Native American Cultures

There is no such thing as "Native American Culture" - or "art" or anything that suggests homogeneity. The Native American peoples are tremendously diverse, comprising at one time more than a thousand tribes speaking hundreds of languages from the Arctic Circle to Mexico and from the Atlantic to the Pacific. But anthropologists and art historians have found it convenient to group peoples in "culture areas" based on shared language or some commonality of physical culture. Each of these areas can be - and are - subdivided into smaller areas. These are the main "culture areas" that have been defined. Of course, the Native people's own stories and histories are significantly different than the European anthropologists and art historians. An excellent source of information on pre-contact Native nations and cultures - and their contributions to world culture (for example, that 75% of agricultural products in use in the world, were originated and developed by Native Americans) - can be found in Jack Weatherford's two books, "Native Roots" and "Indian Givers."

Woodlands

The entire area east of the Mississippi, the interior of Canada and Alaska to the Atlantic Coast, is considered the Woodlands Cultural Area. Except in the far north, this area is charactericed by deciduous forets, which were far more extensive at the time of European contact. In general the inhabitants derived at least a portion of their food supply from farming, and th economy was based on seasonal hunting and gathering, but these cultures were anything but homogenous. The Woodlands area is divided into four distinct regions. The Northern Woodlands, from the Eskimo area to the north and including parts of Alaska and most of Canada, was a sparsely settled region covered with evergreen forests;the Great Lakes, with its wealth of of water, game and hard wood forests led to a variation that included more farming, fishing, and gathering of wild rice. They built fairly large villages around their fields and often maintained seperate villages for the winter season. And they used wood; the Great Lakes people ranked second in wood carving behind the Northwest Coast people: the Northeastern Woodlands area, from the Great Lakes through New York and New England, included a great many tribes, and the Iroquois Confedracy. (it was the political structure of the Confederacy that became the model for the US Constitution); the entire Southern part of the United States from Texas to the Atlantic Ocean, comprises the Southeast Woodlands area, and represents perhaps the highest development (in European terms) of Native American civilization -- here were the Mound Builders, the great cities of Hohokam and Cakokia, the Five Civilized Tribes (notably termed so because they adopted European ways early on), a vast and varied group of nations and people who were the first to feel the impact of European contact and colonization. As should be obvious, this immense area contained cultures which had more differences than similarities, yet shared some common elements.

Generally these are the Indians of 18th Century European romance, with birch bark canoes and deerskin clothing, the people of Hiawatha and Pocahantas and Sacajaweya (though the Romances had little grounding in fact). They are the people the Europeans first began trade with which led to the creation of the British and French fur-trading cartels and later the Hudson Bay Company, which led in time to the modern day corporation. The people can be divided roughly into two groups: Atjabascans on the west, and Algonkian-speaking people to the east. These cultures showed the influence of neighboring Tribes, those on the west by the Northwest Coast people, those on the north by the Inuit (Eskimo), and the Great Lakes region by the Plans peoples to the south.

Plains

The Plains area comprises the territory from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi valley and from Texas and Oklahoma north into Canada. These Tribes depended mainly on the bison or buffalo for food, clothing, shelter and other neccessities, though in some parts of the Plains agricuture was also practiced. These are the Indians of popular media and often seen as "typical" Indians; the people of the horse, teepee, feathered bonnets and elaborately decorated skin clothing. Plains cultures were centered around the horse, and while current anthropology contends these animals were brought by the Spaniards, tribal legends, stories and some historical evidence suggests the horse - indigenous to America originally - was here when the European variety arrived.

While these Tribes followed the herds and maintained them, they were not truly nomadic, having generally agreed-upon territories outside which they rarely ventured except for trade or warfare. Warfare was not a mechanism for expanding tribal territory, but for the prestige of the individual warrior. Over time, many constantly warring tribes developed an enmity that exits to this day. As with the Woodlands people, the cutures of the Plains were influenced by their neighbors, and later by European influences.

Plateau

Sometimes included with the Great Basin area and California in a single "intermountain" area, the Plateau people share many traits with their Plains neighbors. This area includes Idaho and inland Washington State, inland British Columbia and northern Oregon. Predominantly Salishan and Sahapian speaking, they depended greatly on the salmon and other fish from the rivers. They lived mostly in semi-subterranean houses or in mat-covered lodges, but later adopted the Plains style Teepee. They also used the horse, notably the Nez Perce' who developed the Apaloosa breed.

Great Basin

The Great Basin area comprises the region between the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, and the largely desert areas of Utah, Nevada and southern Oregon. A sparsely populated region, the people in this region are considered by the Europeans as the most "primitive" in North America. Theirs was primarily a subsistance economy based on seed gathering, some hunting of small game, and utilization of every potential food source of their environment, including insects and small grubs. They were derisively termed "diggers" by the whites who encountered them. They lived mostly in brush huts and produced little material culture or "art," but traded coiled baskets or plaques with their neighbors the Dine (Navajo) to the south. Mostly Paiute and Shohone, these were the same people who in earlier centuries had migrated south and conquered the civilizations of the Valley of Mexico, later becoming known as the Aztecs. It was also from these people, from the Shoshone prophet Wovoka, that the Ghost Dance came.

