North America Environment and Native Americans - Free Essay Example

Over the thousands of years after the Ice Age ended, very distinct cultures of Native Americans developed. They formed based on the regional environment they had to adapt to. Each region of the United States has its own unique challenges and benefits. The Native American tribes had to adapt to their environments by focusing on what each region had to offer. Through these adaptations Native American tribes adopted new cultures and ways of life. The main proponents to their cultural changes were climate, temperature and access to water. These challenges effected the tribes ability to gather wild plants, hunt animals as well as cultivate crops. The climate of each region mainly effected the types of housing and shelter used by each tribe. Since each region of the U.S. is different finding wild game, fishing, gathering wild plants, and the ability to domesticate animals can be more difficult in certain areas of the country. The access to natural resources played a major role in the development in each culture. Proximity to other tribes and access to navigable rivers and trails also helped to influence their cultures. Native Americans were very resourceful and developed many tools with the nearby natural resources available to help the m better adapt to the environment, although they did little to modify the environment around them, such as building dams, roads and canals. This paper will provide a comparative analysis of the human responses to the regional challenges using the case studies of agriculture among southeastern tribes, irrigation of southwestern tribes and fishing among the Pacific northwestern tribes. The Southwest The southwestern region of the United States is mainly characterized by large dry deserts. Due to this there was very little wild game, plant life and water. This meant that the nomadic hunting lifestyles, such as the Great Plains Indians, were less practical. This led to many of the southwestern tribes to become more sedentary and build large cities made of mud and stone. Many of the tribes settled in areas near sources of water due to its scarcity. These tribes used the water that they did have very efficiently. They accomplished this by creating complex irrigation systems that could support crops even in the sweltering sun. They also mainly bred crops that required less water to survive. The development of the domestication of corn from wild grass 8,700 years ago heavily influenced Native American cultures. It especially influenced tribes in the southwest such as the Anasazi, Mogollon and Hohokam. These tribes are credited as being the first farmers in America. Since corn was the first crop to be heavily cultivated it became highly regarded by Native Americans. The Anasazi people populated the Ancestral Pueblos in southeastern Utah and northwestern New Mexico and regarded the harvest of corn as a spiritual gift from their gods. The Anasazi developed intricate irrigation systems to help compensate for the lack of water and extreme heat. The Hohokam tribe created one of the largest irrigation systems to date in 800 C.E. This irrigation system allowed crops to flourish and the planting of beans and squash. Since the irrigation systems were so successful it allowed for societal developments among the tribes. One notable societal development was when women began to make large ceramic pots to help store the large surplus of crops harvested. They also made clay vessels to grind the corn. With the large availability of food these people were able to become completely sedentary. This led to the development of the famous large stone and adobe housing areas. These mult iple storied buildings resembled modern day apartment complexes. The Puebloan people traditionally did less hunting than other tribes and this caused the men to often work traditionally women dominated jobs, such as farming and raising children. The Northwest The northwest region of North America is a plentiful area full of natural resources. This region is mainly dominated by forests, rivers and coastal areas. The Native Americans that inhabited this region were the Chinook, Tlingit, Coast Salish, and Tillamook. These tribes were mainly hunter gatherers due to the large amount of food available to them. The main sources of food for these tribes came from the ocean and rivers, due to the large number of rivers in the northwest. This led to the tribes becoming skilled fishermen as well as sailors. The forests in this region supplied the tribes with incredible amounts of lumber. They used the lumber to build large plank houses, totem poles and canoes. The houses were called longhouses and were made from cedar planks. Each house was about 50 to 100 feet long and 25 feet wide. They were home to several families. The numerous rivers and creeks supported a large variety of fish and shellfish. The Pacific Ocean provided the tribes with bountiful plant life, countless fish, and seals as well as other marine mammals. The Pacific was also the main sources of sustenance for many northwestern tribes because of the Pacific salmon. The tribes took advantage of this amazing resource by making nets, harpoons and traps to catch them when they went up the neighboring