SS 140: NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
PROFESSOR LAGANA
FALL 2009: CULTURE AREAS OF NORTH AMERICA
Anthropologists usually divide the continent of North America into a number of different
culture areas (see page 5 in the textbook for a map of these culture areas.). Each culture
area roughly corresponds to a different type of environment. Within these areas, people
had fairly similar ways of life (although in most areas you could have also found groups
of people with very different ways of life). These culture areas should not be taken too
literally: they are devices that anthropologists use to help them organize the enormous
amount of information we have about Native American cultures. Here is a listing of these
culture areas, the names of some of the peoples who lived there, and the typical
subsistence pattern for each area (the way people in each area got most of their food).
I expect you all to be able to recognize the names of the different groups of people in
each area.
1. The Arctic (chapter 3 in textbook).
1. Two major groups of people here: the Inuit (Eskimo) and the
Aleuts (the native people of the Aleutian Islands.
2. Although there were exceptions, humans who lived in the area
depended more than anything else on sea mammal hunting (whales,
seals and walruses).
2. The Subarctic (chapter 4 in textbook).
1. Some subarctic groups: Cree, Naskapi, Micmac, Ojibwa, Cree, Chipewayan,
Kaska. Hare, Kutchin.
2. Hunting and gathering (with an emphasis on hunting) was the typical way of life
in this area.
3. The Plateau (chapter 5).
1. Some Plateau groups: Nez Perce, Kootenai, Flathead, Shushwap, Cayuse,
Klamath, Wishram, Spokane, Yakima, Umatilla, Coeur d’alene.
2. Hunting, gathering, fishing.
4. The Northwest Coast (chapter 6):
1. Some Northwest Coast nations included: Kwakiutl, Nootka, Tlingit, Haida, BellaCoola,
BellaBella, Tillamook, Chinook, Salish.
2. The subsistence pattern in this area was based largely on fishing, with salmon being the
most important type of fish.
5. The Great Basin (chapter 7):
1. Some nations of the Great Basin: Shoshone, Paiute, Ute, Washoe.
2. Hunting and gathering.
6. California (chapter 8):
1. Some of the many nations of California included: Chumash, Miwok, Pomo, Yana, Maidu, Hupa, Yokuts,
Shasta, Luiseno, Serrano, and many others.
2. Hunting and gathering was the way of the life for most of the peoples of California, with acorns being an especially
important source of food.
7. The Southwest (chapter 9).
1. Nations of the Southwest included:
- the various peoples whom the Spanish lumped together as the Pueblos (Hopi, Zuni, Tewa, Tiwa, Keresan).
- The Dene nations: the Navaho and Apache.
- The O’odham nation (Pima and Papago).
- Colorado River farmers: Havasupai, Mohave, Yavapai, Maricopa. Walapai.
- People of northern Mexio: Yacqui, Tarahumare, etc.
2. Subsistence: with the exception of the Navaho/Apache and the people of northern Mexico, the peoples of the southwest
were primarily farmers, supplementing their diet with a little bit of hunting. The Navaho/Apache were primarily hunters and
gatherers (although later in their history, the Navaho learned how to herd sheep from the Spanish). People like the Yacqui
and Tarahumare in northern Mexico were also primarily hunters and gatherers.
8. The Plains (chapter 10):
1. Some of nations in this area included:
- In the eastern part of the Plains: Mandan Hidatsa, Pawnee, Ponca,, Osage, Wichita, Omaha, etc.
- In the western part of the area: Lakota (Sioux), Cheyenne, Blackfoot, Arapaho, Kiowa, Crow, Arikara,
Piegan, Comanche.
2. Most of the people who lived in the eastern part of this area were primarily farming peoples who supplemented their food
supply with buffalo hunting. The western part of the plains in the 19th century was occupied by peoples who were almost
completely dependent on buffalo hunting; these people also relied on horses which native peoples started acquiring from
Europeans starting in the 16th century. Later on, the people of the plains also acquired guns, which further changed life.
It is the buffalo hunters of the western plains who are regarded by so many Americans as the “typical” American Indians.
9. The Eastern Woodlands (chapter 11).
1. This area was the home of many different nations: there were people who spoke various languages belonging to
the Iroquois family of languages such as the Erie, Huron, Mohawk, Seneca, Cayuga. There were also the many
nations where different Algonquin languages were spoken (Mohegan, Mahican, Delaware, Shawnee, Sauk, Fox, Miami, etc.).
2. Most of the people in this area had a way of life that involved a combination of farming (corn, beans and squash),
hunting, gathering wild edible plants, and fishing.
10. The Southeast (chapter 12):
1. Nations of the southeast included: Cherokee, Creek, Chickasaw, Natchez, Alabama, Choctaw, Catawba,
Mikasuki (Seminole),etc.
2. The people here were primarily farmers (one again, corn, beans and squash) supplemented with hunting.
(Note: these last two culture areas are not included in your textbook).
11. Mesoamerica (literally middle America- Mexico and central America):
1. Some Mesoamerican nations included: Olmecs, Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Toltecs, Mayans, and Aztecs.
2. This was the region where farming (corn, beans and squash) was the basis for the food supply.
12. The Caribbean:
1. In 1492 the islands of the Caribbean sea were occupied by two major ethnic groups: the Taino (also known as the Arawak),
and the people whom Europeans called the Carib. These Caribbean peoples were the first Native Americans to encounter
Europeans in the late 1400’s and early 1500’s. There were almost a few smaller ethnic groups (for example, the people
whom the Spanish named “Ciboney”).
2. The people who lived in the islands were farmers, with manioc (also called cassava or yuca) being the single most
important food crop. People also fished, collected shellfish (crabs, etc.), and hunted small animals.
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