First Texans Vocab

Social Studies CKS

Artifacts

Objects made by humans that show how they once lived.

Indigenous Peoples

A group of people who are native to a particular place.

Beringia

A region including the Bering Strait that connects Alaska and Asia, exposed during the last ice age.

Adaption

A change or process by which a species becomes better suited to its environment.

Pictographs

Pictures drawn or painted on cave walls, ledges, and cliffs.

Band

A group consisting of two or more extended families living together under one leader.

Matrilineal

A system where descent is traced primarily through the mother.

Reservations

Land set aside by the U.S. government for American Indians to occupy.

Hunter-gatherers

People who survive by searching for wild plants and animals.

Nomad

A person who moves from one place to another rather than living in one place permanently.

Pueblos

Large American Indian homes made of adobe, a mixture of wet clay and straw.

Tipi

A cone-shaped tent made of poles covered with animal skins.

Migrate

To move from one place to another.

Adobe

Building material made from clay and straw that has been dried in the sun.

Enmity

Active and usually mutual hatred or ill will.

Petroglyphs

Carvings made in rock.

Atlatl

A stick about two feet long with a wooden hook to hold a spear's shaft.

Sedentary

A lifestyle where people are permanently settled in one place.

Archaeologists

People who study past cultures from the artifacts left behind.

Pangea

A supercontinent where continents were arranged together at the beginning of the age of dinosaurs.

Tribe

A group made up of several bands that share territory and culture.

Kiva

A large room used for meetings and religious ceremonies.

Coalition

A temporary group of people or countries joined together for a common purpose.