Unit 1 Native Americans APUSH

West

Each area in the west differed, so there are micro climates. Abundance of natural resources determined if they stayed in their wikiups. Food eaten included salmon in which they used harpoons to capture. Acorns also important. They were identified with tribelets. Men hunted while women prepared the food and harvested. Slavery was used to help with laborious tasks.

…the Great Basin-mountainous

Southwest

The perfect place for farming. The people in this area were generally called the Pueblos(village/permanent dwellings[stone homes]). The main tribes were Mogollon, Hohokam, and Anasazi(Ancestral Pueblos[sedentary]). The Anasazi gave the way to complex irrigation systems that helped them grow more crops(beans and squash[used terraces and check dams to give water to the arid Four Corners Regions]) in addition to the main corn. Navajos and Apaches that came later, focused on hunting and gathering.

Northeast

During the Hopewellian period(good climate, farming conditions, mound building, and waterways), natives settled here Algonquians, Iroquois, Mohicans, and Hurons. Three sister farming came(bean, squash, and corn by IR) in which opened the door to cash crops as they became high demand and people wanted to trade for them. As certain tribes, like the Iroquois, had success in trading and farming-intertribal violence. This led to the establishment of the Great League of Peace. Each group member ha autonomy over local affairs while the entire league came together over trade policies and diplomacy issues.

Southeast

This is where the 5 civilized nations lived. They were the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles. The Mississippians had mound societies. Cahokia was the main trading hub. In this area the organizied the society into chiefdoms in which families were ranked based on their closeness to the chief.

Plains

• most fruitful for hunting game

• teepees

• Hernan Cortes came over in 1500- horses

• …made them nomadic bull and buffalo hunters

• Omahas, Cheyannes, Sioux

• Wet grasslands of the western Great plains created prairie ideal for grazing(bison)

Aztecs

Their capital city was Tenochtitlan. They are also referred to as the Mexica. They had a written language and complex irrigation systems. Their fertility was believed to be upheld by human sacrifices done by priests.-a South American civilization

Mayans

They had stone temples for their kings. They had complex irrigation systems. They established themselves on the Yuchatan penninsula. They also developed cities. Created crop rotation and terracing.

Incas

They were located in the Andes. Their success came from the cultivation of fertile mountain valleys. They used terrace farming as flat land was scare in this region. “irrigation systems, including canals and aqueducts, to channel water from mountain streams to the terraces” Their success came from the cultivation of maize

How did maize affect Native Americans?

Maize, or corn, was a staple crop for many Native American societies, providing a reliable food source that supported population growth and development of communities. It enabled the formation of complex societies(surplus of food meant less support only to agricultural workers and the opening of specialized jobs like artisians[=social classes and roles]) trade networks.