Native American Culture Flashcards
(30 cards)
What three crops make up “Three Sisters farming,” and how does each crop support the others?
Corn supplies a pole for beans; beans fix nitrogen to enrich soil; squash spreads along the ground to preserve moisture and suppress weeds.
How did Indigenous farmers in the Southwest grow crops in arid conditions?
They engineered water-conserving canal systems (e.g., the Hohokam) to divert river water to fields.
Who typically directed agriculture among Northeastern tribes such as the Iroquois?
Women—female elders managed planting decisions and crop distribution.
Besides farming, which practices rounded out Indigenous diets across North America?
Gathering wild plants, fishing, and hunting
What characterized pre-colonial Native trade networks?
Continental exchanges of goods and ideas through barter and native currencies.
Name the six nations of the Iroquois Confederacy after 1722.
Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, Tuscarora.
What constitution guided Iroquois governance, and how were leaders chosen?
The Great Law of Peace; clan leaders were selected by female elders for the Grand Council.
Why is the Iroquois Confederacy considered an early participatory democracy?
Its clan-based council, consensus decision-making, and shared defense promoted self-rule long before European models.
What farming and subsistence mix typified Eastern Woodlands tribes?
Three Sisters cultivation plus hunting, fishing, and river-based trade.
Which earth-moving construction is distinctive to Southeastern Native cultures?
Ceremonial mound building near small permanent villages.
How did horses change Great Plains life and housing?
Plains peoples grew more nomadic, hunting bison and living in portable teepees.
Describe “dry farming” used in the Southwest.
Planting in natural water-catchment areas (e.g., canyon bottoms) instead of irrigated fields.
What was the core subsistence of Great Basin peoples?
Nomadic hunting and gathering across desert terrain.
Which region achieved high cultural complexity without intensive farming and why?
California—its varied micro-environments supplied abundant wild foods.
How did Plateau tribes adapt seasonally?
They wintered in permanent villages harvested wild plants
Which iconic art form and subsistence defined Northwest Coast cultures?
Totem-pole woodcarving and canoe-based sea fishing.
What primary foods sustained Arctic peoples?
Caribou and marine mammals hunted through sea ice.
Which early Mesoamerican civilization (1200-400 BCE) carved colossal stone heads?
The Olmec.
Which city-state (400 BCE-500 CE) built the Pyramids of the Sun and Moon?
Teotihuacán
Which civilization (900-1150 CE) excelled in metalwork and pottery before the Aztecs?
The Toltec.
What civilization (300 BCE-900 CE) mastered hieroglyphic writing and astronomy?
The Maya.
Which empire (1100-1521 CE) practiced large-scale human sacrifice?
The Aztec
What agricultural innovation let the Inca farm steep Andean slopes?
Stone-walled terrace farming with high-altitude irrigation.
What unified the vast Incan Empire across the Andes?
An extensive road network connecting valleys and coasts.
