United States History Student Edition

01 Introducing The First Americans

Native People’s Lives Native peoples have lived throughout North America for thousands of years. All Native Americans relied on the environment around them. They used natural resources to create shelter, make tools and clothing, and gather food.

Mystery of the Six Toes In Chaco Canyon in northwest Mexico, researchers have found paintings of six-toed feet. These paintings were created by an ancient Pueblo people who lived during the mid-800s C.E. The paintings suggest that people with an extra toe were greatly respected. In this region, archaeologists have found the remains of corpses with extra toes.

Native American Homes

SOUTHWEST REGION Peoples: Navajo, Zuni, Apache

SOUTHEAST WOODLANDS REGION Peoples: Catawba, Cherokee, Choctaw, Shawnee Conditions: Mixed forest, ample water year-round The Catawba people lived in what is now North and South Carolina. Round, bark-covered homes with a fireplace in the center and a hole in the roof to release smoke housed an extended family. Villages were surrounded by a wooden wall called a palisade.

Conditions: Desert, hot days, cool nights, few trees The Puebloan people used clay and straw to build the adobe homes of Taos Pueblo. The main Pueblo buildings were constructed between 1000 and 1450 C.E. and are still lived in today. These multi-story buildings house many families.

Top to bottom, left to right: Jason Patrick Ross/Shutterstock, Richard Maschmeyer/Design Pics/ Getty Images, Enrico Della Pietra/Alamy Stock Photo

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