Native American Nations

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Native American Nations
Description The student will describe how early
Native American cultures developed in North
America. a. Locate where the American Indians
settled with emphasis on Arctic (Inuit),
Northwest (Kwakiutl), Plateau (Nez Perce),
Southwest (Hopi), Plains (Pawnee), and
Southeastern (Seminole).b. Describe how the
American Indians used their environment to obtain
food, clothing, and shelter.
Created by Sharon Amolo Sharon Amolo is a Media
Specialist at Gwin Oaks Elementary
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Click on the Arctic region to learn more about
the Inuit.
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The Inuit of Alaska and Northwest Canada
The Inuit lived in the extreme arctic climate of
Northwest Canada and Alaska. The Inuit have lived
in the Arctic for thousands of years. The area
has cold and harsh winters and cool summers.
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The Inuit of Alaska and Northwest Canada caught
or hunted the food they ate. They traveled and
fished along the ocean and seashore each season.
They used harpoons to hunt the animals. The main
food they hunted were seals. They also ate
whales, walruses, caribou (reindeer), polar
bears, and birds. They also gathered plants such
as grasses and seaweed.
Inuit Food

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Inuit Housing

• The Inuit built homes called igloos. The igloos
  were made from
• snow and ice. In the arctic, there are not many
  building materials.
• No trees grow in the arctic so houses can not be
  made from wood.
• Instead the Inuit used blocks of snow to make
  their homes. In the
• summer, when the snow melts, the Inuit lived in
  tent-like huts made
• of animal skins stretched over a frame.

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Inuit Clothing

• The Inuit wore thick clothing made from caribou
  and seal hides.
• They also made all of their outer clothing
  waterproof since they
• hunted for a lot of their food in canoes.

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Click on the Pacific Northwest to learn about the
Kwakiutl.
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The Kwakiutl of the Pacific Northwest
The Kwakiutl lived on the northwest Pacific coast
in the area that is now extends from the top of
California to Alaska. The area had lots of trees.
The summers were warm and the winters were mild
and rainy.
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Kwakiutl Food
The Kwakiutl ate fish as their main source of
food. Kwakiutl men also hunted deer and moose,
while women gathered shellfish, seaweed, roots,
and berries.
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Kwakiutl Housing
The Kwakiutl lived in longhouses made from the
large cedar trees which surrounded them. The
homes only had one door and no windows. There was
also a hole in the top of the house to let smoke
out. The Kwakiutl also painted symbols on the
front and inside of their homes and had totem
poles that told their family history.
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Kwakiutl Clothing
The Kwakiutl wore different clothing depending on
the season. In the summer the men wore
breechcloths made from grass. The women wore
dresses made from the same types of grasses. In
the winter both men and women wore clothes made
from animal skins.
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Click on the Plateau region to learn about the
Nez Perce.
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The Nez Perce of the Plateau
Nez Perce live in the plateaus and the valleys of
what is now known as north central Idaho,
Montana, northeastern Oregon, and southeastern
Washington.
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Nez Perce Food
The Nez Perce were fishing and hunting people.
Nez Perce men caught salmon and other fish, and
also hunted in the forests for deer and elk. They
also hunted buffalo herds in the open plateaus.
Nez Perce women gathered roots, fruits, nuts and
seeds.
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Nez Perce Housing
earth lodge
teepee
Originally, the Nez Perce lived in earth houses
made by digging an underground room, then
building a wooden frame over it and covering the
frame with earth, cedar bark, and mats. Once the
Nez Perce began hunting the buffalo, they began
to use teepees like the Plains tribes.
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Nez Perce Clothing
Nez Perce women wore long deerskin dresses. Nez
Perce men wore breechcloths with leather leggings
and buckskin shirts. Their clothes were fringed
and decorated with beadwork, shells, and painted
designs. Sometimes the leaders wore feather
headdresses. Both Nez Perce women and men both
wore their hair long, either leaving it loose or
putting it into two braids.
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Click on the Southwest to learn about the Hopi.
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The Hopi of the Southwest
The Hopi lived in the low, flat desert and high
plateaus of the dry southwest. They were desert
dwellers and lived in permanent villages.
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Hopi Food
The Hopi were farmers and sheepherders. The main
food they ate and grew was corn, but they also
grew beans, squash, melons, and other vegetables
and fruits. Another food that made was Piki
bread. The men usually farmed and herded animals.
The Hopi also raised turkeys and gathered wild
plants for food.
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Hopi Housing
Hopi traditionally live in terraced pueblo
structures made of stone and adobe (sun-baked
clay). Their houses had flat roofs, were several
stories high, and were often joined together in
groups.
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Hopi Clothing
The clothing the Hopi wore was made of animal
skins and cotton. The Hopi clothes fit very
loose. On an average day the men wore shirts and
tunics and the women wore skirts or dresses. In
the winter they added shawls, blankets and extra
clothing to their outfits.
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Click on the Plains region to learn about the
Pawnee.
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The Pawnees of the Plains
The Pawnee once lived in the plains region in
what is now Nebraska. The villages consisted of
10 to 12 large, round, earth-covered houses. The
Pawnee left their villages once or twice a year
to hunt buffalo on the plains.
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Pawnee Food
squash
corn
buffalo
The Pawnee got most of their food from farming.
The women raised corn (maize), squash, pumpkins,
and beans. The Pawnee also used horses during
their buffalo hunts. However, the hunting was
secondary to farming .
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Pawnees Housing
earth lodge
teepee
The Pawnee lived in large, dome shaped,
earth-covering lodges. Skin tepees were used for
buffalo hunts. Pawnee were unlike most of the
Plains Indians since their villages tended to be
permanent.
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Pawnees Clothing
The Pawnee wore different clothing depending on
the season. In the summer women wore skirts and
moccasins and men wore loincloths. Men also wore
a second belt that they used to hang their
tomahawks, knives and guns. In the winter men
wore buffalo robes and long leather pants, while
women wore buck skin dresses with leggings. Both
men and women would pierce their ears and wear
beaded earrings. Pawnee men shaved all the hair
on their head except for a small piece on the top.
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Click on the Southeast to learn about the
Seminole.
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The Seminole of the Southeast
The Seminole lived in the southeast in what is
now Florida. They were originally part of the
Creek tribe of Georgia. As settlers moved into
Creek territory in the early 1700s the Seminole
fled to Florida. While there they formed an
independent Native American nation.
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Seminole Food
The Seminoles were farming people. Some of the
foods they planted included squash, beans, maize,
and pumpkins. The women also gathered wild plants
for eating. Seminole women harvested crops.
Seminole men did most of the hunting and fishing,
catching game such as deer, wild turkeys,
rabbits, turtles, and alligators.
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Seminole Housing
The Seminoles lived in large villages built near
their fields. The Seminole built houses called
chickees. The chickee was made out of wooden
poles and had roofs covered with branches,
palmetto leaves, and grass. The walls to the
houses were open and were built on a platform to
keep them safe from the swamp water, snakes, and
alligators.
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Seminole Clothing
Seminole men wore breechcloths. Seminole women
wore wraparound skirts, usually woven from
palmetto leaves. Both men and women wore ponchos
in cool weather. After the white settlers arrived
the Seminoles adapted European clothing and the
men began wearing turbans and long colorful
tunics while the women wore full patchwork
skirts.
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Click on this link to see if you can identify
the houses, plants, and animals of the different
groups.
GREAT JOB!
http//www.ahsd25.k12.il.us/Curriculum20Info/Nati
veAmericans/Index.html