A presentation and review of American Indian nations; their cultures, geography, unique characteristics, impact on the formation and government of the United States, and familial or tribal cultures.

1. NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN
NATIONS – IDENTIFYING KEY
CHARACTERISTICS, LANGUAGE,
GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS &
CULTURE
Lesson Plan 1 – Clifford Thornton

2. OVERVIEW OF NATIVE AMERICAN
INDIAN NATIONS
Name of Nation Current Population
Navajo 308,013
Cherokee 285,476
Sioux 131,048
Chippewa 115,859
Choctaw 88,913
Apache 64,809
Pueblo 59,337
Iroquois 48,365
Creek 44,085
Blackfeet 23,583
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2010
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

3. WHERE DID THE NATIVE AMERICAN
INDIANS COME FROM?
“The usual theory of the settlement of the
Americas is that the earliest peoples of the
Americas came from Asia over a land bridge which
connected the two continents across what is now
the Bering Strait during a period of glaciation,
when the sea water level was lower. The number
and nature of these migrations is uncertain, but
the land bridge is believed to have existed only
until about 12,000 years ago, when it was flooded
out.”
“Three major migrations occurred, as traced by
linguistic and genetic data; the early
Paleoamericans soon spread throughout the
Americas, diversifying into many hundreds of
culturally distinct nations and tribes. By 8000 BCE,
the North American climate was very similar to
today's.”
Source: “Native Americans in the United States”, Wikipedia, Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_Stat
es#Ethno-linguistic_classification
Depiction of how Native American Indians
crossed a “land-bridge” thousands of years
ago from present day Russia to present day
United States via the Alaskan peninsula.
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

4. NORTH AMERICAN GEOGRAPHIC
REGIONS
• Northeast (Eastern Seaboard to the
Appalachian Mountains)
• Southeast (Southern tip of Florida to the
Ozarks)
• Mid-West or Plains (aka “The Great Plains”),
from the Ohio Valley to the Rocky
Mountains
• Southwest (“4 points” here – intersection of
Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Colorado);
the U.S. purchased much of this territory
from Spain
• Great Basin (was formerly a prehistoric sea)
• Plateau
• Northwest or Northwest Coast
• Westcoast or “Western Coast” or present-
day California
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

5. NAVAJO
• Pronunciation: English – (nav-uh-hoh), Navajo
language: Diné or Naabeehó
• Geographic Region: Southwest
• Key Cultural Characteristics: Originally were
hunters and gatherers, semi-nomadic, matrilineal
social system
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

6. CHEROKEE
• Pronunciation: English – (cher-uh-kee),
Cherokee language: Ani-Yunwiya
• Geographic Region: Southeast
• Key Cultural Characteristics: Two-part societal
structure; white = leaders, red = soldiers, their
original language was Iroquoian – hinting that
they migrated to the Southeast from the Great
Lakes region, matrilineal society
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

7. SIOUX
• Pronunciation: English – (soo), Sioux dialects: Santee
Dakota -(Isáŋyathi; "Knife") Yankton and Yanktonai
Dakota - (Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋ and Iháŋktȟuŋwaŋna;
"Village-at-the-end" and "Little village-at-the-end"), The
Lakota - (Thítȟuŋwaŋ; possibly "Dwellers on the
prairie")
• Language divided into 3 dialects
• Dakota
• Lakota
• Nakota
• Geographic Region: Midwest / Plain (i.e. Dakotas,
Minnesota, Northern Iowa, Western Canada, &
Montana
• Key Cultural Characteristics: Hunter/Warrior culture (i.e.
warrior societies), valued bravery and wisdom, cooking
syle: roasting, fraternity-like social structure
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

8. CHIPPEWA
• Pronunciation: English – (chip-uh-wah), Also
known as: Ojibwe or Ojibwa, Speak Ojibwe
language – (/o/ + /jiibw/ + /abwe/); this language
also goes by the names of “Anishinaabemowin” or
“Ojibwemowin”
• Geographic Region: Great Lakes Region
(Northern) – Canada (Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba),
U.S. (Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North
Dakota)
• Key Cultural Characteristics: birch-bark canoes,
birch-bark scrolls, mining/trading copper,
cultivating wild rice, Midewiwa – record keepers,
patrilineal system
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

9. CHOCTAW
• Pronunciation: English – (chok-taw), Choctaw
language – (Chahta), belongs to the Muskogian
language group
• Geographic Region: Southeast
• Key Cultural Characteristics: Descended from
Hopewell & Mississippian cultures, built
Earthwork mounds, hunter-gatherers (i.e. in
ancient times as they inhabited the Southeast
around 4,000 – 8,000 years ago, they hunted
“megafauna”, performed “head-flattening”, played
stickball
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

10. APACHE
• Pronunciation: English – (uh-pach-ee),
• Language: Athabaskan
• Geographic Region: Southwest
• Note: They fought invading Spaniards and
Mexicans for centuries!
• Key Characteristics: Built well constructed tents,
use dogs to carry supplies, nomadic lifestyle,
hunted, social organization – extended family units
or “family clusters”
Above: Geronimo – famous
Apache leader & warrior
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

11. PUEBLO
• Pronunciation: English – (pweb-loh), Pueblo
languages: Keres, Tiwa, Towa, Tewa, and Zuni
• Geographic Region: Southwest (New Mexico,
Arizona)
• Culture dates back to 3,000 BC
• Key Characteristics: Constructed complex
“apartment-like” structures, exogamous &
endogamous marriage structures, prayed with
cornmeal, used decorated prayer sticks, performed
textile weaving before the introduction of Europeans
(i.e. it’s not clear if they inherited this from Aztec
culture), they were “dry farmers”, they were also
skilled in pottery
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

