11th APUSH: Indigenous Societies: Home

Who is an American? Indigenous Societies Before European Colonization 

PRE-CONTACT NATIVE AMERICANS, ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS:  

• What was the relationship of indigenous Americans to their environment?   How did regional environment shape Native cultures?  

• What similarities did diverse indigenous cultures share?  What key differences distinguished them?   How connected were Native American societies? 

• What characteristics and values of Native life were different from Europeans?   What were the impacts of these differences on Native-European interactions?

RESEARCH TOPICS: INDIGENOUS AMERICAN GROUPS

1. Northeast – Iroquois  

2. Mid-Atlantic- Powhatan 

3. Southeast- Cherokee 

4. Southwest - Pueblo 

5. Plains- Sioux 

6. Northwest- Chinook

SUB TOPICS TO INVESTIGATE:  

1. Identifiers:  Does the name describe a specific tribe, a group of tribes, and/or language group?  Does the group use a different term or terms to identify itself?  

2. Regional environment:   In what region was the group located? What were the climate and resources there?  

3. Economic organization:  Resources?  Hunters/gatherers/farmers? Nomadic/sedentary?  Trade networks? 

4. Social organization/cultural traditions:  Family structure? Housing? Religion? Role of culture?   Language group and connections to other tribes?   

5. Political organization:  Leadership/Government/decision-making structure?  Matrilineal/patrilineal succession?

Use the databases, eBooks, and links below to find answers to your questions. Use NoodleTools to create notecards and cite your sources in Chicago style. Share your project with your teacher's NoodleTools project inbox.