Vocabulary
A deep, narrow valley with steep sides cut by running water.
gorge
A cone-shaped shelter made by Great Plains tribes using long wooden poles covered with sewn bison hides.
A tepee
A tall cedar pole carved with animal, human, and spirit figures to tell family stories and display social rank
totem pole
A treeless grassland region with bitter cold winters and hot summers stretching between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River.
Great Plains
The Great Plains tribe that viewed the bison as sacred and relied on it for food, tepees, blankets, and shields.
Dakotas
A high, flat-topped landform with steep sides commonly found in the Southwest
A Mesa
A dome-shaped shelter built by Eastern Woodlands tribes using bent trees covered with birch bark or plant mats.
wigwam
A hardwood stick with a bone or horn handle used by Yakama women to unearth camas roots.
Digging Stick
The driest cultural region, featuring deserts, mesas, canyons, scorching hot days, and freezing cold nights.
Southwest
The Southwest tribe whose women owned property, farmed corn with little water, and crafted clay pots with black geometric designs.
Hopis
An area where different Native American groups developed similar ways of living and adapted to similar environments.
Cultural Region
An apartment-style building up to five stories high constructed from stone and adobe clay in the Southwest.
pueblo
Outerwear woven from the soft inner core of tree bark by Kwakiutl women to stay warm and dry in heavy rainfall.
cedar bark coats and hats
A hot, humid swampland environment in southern Florida filled with razor-sharp saw grass and cypress trees.
Southeast
The Florida tribe whose members wore deer hide leggings to protect their legs from saw grass and mosquitoes.
Seminoles
Moving from place to place in search of food and seasonal resources rather than staying in one permanent home.
Nomadic
A winter shelter built partly underground in a circular pit three to six feet deep and covered with an earth-insulated roof.
underground pit house (or Yakama winter home)
Defensive items crafted by Great Plains warriors using tough bison hide, feathers, and fur, painted with scenes from their dreams for spiritual protection.
bison hide shields
A region situated between the Cascade and Rocky mountains that receives water from the Columbia and Fraser rivers.
Plateau
The California tribe famous for weaving delicate baskets decorated with shells, beads, and feathers
Pomos
A human-made object, such as a tool, piece of pottery, or home, that helps historians understand how people lived in the past.
An artifact
An open-sided shelter built three feet above swampy ground using wooden posts and a roof made of palm tree leaves.
chickee
A cone-shaped trapping device woven from willow trees and held together with cedar rope, used by Northwest Coast tribes to catch salmon.
fish trap
A narrow coastal region stretching from Alaska to California covered in thick cedar, pine, and fir forests with heavy rainfall.
Northwest Coast
The Northwest Coast tribe whose women wove cedar bark into warm, waterproof coats and hats to adapt to a wet climate.
Kwakiutls