EDMES Grade Five Learning Tree

Native Americans


Native Americans inhabited North America long before settlers came from Europe. When the Pilgrims arrived in America, there were many tribes across the country, numbering a thousand tribal nations. Among these were such diverse tribes as the Seminoles, Choctaws, Alabamas, Winnebagos, Chippewas, Kickapoos, Iiowas, Omahas, Sioux, Sac, Fox, Cheyenne, Apaches, Zuni, Mohaves, Utes, Crows, Flatheads, Blackfeet, and others. Their names were as varying as their lifestyles and customs.

The Southwestern Tribes  came from the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Colorado, and the northern part of Mexico.  Most of the land is desert covered with cactus. California Native Americans  may have numbered as many as one million at one time.  The Hupa live in the largest reservations in California.
The Dakota Nation includes the native peoples who once lived in the northern forests and along the upper Mississippi River in northern Minnesota. The Comanches were fierce warriors who lived on the Southern Plains. The Southern Plains extend from the state of Nebraska into the north part of Texas. The Comanches are one of the most historically important Indian cultures from Texas, they were much more than just warriors, they were also very good traders.  The Pawnee nation lived in Nebraska for many years before the first white men came.
Wampanoag means "eastern people." Also called: Massasoit, Philip's Indians, and very commonly in the early records, Pokanoket (Poncakanet). Like other Algonquin in southern New England, the Wampanoag were a horticultural people who supplemented their agriculture with hunting and fishing. Villages were concentrated near the coast during the summer to take advantage of the fishing and seafood, but after the harvest, the Wampanoag moved inland and separated into winter hunting camps of extended families. Extending across most of northern New England into the southern part of the Canadian Maritimes, the Abenaki called their homeland Ndakinna meaning "our land."

Native Americans lived in many different types of shelters, depending on their needs.  Visit this site to learn about teepees and other homes they made and used.

Try this think quest to learn more about one tribes life. The Lakota Legacy


This site last updated 04/17/2005