Lesson 3 Early Regional Cultures

Indian cultures differ from one region to another

4 basic groups

Woodland

Mississippi River (Mississippian)

Great Plains

Pacific Nothwest

Woodland Indians lived east of the Mississippi River

Lived in forest areas near streams and lakes

The Adena and Hopwell were Woodland Indians

Hunter/gatherers and mound builders

Adena built burial mounds with small log rooms inside

Adena lived in villages of less than 500 people

Farmers; barley, sunflowers and squash

Snake Mound - 17 feet long

Mouth swallowing a huge egg

was a symbol of growth and change

Largest settlement of Mississippians in North America (20,000 people)

Located where 3 rivers come together: Missouri, Illinois and Mississippi Rivers

Planned city with public buildings, surrounded by a palisade (wooden fence)

Mound builders, built 120 mounds

Monk's Mound - largest mound in North America

By 1500, people of Cahokia had disappeared

Mississippian settlement built on high bluff overlooking Black Warrior River

In center of settlement was 26 earthen mounds

Large supply of maize, or corn

Made excellent pottery, coper pieces, and stonework

By 1500 Moundville was abandoned

Descended from the Mississippian Indians

6 tribes called Iroquois created peace treaty called "Great Law of Peace"

Organized themselves into a democracy

Their great leaders Hiawatha and Seneca still remembered for their great speeches

When Europeans arrived, Iroquois were most powerful Indians in North America

Place of flat grasslands, rivers, streams and a few mountains, not many trees

Summers hot and dry, winters very cold

Plain Indian tribes were Sioux, Cheyenne, Comanche and Blackfoot

Hunted buffalo

Pacific Coast Indians had access to seafood, especially salmon

Woods filled with wildlife, nuts, berries and root vegetables

Pacific Coast Indians always had enough food

Built longhouses

Showed their wealth through potlatch - giving away gifts

Eskimos "eater of raw meat"

Intuit meant "real people"

Hard lives, lived in harsh frozen environment

Built shelters out of blocks of ice called igloos

hunted sea mammals and caribou

known for delicate carvings of ivory and soapstone