Native American Regions before European Settlement (Unit 1 Colonial America)

Vocabulary flashcards covering key terms related to Native American regions and lifestyles before European settlement.

Pueblo

Sedentary Southwestern culture whose diet was agricultural; built cliff dwellings; engaged in trade (textiles and corn) with other groups; practiced weaving.

Cliff dwellings

Homes built into cliff faces in the Southwest to protect inhabitants from heat and provide shelter.

Three Sisters

The crops corn, beans, and squash grown together, forming a major dietary staple in many tribes.

Weaving

The craft of weaving textiles; a common Native American skill for clothing and trade goods.

Basket weaving

Weaving baskets from plant fibers for storage, transport, and daily use.

Great Basin

Geographic region where some Native American groups were nomadic and used flexible shelters.

Wikiup

A dome-shaped brush shelter used by nomadic Native Americans, especially in the Great Basin and Plains.

Plains

Nomadic tribes of the Great Plains who hunted and gathered; farming was less emphasized; used portable shelters like wikiups.

Pacific Northwest

Sedentary coastal groups with permanent cedar plank houses near rivers, forests, and the ocean; relied on salmon and other resources; seasonal movement during autumn (acorn season) noted in notes.

Salmon

A staple food source for Pacific Northwest coastal peoples.

Acorns

Nut harvested and eaten, noted as a staple in some regions; associated with autumn gathering.

Northeast Longhouse

Wooden longhouses that housed 20–50 people; agriculture centered on the Three Sisters; women gathered berries, roots, and nuts while men prepared fields with controlled fires and stone axes, and women planted, hoeed, and harvested.