rivers to spawn. They often caught enough fish to sustain entire tribes through the winter. The tribes along the coast would also venture out to the ocean in search of whales. Hunting whales is a big risk but produces a large amount of food and material. The main risk of hunting whales is whales ability to knock over and sink the canoes of the fishermen. Since there was such an abundance of resources in this region many of the tribes didnt have to resort to agriculture, the only notable cultivated crop was tobacco. The Southwest The region of the southwest is home to some of the most fertile land in the U.S. This area is a wonderful place to live due to the mild temperatures. It rarely got cold, even in winter and barely snowed. There was plenty of water year around because of the Mississippi river. Native Americans were the first humans to take advantage of this promising land. The five most prominent tribes in this area are the Cherokees, Choctaws, Chickasaws, Creeks, and Seminoles. These people were known as the Mississippians. They were excellent farmers and used the land very efficiently. They mainly planted corn, beans, squash, nut trees, fruit trees, and sunflowers. They also gathered acorns and seeds to help supplement their diets. The Mississippians used fire to burn crop fields after harvests in order to help fertilize the ground and reduce the turnaround time between harvesting and sowing for the following season of crops. This technique is known as cutting and burning or slash and burn. This requ ired a large amount of labor and time but ultimately produced a great amount of food. The Native Americans found that they could maximize crop yields by planting several kinds of plants in the same field. This is called intercropping or multiple cropping. For example, they would plant corn and beans together, so the bean vines could use the corn stalks as support to grow. This technique offset the consumption of nitrogen which allowed for the tribes to use their land for longer. The Chickasaw were the most notable gathers of fruits. They often gathered and cultivated plums, they did this so much they became famous for it and had a plum species named after them. The tribes in the southwest region also cultivated non-food crops such as the bottle gourd and tobacco. These gourds were cured until they developed a hard-outer shell. They used them to hold water as well as to make bowls and cups. The crop fields were worked on communally. The way in which some tribes cultivated crop fields is very interesting. The tribes didnt till the soil as per usual, instead they created small mounds about a foot in diameter and spread them about three feet apart. The mounds were configured in strait lines and organized based on the type of crop planted. This technique prevented soil erosion and preserved the soils longer. Farm land was viewed as communal and shared rather than private property. Whenever new children were born the amount of land used proportionally increased. This helped provide food for everyone in the tribe. Conclusion These case studies of Native Americans show how early humans adapted to the specific environments across North America. The resources available in each region differed and because of this you can see a wide variety of Native American cultures and lifestyles. The southwest region of the U.S. is mostly made up of dry deserts so there is little water, wild game and plants to support Native Americans. The tribes in this region overcame this obstacle by developing intricate irrigation systems to help crops survive with less water in the extreme heat. Many of the southwestern tribes settled near reliable sources of water and in turn developed more sedentary lifestyles in response to the lack of water and natural resources. The northwest region of North America is largely made up of forests, rivers and coastal areas and holds many natural resources. Since there were so many ways for the tribes in this region to gather food, they maintained their hunting and gathering lifestyles with relativ e ease by becoming skilled fishermen of the nearby rivers. The tribes in this region also used the Pacific Ocean as a food source by making large canoes made from carved out trees. They became great sailors through the gathering of fish, shellfish and even whales. The southeast region of North America holds some of the most fertile land the U.S. and the Native Americans took advantage of this by developing multiple new agricultural practices. They used slash and burn agriculture and intercropping to help maximize crop output and reduce the amount of time required to remove old crops and sow new ones. It would be incredibly impractical for all the Native American tribes to share the same lifestyle due to the vast differences in environments. A reason for the major differences in culture can be due to environmental determinism. Environmental determinism is the idea that our physical environment effects our cultural development as humans. Native Americans are very resourceful and have always found ways to overcome challenges that come from the environment. They may not come from the same part of the country, but they all share a great sense of ingenuity and ability to adapt to their environment.