Native American Societies and Cultures
Native American groups lived across distinct regions including the Northwest, Plateau, California, Great Basin, Great Plains, Great Lakes, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Northeast. They developed sophisticated agricultural systems, with maize cultivation being central to many societies. First cultivated in Mexico about 10,000 years ago, corn became essential - eaten at meals, used as fuel, and crafted into various items from dolls to masks.
The Pueblo Indians lived in the Four Corners region, transitioning from nomadic hunter-gatherers to a sedentary lifestyle. They constructed impressive stone masonry village complexes and farmed maize, corn, squash, beans, and raised turkeys. The Iroquois Confederacy consisted of five tribes including the Mohawk and Seneca. They farmed the "Three Sisters" (corn, beans, squash) and were known as "people of the longhouse" for their distinctive rectangular homes.
The Natchez originated from modern-day Mississippi and Louisiana, creating villages with adobe houses topped with thatched roofs. They were skilled farmers and craftspeople, producing notable pottery, baskets, and woodcarvings.
Did you know? The Iroquois had specific hairstyles that indicated social status - men shaved their heads leaving a strip down the middle (the origin of what we now call a "mohawk"), while women wore two braids if unmarried and one braid if married.