By Sera, Taylah and Tara Slide 2 Youtube Slide 3 Slide 4 The
Native Americans (also known as the Indians or the American
Indians) are the original inhabitants of the Americas (North, South
and Central America including the Caribbean / West Indies Islands;
all of which is also called the New World or the Western
Hemisphere). Slide 5 Native North Americans were the people that
inhabited North America before the arrival of the Europeans in the
fifteenth century. The North Americans have been known as Indians
for a long time because of their ongoing belief that nature was
sacred and that it had to be shared. Slide 6 Slide 7 It is mainly
agreed that North Americans came into the Western Hemisphere from
Asia. From Asia they travelled through Baring Strait or the North
Pacific Coast into a sequence of migrations. They crossed a land
bridge into Alaska, from there they spread east and south (refer to
map). Slide 8 Slide 9 HOUSING: There were various types of American
Indian homes - they adapted according to the climate and lifestyle
of the particular tribe and their location. Different tribes had
different weather to deal with, since the weather was so varied.
For example, in the Arizona deserts, temperatures were known to hit
120 degrees Fahrenheit, and the Alaskan tundra, -50 was not
uncommon. The Native Americans adapted their dwellings in order to
survive these harsh climates. Slide 10 Also, the assorted American
Indian tribes had different traditional lifestyles. Some tribes
were agricultural which meant 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.
Slide 11 This type of housing is called a wikiup. Slide 12
RELIGION/SPIRITUAL BELIEFS: Many followers of Native American
spirituality, do not regard their spiritual beliefs and practices
as a "religion" in the way in which many Christians do. Their
beliefs and practices form a integral and seamless part of their
very being. Estimates of the numbers of Native North Americans at
the time of the European arrival/invasion in what is now the United
States and Canada vary between 1.2 million. Slide 13 Each group of
people worshipped their own gods. All of these faiths did have some
things in common though. All of them were polytheistic (they
worshipped many gods). All of them thought of some of their gods as
being representatives of natural things like rain or the sky or the
earth. In these ways, these religions were like Chinese religion,
Hinduism, African traditional religion, Greek or Roman religion.
Slide 14 They believed in: - the existence of spirit power in
everything, which referred to by some Native Americans as wakan -
the unity between the human world, nature, and the spirit world -
the view of nature as the place where humans and spirits interact -
an emphasis on living in balance and harmony with nature and with
the spirit world - an interdependence of life forms Slide 15 - an
emphasis on society, communal harmony, kinship, a - an emphasis on
society, communal harmony, kinship, and cooperation - the
sacredness and spiritual significance of nature and the earth;
particularly objects in nature such as mountains, rivers, rocks,
stars, and plants; as well as many animals, such as eagles, hawks,
crow, owls, and deer. - the view of everything in its physical
sense, its subtle sense, and its spiritual sense Slide 16 - an
emphasis on self-discipline, and performing various tests of
physical ordeals - purification practices, fasting, and
vision-seeking - an emphasis on warrior culture - rituals, stories,
dancing, art, chants, and music (mainly singing & drumming), -
shamans - symbols such as the circle and the number four - the
existence of a Great Power or Great Mystery, and various other gods
- an emphasis on health Slide 17 Youtube Slide 18 Death and Burial:
Because they lived so close to nature, all Native American peoples
from the Stone Age to the modern era knew that death from hunger,
disease, or enemies was never far away. The various death customs
and beliefs, which first evolved during the invasions of Asians
from Siberia to Alaska across a land bridge during the last Ice Age
at least 12,000 years ago, gave them the means to cope with that
experience. Slide 19 Individual tribes maintained their own death
customs and adapted them to their regional environments into which
they migrated, although such rituals and beliefs could pass from
one group to the other through trade and intermarriage. Most Native
American tribes believed that the souls of the dead passed into a
spirit world and became part of the spiritual forces that
influenced every aspect of their lives. Many tribes believed in two
souls: one that died when the body died and one that might wander
on and eventually die. Slide 20 CLOTHING AND REGALIA: Originally,
there were many different traditional clothing styles in North
America. Nearly every Native American tribe had its own distinctive
style of dress, and the people could often tell each other's tribal
identities by looking at their clothes, headdresses, and
ornamentation. Slide 21 In most tribes, Native American men wore
breechclouts or breechcloths (a long rectangular piece of hide or
cloth tucked over a belt, so that the flaps fell down in front and
behind), sometimes with leather leggings attached in colder
climates. Slide 22 Assiniboine tribe, circa 1885 From the Sioux
tribe, circa 1875. Slide 23 Most Native American women wore skirts
and leggings, though the length, design, and material of the skirts
differed from tribe to tribe. In some Indian cultures women's
shirts were optional and were usually treated more like coats,
while in others, women always wore tunics or mantles in public. And
in other tribes women usually wore one-piece dresses instead, like
this Cheyenne buckskin dress. Slide 24 Nearly all Native Americans
had some form of moccasin (a sturdy leather shoe) or mukluk
(heavier boot), with the styles of footwear differing from tribe to
tribe (as you can see from these mocasin pictures). Most tribes
used cloaks in colder weather, but some of the northern tribes wore
Inuit-style fur parkas instead. Slide 25 Handmade beaded moccasins
A Cheyenne buckskin dress Slide 26 Slide 27 The Native Americans
were in a near constant state of warfare with one another. Many
tribes disappeared even before Columbus arrived in America, as a
result of tribal conflict. Basically as cultures of nomadic hunter
gatherers they were in constant competition over hunting grounds,
with the stronger tribes exercising their control over the more
fertile areas. Slide 28 Not only did these tribes compete for food
but also it became common practice to raid one another for women
and slaves. Inbreeding in many tribes was a severe problem and
child mortality rates were extremely high. When Lewis a Clark
explored through North America many of the tribes welcomed the
alliance with the "Americans" for the purpose of weapons to extract
vengeance upon the various tribes that have harassed them in the
pass. Slide 29 WebsiteDate Visited : Autho r: Last Site Update d:
Title: http://answers.yahoo.com/question
/index;_ylt=AnhKqx.Xmf_gf5zthSta7.AjzKIX;_ylv=3?qid=2010100401345
4AAp7Uu1 18 April 2011 Yahoo2011Did Native American Indian tribes
fight each other? http://www.historyonthenet.com/N
ative_Americans/tribes.htm 18 April 2011 Histor y on the net
2011Native Americans- Tribes/Nations http://www.native-
languages.org/houses.htm 18 April 2011 Native Ameri can facts for
kids 2011Native American houses Bibliography Slide 30
http://www.native- languages.org/clothing.htm 18 April 2011 Native
American facts for kids 2011Native American clothing and Regalia
http://www.deathreference.c om/Me-Nu/Native-American- Religion.html
18 April 2011 Encyclopedi a of Death and Dying 2011Native American
Religion http://www.artsmia.org/beaut y-honor-tradition/preview-
beadwork.html 18 April 2011 The Minneapoli s Institute of Arts
2004- 2011 Shared Beadwork Styles