12. IROQUOIS
• The French called them the “Iroquois League” and were also
known as the “Iroquois Confederacy”
• Comprised of 6 nations: Mohawks, Oneidas, Onondagas,
Cayugas, Senecas, Tuscaroras
• Pronunciation: English – (ir-uh-kwoi), Languages: Mohawk,
Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora
• Geographic Region: Northeast (Adirondack Mountains) and Great
Lakes region
• Important Note: Their structure of governance had an influence on
developing the structure of U.S. government. Benjamin Franklin
and Thomas Jefferson observed their governing style through
meetings with Iroquois leaders. They played an important role in
the U.S. Revolutionary War – tribes split between taking sides
with the British and colonists
• Key Characteristics: Adopted European culture and assimilated
through trade and religion, villages moved every 5-20 years to
replenish soil and lumber, replicated European-style log cabins,
farmed, hunted, fished, collected maple syrup, Matriarchal clan
system, wore “Wampum belts”
• Smallpox decimated their population in 1635.
Actor Daniel-Day Lewis portrayed an
adopted Mohawk in the 1992 20th Century
Fox movie, “The Last of the Mohicans”.
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

13. CREEK (“MUSCOGEE PEOPLE”)
• Pronunciation: English – (kreek), Muscogee (muhs-koh-
gee), Muscogee language - (maskóːkî)
• Languages: Muscogee, Hitchiti-Mikasuki
• Descended from Mississippian Culture
• Geographic Region: Southeastern Woodlands – Tennesee,
Georgia, Alabama, Northern Florida
• Note: They were involved in the U.S. Revolutionary War,
siding with the British
• Note: Decided a major land dispute with the Choctaw nation
through a huge ball-game in 1790.
• Key Characteristics: Hunter-gatherers, Matrilineal, adopted
European-style clothing and fabrics and ornamations
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

14. BLACKFEET (“BLACKFOOT
CONFEDERACY”)
• Pronunciation: English – (blak-feet)
• They originate from the extreme Northeast (border of Canada and Maine)
and migrated west to Montana
• Language: Blackfoot (one of the Algonquian languages family); all related
tribes spoke Blackfoot
• Consists of 3 “Tribal Nations”
• Piikáni ("Piegan Blackfeet“)
• Káínaa ("Bloods")
• Siksikáwa ("Blackfoot")
• Geographic Region: Canada (Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia),
U.S. (Montana/ Great Plains)
• They called their tribal territory “Nitawahsin-nanni” meaning "Our Land“
• Both Blackfeet boys and girls learned to ride horses from an early age
• Key Characteristics: Society consisted of “bands” which contained 10-30
lodges, nomadic lifestyle in early times – they followed and hunted huge
Bison herds, fished trout, brave men wore necklaces made of Grizzly Bear
claws, warriors conducted “spiritual cleansing” prior to battles and painted
their faces and their horses
A battle between a Blackfoot and Plains
Cree by Paul Kane
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

15. FAMOUS NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN
ATHLETES
JIM THORPE – SAUK & FOX BILLY MILLS - LAKOTA
• Professional U.S. Football & Baseball
player
• Won Gold medals in the Pentathlon &
Decathlon, 1912 Olympic Games,
Stockholm, Sweden
• U.S. Marine Corps. Officer
• Won Gold medal in the 10,000 meter run,
1964 Olympic Games, Tokyo, Japan; he
is the only American to win a gold medal
in this event
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON
Source: www.Wikipedia.com, “Jim Thorpe”,
“Billy Mills”

16. NATIVE AMERICAN INDIAN SPORT
• These Native American Indian games were like “Lacrosse”
or “Stickball”
• American Indian names for game:
• Isitoboli – “Little brother of war”
• Dehuntshigwa’es – “man hit a round object”
• Versions of game:
• Great Lakes
• Iroquoian
• Southern
• Sometimes used to settle disputes instead of going to war;
goals could be as much as 2 miles apart!!
“The game is played with one or two rackets/sticks and one
ball. The object of the game is to land the ball on the opposing
team's goal (either a single post or net) to score and to
prevent the opposing team from scoring on your goal. The
game involves as few as 20 or as many as 300 players with
no height or weight restrictions and no protective gear. The
goals could be from around 200 feet (61 m) apart to about 2
miles (3.2 km); in Lacrosse the field is 110 yards (100 m).”
Source: “Native Americans in the United States”, Wikipedia, Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_Americans_in_the_United_States#Ethno-
linguistic_classification
Painting by George Catlin in the 1830s
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON

17. SOURCES
EDU 647 - LESSON PLAN 1 - CLIFFORD THORNTON
• Navajo – “Navajo”, Wikipedia, Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navajo
• Cherokee – “Cherokee”, Wikipedia, Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherokee
• Sioux – “Sioux”, Wikipedia, Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sioux
• Chippewa – “Ojibwe“, Wikipedia, Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ojibwe
• Choctaw – “Choctaw”, Wikipedia, Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choctaw#Paleo-
Indian_period
• Apache – “Apache”, Wikipedia, Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apache#Entry_into_the_Southwest
• Pueblo – “Puebloan peoples”, Wikipedia, Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puebloan_peoples
• Iroquois – “Iroquois”, Wikipedia, Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iroquois
• Creek – “Muscogee”, Wikipedia, Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscogee
• Blackfeet – “Blackfoot Confederacy”, Wikipedia, Link:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blackfoot_Confederacy
• www.Dictionary.com : Search for “Navajo”, “Cherokee”, “Sioux”, “Chippewa”, “Choctaw”,
“Apache”, “Pueblo”, “Iroquois”, “Creek”, “Muscogee”, “Blackfeet”, “Blackfoot”