Southwest

The Southwest area consists of what is now Arizona and New Mexico, and parts of Texas and norhern Mexico. There is great variation in the land, from high mountains and alpine meadows to arid desert and river basins. The people are as diverse as the land, but fall into three general divisions: the agricultural, town-dwelling Pueblo; the nomadic hunters of the Apache and Navajo; and the "primitive" faming and gathering communities of the Pima, Papago (Tohono O'odham). The Pueblos were among the first Native people impacted by Europeans when the Spanish ventured north from Mexico in the 1500's. The Pueblos themselves are not a homogenous groups, but represent several distinct languages and individual cultural variations. They are particularly sensitive about non-Pueblos discussing them that I will not do so here. Also, I live here. A lot of material is available, and many Pueblos have their own web sites. Much has also been written abou the Hopi (the "grandfather" tribe) and the Zuni and I won't attempt to duplicate it. These are the people of the kachina and the kiva and are to this day known for their pottery and jewelry work.

The Southern Athabacan people, the Navajo and Apache migrated into the area some time in the past, before the historic period. The Navajo today are the largest tribe in the United States, living on the largest reservation (the "Big Rez") although there are groups on several smaller reservations in the area. Warriors and raiders, they often preyed on the Pueblo and Spanish settlements, taking horses, corn and other agricultural products. Semi-nomadic, they also hunted and practiced some agricultural techniques. Forced by the US Army onto the reservation and forbidden to raid or make war, they turned to the more sedentary life of farmers and sheep herders. Today the Navajo are renowned for their weaving, silverwork, and sandpaintings.

The Apache (actually several distinct but related tribal groups in the area) have a similar social structure to the Navajo, to whom they are remotely related, but without the Pueblo andSpanish influences. Renowned warriors and horsemen, they produced such legendary figures as Geronimo, Mangas Colorado and Cochise.

The third group in the Southwest, the "Rancheria Tribes," are the Pima, Tohono O'odham and Yuman peoples. Living in the southwestern part of Arizona, they are believed to be descended from the ancient Hohokam people of the area. Technologically "primitive," they practiced limited agriculture and relied on desert plants and fish. This is one of the few part of the country where fermented beverages were produced. They made baskets and some pottery, showing influences from their California and Pueblo neighbors.

Pacific Northwest

The Pacific Northwest region is a distinct geological and climatological area running from Alaska to the Columbia River in Oregon. Fairly isolated by the Coast Range to the east, the are has a mild climate, anundant vegetation and rainfall, and forests of cedar, fir and hemlock, as well as deciduous trees. The people lived along the ivers or in the sheltered ocean inlets in the few places a natural beach could be found. The rivers and, especially, the sea, became their main source of food. Fish, shellfish, aquatic animals supplemented by wild plants and berries created an abundant food supply. Little farming was practiced, though some tobacco was grown, mostly for trade. Because of the plentiful food supply, much leisure time was available for crafts and arts. The houses were made of wood, and wood was the primary material for household goods, canoes, tools, crafts and ceremonial items. Other materials used included wool, skins, horn, bone, teeth and ivory, stones and shells. Almost everything was elaborately decorated. These are the people of the ocean-going whaling canoes, the "totem poles" and potlatches. They considered wealth in the form of material possessions as important to high standing in society, and had a hierarchical society based on ancestry and family connections. But such rank - and the privileges that went with it - had to be validated at a ceremony - the potlatch - in which guests wee given "gifts" - actually payment to witnesses - which varied in extravagence with the privelege being validated and the rank of the recipient (and the ambition of the one holding the potlatch). Warfare - raiding or defending from raids - was an important, if sporadic activity, and elaborate wooden body armor and unique weaponry were developed.

California

California is considered an independent area; then as now. Densely populated in precontact times by many small, scattered tribes belonging to several linguistic families, life was relatively easy, food abundant and the climate mild. The people practiced no agriculture and depended on good gathering, primarily the acorn, supplemented by wild plants, seafood and hunting. Clothing was scanty or even absent and the level of technology simple, with the exception of basketry; California Indians produced some of the finest baskets in the world. In the southern part of California, influences from the Southwest can be seen in pottery decorations, the use of boomerang-like rabbit sticks, sandals, and sand paintings used in ceremonies. In the north, influences drifted down from the Northwest Coast area, seen in wooden houses, plank canoes, body armor and basketry hats. In the central area, no pottery was produced and little woodwork, but as with the rest of the people of this area, excellent baskets of many types were produced.

The Califonia Indians were heavilly impacted by European contact. Those in the south, near the Spanish settlements, were quickly decimated and many tribes became extinct. In the north, the Russians and later the gold rush of 1849 had devastating effects. In the center of the area, now known as the San Joaquin Valley, the people were driven back into the mountains by the increasing white agricultural demands on the area. Amazingly, many survived throughout the area and, supplemented by the government's forced relocation of Najavo, Apache and other peoples, California's Native population is now the largest in the nation. Basketry has seen a resurgence, as have traditional ceremonies.

Other

Outside of the main continental area of the United States, there are additional culturl groups, from the Inuit people of the far north to the Mayans, Huichol and others in Mexico and Central America, and the many tribes of South America. I don't have space to cover all this here, but a lot of information is available now about these peoples and their culture, history, and the dangers they now face. Much of this is available on the Web; go to the NATIVE LINKS page to explore.

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