Native way of life
This cone-shaped, portable tent made of wooden poles and buffalo hides was used by nomadic Plains tribes
What is a tepee?
These tall, carved wooden pillars created by Pacific Northwest tribes displayed family histories and spiritual symbols.
What are totem poles?
This protective charm, woven like a web and decorated with feathers, is traditionally hung above beds to catch nightmares
What is a dreamcatcher?
Nomadic tribes in this flat, grassy region relied heavily on hunting buffalo for food, clothing, and shelter.
What is the Great Plains?
This 1830 law signed by Andrew Jackson forced tens of thousands of Native Americans to leave their ancestral lands in the Southeast.
What is the Indian Removal act?
This agricultural system, called the "Three Sisters," includes corn, beans, and this crawling vine vegetable.
What is squash?
This traditional footwear, typically crafted from soft deerskin or leather, was worn by many tribes across North America
What are moccasins?
This tribal spiritual leader or medicine man connects the physical world with the spirit world to perform healing rituals
What is a shaman?
Tribes in this hot, dry region adapted to the desert by farming corn using irrigation and building permanent adobe pueblos.
What is the Southwest?
This is the devastating, forced westward march of the Cherokee nation, during which thousands died from disease, starvation, and cold.
What is the Trail of Tears?
Before European contact brought horses, Native Americans relied on this domesticated animal to pull heavy loads.
What is a dog?
This modern gathering features traditional singing, dancing, and socializing to celebrate and preserve Indigenous heritage
What is a powwow?
This heated, dome-shaped structure is used in religious rituals for prayer, spiritual purification, and physical cleansing
What is a sweat lodge?
Known for dense forests and heavy rainfall, tribes in this region built massive cedar plank houses and carved tall totem poles.
What is the Pacific Northwest?
Native Americans taught early European settlers how to plant this native crop, which became a vital food source for the colonies.
What is corn (or maize)?
This term describes a society, like the Iroquois, where lineage and tribal leadership are passed down through the mother
What is matrilineal?
Made from purple and white shells, these beads were used by Eastern Woodlands tribes for currency, records, and treaties
What is wampum?
Also known as a calumet, this sacred object is smoked during religious ceremonies to seal peace treaties and alliances
What is a peace pipe?
The Powhatan and the Iroquois lived in this heavily forested region, where they used wood to build longhouses and wigwams.
What is the Eastern Woodlands?
This 1600s conflict in New England, led by a Wampanoag chief, was one of the bloodiest early wars between English colonists and Native Americans.
What is King Philip's War (or Metacom's War)?
This high-energy food was made by mixing dried buffalo meat with fat and crushed berries to preserve it for winter
What is pemmican?
This alliance of five (later six) tribes established a complex representative democracy that influenced the U.S. Constitution
What is the Iroquois Confederacy?
This late-1800s religious movement and dance predicted the departure of white settlers and the return of the buffalo.
What is the Ghost Dance?
This harsh, frozen northern region was home to the Inuit, who adapted by hunting seals and whales and building temporary snow houses.
What is the Arctic (or Far North)?
This 1832 Supreme Court case ruled that the Cherokee Nation was a distinct community where Georgia laws had no force, though Andrew Jackson ignored it.
What is Worcester v. Georgia?