z6+Southwest

Clothing The clothing they wore depended on what they did. They lived in a warm climate so they wore light clothing. They would dress in flowers and paint with feather headdresses. They also used clothing to signify their fighting skills. The Southwest Indians were the most skilled in making baskets. They would decorate the baskets with colors and patterns. They could be very symbolic like the art they made. The Hopi method of basket making has not changed for hundreds of years. [|clothing info]

ART  The Southwest Indians is most likely the most unique artistic traditions. There art is easily recognized. Some of the most popular art is the kachina dolls made by the hopi, pottery from the pueblo, sand paintings by the Navajo, blankets and tugs from again the Navajo, also the basketry and jewelry which is usually turquoise or silver. [|Art Info.] Food The very first Southwest Native Americans hunted mammoths until they became extinct. Then people began to hunt buffalo, also known as bison, as well as collect wild plants for food. They also learned to grow maize, or corn, that was their most common grain, which became domesticated in Mexico. Corn is the central food of daily life, and piki which are paper thin bread made from corn and ash is the dominant food at ceremonies. Corn relies on the farmer to survive, and the Hopi relies on the corn. The Hopi Indians grew food similar to the Navajo Indians. They raised corn or maize as the basic food. The Hopi Indians based religious ceremonies on the corn they grew. They grew 24 different kinds of corn, but the blue and white was the most common. They also grew beans, squash, melons, pumpkins, and fruit. [|southwest indian food info] Climate It is mostly hot and dry. It is mostly dessert with cacti’s and water-miser plants. There are some plateaus and rock formations. At higher elevations there are few forests. There are few river valleys. It has many thunderstorms during the summer drenching the areas. It has many minerals through out the area. There is very few river valleys and there is a remote time of the year for farming. [|Climate Info.] Rituals Kachina dolls were carved out wood by the Zuni and Hopi tribes. They clothed them in masks and costumes to look like the men who dressed up as Kachina spirits. They were given to children to teach them to identify the different parts of Kachina dolls, and the parts they play in tribal ceremonies. The Kachinas, or Gods, were beings of a great might and a great power to the Native Americans. They were known to come down to earth and actually help the Native Americans tend their fields and give them wisdom about agriculture, and law and government. They physically interacted with the people themselves. There have been drawings of these Kachinas on cave walls. In many ways they correspond to the kinds of drawings we see in the Nasdak Plains but in much larger form. [|southwest indian ritual info]

Location The Southwest Native Americans come from the states of Arizona, New Mexico, Southern Colorado, and the northern part of Mexico. Most of the land is desert covered with cactus. The main tribes that come from the Southwest area are the Apache, Hopi, Navajo, Pueblo, & Zuni. Some tribes spoke their own languages, had their own religious customs, and laws they followed. Most of the Southwest Native Americans became farmers and lived in villages. [|Location Info.]

House Life There were many different types of American Indian houses in North America. Each tribe needed a kind of housing that would fit their lifestyle and their climate. Since North America is such a big continent, different tribes had very different weather to contend with. In the Arizona deserts, temperatures can hit 120 degrees Fahrenheit, and in the Alaskan tundra, 50 is not unusual. Naturally, Native Americans developed different types of dwellings to survive in these different environments. Also, different American Indian tribes had different traditional lifestyles. Some tribes were agricultural they lived in settled villages and farmed the land for corn and vegetables. They wanted houses that would last a long time. Other tribes were more nomadic, moving frequently from place to place as they hunted and gathered food and resources. They needed houses that were portable or easy to build.

[|southwest indian house info] Culture The southwest Indians are believed to have migrated to America between 10,000 and 25,000 B.C. There culture is moderate to the far west, plains, and the southern part of the eastern woodland culture. Three of the most important cultures formed 300 B.C. All are based off of farming, hunting, and also gathering. The Hohokam dug irrigational systems to bring water to the farming areas. In their culture water is a valuable natural recource. [|Culture Info.]