The Eastern Mound Builders
The earliest of the Eastern Mound Builder cultures were the Adena, who lived about 600 B.C.
They and the later Hopewell and Mississippian cultures built large earthwork mounds. These
were farming and trading cultures that lived alongside rivers.
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Early Civilizations of the AmericasSection 3: Cultures of North America
MapMaster: The Mound Builders
People of the Southwest and Great Plains
Around A.D. 100, the Ancestral Puebloans began to build villages in the Southwest. They grew
food with the help of canals and dams and built pueblos to live in. They worshipped many spirits
and held ceremonies in kivas. The Plains Indians were farmers and bison hunters who lived in
temporary dwellings such as tipis.
Peoples of the Woodlands
Native Americans on the East and West Coasts were woodland peoples. Northwestern peoples
built totem poles as symbols of their wealth and heritage. The five Iroquois nations in the East
formed an alliance that served as a model for organized political systems to come.
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Early Civilizations of the AmericasSection 3: Cultures of North America
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