SOCIAL STUDIES UNIT

Sydney Cox

Mrs. Thomas 3rd Grade

WHO LIVED IN NORTH AMERICA FIRST?

Native Americans

NATIVE AMERICANS

A Native American is any member of the peoples living in North or South

America before the Europeans arrived.

Native Americans are grouped into tribes.

Members of a tribe share the same land, culture, language, religion, and customs.

Tribes are also grouped into regions or culture groups.

Northwest Coast / Far west

Plains

Eastern Woodlands

Southwest

NORTHWEST COAST This region is along the Pacific Coast. Moderate temperatures (no extreme

temperatures) Thick forests

NORTHWEST COAST Tribes

Nez PerceShoshone

Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce

NORTHWEST COAST Native

Americans in the Northwest Coast lived in longhouses.

Those who traveled, also lived in teepees.

NORTHWEST COAST The Pacific Ocean

offers the Native Americans plenty of fish.

They trapped salmon in the rivers and hunted large sea animals, like whales, in the ocean.

NORTHWEST COAST The Native

Americans were great wood carvers. They carved totem poles to place outside of their houses.

Totem poles were used to tell the family’s history.

NORTHWEST COAST After the Native

Americans adopted some European techniques, they began to make clothing out of wood pulp and cotton.

NORTHWEST COAST A common custom for Native

Americans in this region is to hold a potlatch. The host would give gifts to their guests.

Those who had the most possessions to give was seen as the wealthiest and the most powerful

PLAINS REGION

PLAINS This region is between the Rocky

Mountains & the Mississippi River.

The land is flat and grassy with few trees.

Hot Summers Cold Winters

PLAINS Tribes

LakotaCheyenne

Sitting Bull and Buffalo Bill

Morning Star

PLAINS Native

Americans in the Plains region live in tipis.

Tipis allow the Native Americans to travel and follow the buffalo.

PLAINS Native

Americans in the Plains region hunt buffalo.

They follow the buffalo herds as they travel across the plains.

PLAINS Headdresses

were worn by honored men.

Headdresses vary from tribe to tribe.

They are earned by brave deeds.

PLAINS Native

Americans in the Plains region wore animal skins and moccasins.

PLAINS Not all the tribes in the Plains region spoke the same language.

They developed a sign language to communicate with each other.

SOUTHWEST

SOUTHWEST The Southwest

region includes Arizona, New Mexico, and parts of Colorado and Mexico.

Desert Extremely Dry

SOUTHWEST TribesApacheNavajo

Geronimo

Manuelito

SOUTHWEST Native Americans in the

Southwest region lived in pueblos of adobe buildings.

Adobe is the mixture of sand, clay, and water. This is mixed with sticks and straw to make the walls.

Some tribes such as the Navajo, lived in hogans.

Pueblos

Hogans

SOUTHWEST Native

Americans in the Southwest region hunted buffalo and grew maize, beans, squash, and pumpkins.

SOUTHWEST

Native Americans in the Southwest are known for their woven blankets, pottery, and turquoise jewelry.

SOUTHWEST Native Americans

in the Southwest, like the Navajo, became cotton farmers and sheep herders. They got wool from the sheep for their clothes. They also used deerskin.

SOUTHWEST Some Native American tribes in

the Southwest believed in Kachinas, spirits of their ancestors who have come back with the clouds and the rain.

The Southwest region is also believed to be the most highly developed.

EASTERN WOODLANDS

EASTERN WOODLANDS The Eastern Woodlands

region is located between the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Coast. It also includes the Great Lakes.

This region had a moderate climate.

Lots of trees.

EASTERN WOODLANDS TribesIroquoisCherokee

Sequoyah

EASTERN WOODLANDS Native

Americans in the Eastern Woodlands region live in wigwams and longhouses.

EASTERN WOODLANDS Native Americans in the Eastern

Woodlands region hunt deer and grow crops such as maize, squash, and beans.

EASTERN WOODLANDS Native

Americans in the Eastern Woodlands created many types of baskets to store their many goods.

EASTERN WOODLANDS Native Americans in

the Eastern Woodlands region wore deer pelts and buckskins.

Pelts are animal skins that still haves the fur on it.

Buckskins are animal skins without fur.

Women also wore grass dresses.

EASTERN WOODLANDS

The Cherokee had a written language, that was developed by Sequoyah.

EASTERN WOODLANDS