The First Americans The First Americans A long

The First Americans

The First Americans A long time ago North America was very different from the way it is today. There were no highways, cars, or cities. There were no schools, malls, or restaurants. But even long, long ago, there were still communities. A community is where a group of people live and have fun together. People made their own homes, food, and clothing from the plants and animals they found around them, or natural resources. These first Americans descended, or came from cave men of Asia. These were the first people to live in North America. That is why we call them Native Americans. These people have lived in North America for thousands of years, and there are still Indian communities today.

Cultural Regions • Often people living in the same area share some ways of life. Such an area is called a cultural region. People living in a place with cold weather, for example, wear heavy clothing. Many people living in a place with rich soil farm the land. Yet in North America, there were great differences even among the people of the same cultural region. Think about these differences as you read about each cultural region.

Native Americans

Beringia land bridge: possible migration route

Bering Strait

Anasazi

Location of Southwest The Anasazi are located in the desert that is the southwestern part of the USA. Today it is known as the Four corners and covers Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.

Culture of Southwest w. They used animals skins for clothes.

How they lived? They lived in adobe buildings. Some used cliffs made of sandstone for their homes. Their first floor had no doors or windows in order to keep thieves out. They used a ladder to get to the second floor of their house. Dry farming was used to grow the 3 sisters (corn, squash, and beans).

Anasazi cliff dwellers

Southwest Religion They believed in Spirits in nature. Kachina dances were done to bring rain to the crops. They also had kivas, a religious building

Southwest Art w. The Southwest made pots, cloths, and baskets as well as jewelry and dolls.

Southwest Clothing Their clothing was made from cotton but they didn’t need much since it was very hot They did wear moccasins.

What happened to the Southwest? Many of the Southwest Native Americans have moved on to other places. Some Native Americans remain in the surrounding areas.

Mound Builders “Mississippians”

Location of Mound Builders w. They lived in the Ohio and Mississippi River valleys.

How the Mound Builders lived? They grew and ate maize (field corn). Cities were built on top of mounds of dirt.

Mound Builder Religion They believed that spiders and woodpeckers had special powers. They also had a leader known as the “Great Sun. ” When he died, his wives were killed and buried with him so he would have them in the next life. The Mound Builders’ got their name because they would bury people along with their goods in concical mounds on a hill. Many mounds contain hundreds of people buried on top of one another creating a mountain. Many of these mounds have tons of dirt and these people didn’t even have horses to help them. The people carried all the dirt! The largest mound is found in Cahokia, Illinois and contains about 40, 000 people.

What happened to the Mound Builders? w. Most of them died as a result of the White man bringing disease with him from Europe.

The Hohokam