1. Ancestral Pueblo architecture of tribes in the Southwest established

A. methods for the conservation and management of water

B. a railroad system that is still in place today

C. the cultivation of native vegetation originally brought from Northern California

D. over 700 burial centers for use during annual ceremonies

Answer:methods for the conservation and management of wate

2. These three cultures from the Southwest United States contributed to the establishment of permanent architecture through mesa villages and pit houses:

A. Tillamook, Quinault and Chinook

B. Mogollan, Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo

C. Nez Perce, Yakima and Arctic Inuit

D. Aleuts, Cahokia and Tikal

Answer: Mogollan, Hohokam and Ancestral Pueblo

3. The alcove dwellings at Mesa Verde were located beneath a great mesa for

A. the enjoyment of the beautiful view of the landscape

B. its proximity to irrigation for food cultivation

C. protection from wind, weather and potential attackers

D. the extensive copper and calcite mining opportunities within the cave

Answer:protection from wind, weather and potential attackers

Who are the Native People of the American Southwest?

Southwest Indians is the name given to Native Americans who call the southwestern part of the United States home. Many indigenous people of the American Southwest currently live in Utah, Nevada, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and the Nothern part of Mexico.

Records show that over 20 percent of Native Americans in the USA inhabit the South West.

The region, known as the culture area, is between the Mexican Siera Madre and the Rocky Mountains. The landscape has two principle river systems; Rio Grande-Pecos towards the East and the Gila-Colorado-San Juan towards the west. The Continental Divide acts as the boundary between the two watersheds.

In this post, you’ll learn about the Native Americans who live in the Southwest.

The History of the Native American Culture of the Southwest

Three main ways influence the cultural traditions of the Southwestern Native Americans; the Paleo-Indian tradition, Post-Archaic traditions, and the Southwestern Archaic tradition. Over time, cultures have evolved and diverged. However, the cultures still share similarities in their family structures and religious practices.

Native American Culture dates back to 7500BC when their ancestors first settled in the Southwest. The Cochise people, for instance, adapted to hunting and gathering as their primary food source. They later transitioned to nomadic pastoralism.

The Pueblo then started farming in the early AD 100s. Irrigation kicked in then, and they grew corn, squash, and beans, among other crops.

The people lived in permanent and semi-permanent houses built near cliffs. Elaborate buildings made of adobe and sandstone provided shelter. Also, the people valued ornaments and artistic pottery.

They had sophisticated social and ritual traditions. Some of the standard religious practices among the Southwesterners included animism and shamanism. In animism, they believed that plants, animals, and inanimate objects had spiritual value. Shamanist sages would alter their states of consciousness to interact with the spiritual world or summon divine power.

What Native American Tribes were Southwest Nomads?

Native Americans have nomadic ancestors who discovered the continent long before Columbus docked in the Bahamas with his ships. Early parents of the modern Native Americans crossed the land bridge from Asia to America more than 12,000 years ago.

Over the years, several descendants of the first americans continued the nomadic tradition. Some of the Southwestern people that were nomads included the Navajo and Apache. The groups survived by hunting, gathering, and animal keeping.

Sometimes, these nomadic people would raid neighbors with more established agricultural farms for vegetables and other crops. As a result of their constant movement, the nomads had fewer permanent houses. The Navajo, for instance, built their east-facing hogans out of mud and barks from trees.

Where Did the Tribes of the Southwest live?

Pueblo Indians had some of the most impressive shelters among the Southwesterners. The houses were compact apartment houses. While the Ancestral Pueblos lived in cliffs, their descendants modeled those dwellings into permanent village apartment houses.

Pueblos used adobe and adobe to make these apartments in river valleys or rocky plateaus. Like modern people, families would pick several rooms depending on their number. And there would be a room for sleeping, storing grains, and food preparation.

The ground story remained without doors or windows to keep off enemies. The second and consequent upper stories were terraced to give room for a front yard. Residents would climb to their apartments using ladders. Families had set aside some underground rooms (kivas) for religious practices.

And when the Spanish explorers and settlers saw the houses in the 1500s, they named them pueblos (Spanish for village).

Pima, Yumans, and Tohono O’odham had settlements that differed from the Pueblos Indians. First, their homes took different shapes depending on their access to rivers or sources of water. Villages that were near rivers had distinctly dome-shaped houses. The houses had a framework of logs and were thatched or plastered with clay.

Then, tribes who lived near seasonal rivers had summer two different homes. During the summer, they would practice agriculture and build their houses there. Summer settlements were thatched. For the rest of the year, the people would build on more elevated grounds where they’d hunt and find water.

What Did Native Americans Eat in the Southwest?

Most Southwesterners combined hunting and gathering with agriculture. But, the environment the people lived in directly influenced the food they would eat. Tribes that lived along waterways were mainly farmers. So, they’d eat corn, beans, melons, grasses, and pumpkins, among other crops. Diet supplements included fish, seeds, fruits, and game meat.

The Pima, Upland Yumans, and Tohono O’odham had an unreliable water supply. So, they practiced irrigation to guarantee their food security. Such tribes had elaborate stone channels to direct water to their fields. There, they planted beans, corn, melons, and squash.

Native groups that did not have permanent rivers flowing across their lands planted foods at the mouths of seasonal streams. They’d then built check dams to slow the water but suffered torrents during the rains. So, they mainly relied on wild foods than permanent agriculture.

Pueblos were primarily farmers who practiced irrigation in their fields. They grew beans, corn, squash, melons, and sunflower seeds. Apart from keeping turkey, the Pueblo would hunt deer and rabbits. They gathered berries, pine nuts, and cacti, among other wild crops.

The Navajo and Apache were nomadic groups who practiced hunting and gathering. With time, the nomads adopted the agricultural practices of Pueblo. They learned to grow corn, beans, and other vegetables. 

When the Spanish settlers arrived, they introduced new crops to the Southwest. For instance, they brought onions, peaches, wheat, apricots, and watermelons. They also brought sheep, goats, and cows.

Southwest Native American tribes

The Southwest native American tribes include;

• Apache
• Navajo
• Pima
• Upland Yumans
• Tohono O’odham
• Pueblos

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