tribes’ lives
revolved around
the...
28. Different lives
Some bison meat was eaten fresh but some was
beaten into a pulp and mixed with berries and fat.
This was called pemmican.
Bison hide or
rawhide would be
used for clothing by
tanning it
29. Different lives
War Bonnets
Eagle
Feathers
Sun Dance
Coup Stick
31. Climate and Geography
• Take 5 minutes and discuss: “How the
climate and geography may have effected...”
1. Food
2. Shelter
3. Clothing
4. Agriculture
5. Hunting
6. Tools
7. Government
32. Eastern Woodlands
Geography - From Lake Superior to the Atlantic Coast
(present-day eastern United States)
Climate - Temperate climate with four seasons
Shelter - Longhouses made from a tree frame and bark
walls; other Eastern Woodlands used wigwams
Tools - Stone Blades; wood utensils such as ladles and
bowls; pottery
Food - Crops such as beans, squash, and most
importantly, corn; men fished and hunted deer and birds
Clothing -Deerskin clothing, including moccasins, sewn
with thread made from deer sinew (shredded fibers of
tendon)
34. Mound Builders
(Eastern Ancestors)
Both are hunters
and farmers
Slave society- the rich
women marry slaves
(“stinkards”) in order to
keep the genetic line strong
35. Three Main
Groups
Algonquians Iroquois
(Fox, Mahican, Ojibwa) (Mohawk and Seneca)
Creek Confederacy
(Seminoles)
Both groups hunt and farm, but
the Iroquois are farming
experts
36. Algonquian &
Iroquois
• They have no written language but
they have a complex system of
picture writing using tiny shell beads
(wampum). They sew the beads onto
clothing. It is often used as money.
37. The Algonquian
Villages of small homes
called wigwams
Several
different
tribes, but
they all speak
a similar
language and
trade with
one another
38. Powwow
A large meeting where they settled
arguments, had festivals, and
formed alliances
39. The iroquois
Call themselves Haudenosaunee (ho-dih-no-SHAW-nee)
They believe in peace and
brotherhood. They want to bring the
Algonquians into their league of
Indian nations.
The Algonquians dislike the Iroguois and call
them the “terrible people”
40. The iroquois
They live in Longhouses of 20 or more
families
The homes are 150 - 300 feet long
41. The iroquois
Have an unique form of government
It is a democratic league of five
Indian nations
1. Each tribe has its own laws
2. Matters of war - council of all the tribes
makes a decision
3. Sachems (SAY-chums), ten from each
nation, sit on the council
4. Heads of family (women) choose the
sachem
5. Everyone on the council has to agree in
order for an action to take place
43. Cultural Regions
There are four cultural regions
1. Pacific Northwest
2. Desert Southwest
3. Great Plains
4.Eastern Woodlands
*Each region had to adapt to
meet their survival needs
