Adobe is a mud brick made combining earth, water, and straw and allowing it to harden in the sun. For the peoples of the Southwest, these materials were readily available. The resulting bricks were very strong and effective at creating stable structures.

Nearly every aspect of Native American life centered on the dependence upon the environment. Native Americans depended upon the world around them for the food and resources necessary to survive. As a result, most Native American customs, traditions, and spiritual beliefs focused on the respect and reverence the cultures had for the earth that helped them thrive.

Most historians and scientists agree that Native Americans are descendants from prehistoric peoples who crossed a land bridge in the Bering Strait that, during the last Ice Age, connected the lands now referred to as Siberia and Alaska.

Many of the early Native American tribes relied upon hunting and gathering for their food supply. Without a system of agriculture in place, they were forced to follow herds and find edible vegetation to survive.

Agriculture is a key component that allows a group of people to reliably produce food in a single area. Agriculture also can lead to a surplus of food which can give people the opportunity to use their time for efforts other than the constant quest for food and sustenance.

The Olmec are credited with being one of the first large civilizations to emerge in Central America. Their developed agriculture and ability to work with stone would have a profound influence on the region’s cultures to follow. The Olmec culture emerged around 1500 BCE, nearly 2,000 years prior to the Maya, the second oldest of the listed cultures.

Though the Mayan culture disappeared, they left behind cultural markers including a written language, architecture, art, and evidence of their scientific discoveries.

Most people associate the term hieroglyphics with the ancient Egyptians; however, the term refers to any type of developed written language that utilizes pictures and images to stand for ideas or linguistic sounds.

The Mayan culture was shaped largely by a deep religious faith. The gods were at the center of nearly every part of Mayan existence and had complete control over the events on earth. As a result, the priests, the only people who could communicate with the gods, were placed in charge of the Mayan government.

The Mayan pyramids were both practically and culturally important. While they were at the center of much of Mayan political and religious life, they also served as key landmarks to help people find their way to the city centers.

At their peak, the Inca were one of the most powerful empires in the Western Hemisphere.

Maize, a near relative of corn, was the first crop grown in large quantities across Central America. It could be grown reliably and in large enough amounts that finding food did not have to be the sole focus of people’s time. This newfound freedom allowed for more complex cultures to develop in the region.

The Inuit (sometimes incorrectly referred to as Eskimo) culture has been able to survive in their harsh Arctic environment because of their ability to utilize the scarce resources of the Arctic.

Most historians agree that the mounds created by the North American mound building cultures were similar in design and function to the pyramids created by the cultures in Central and South America. The fact that the mounds were created all across the continent suggest a widespread sharing of ideas and by the earliest Americans.

The Iroquois Confederacy included the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, and Seneca. After the Tuscarora joined in 1722, the confederacy became known to the English as the Six Nations. They had a representative government, which may have had some influence upon the development of the US Constitution.

Horses were introduced to the Western Hemisphere when the Spanish brought them in the 15th and 16th centuries. Over time, as these horses became part of the ecosystem, they began to find their way into areas outside of New Spain. The Native Americans of the Great Plains took full advantage of this newly introduced species for transportation, hunting, and warfare.

In contrast to groups like the Hopi and the Zuni who had settled in communities with agriculture and mud-brick homes, the Navajo and Apache spent much of the 1500s roaming the region hunting game and gathering sustenance from wild vegetation. The Navajo would eventually start settling into more permanent communities, but hunting and gathering would still remain a key part of their existence.

The longhouse was designed to sustain large groups of people and protect them from the elements of the Northeast. Typically, the people living in a longhouse would be from the same extended families.

Cliff dwellings were largely created out of convenience. While groups like the Anasazi also build ground-based structures, cliffs offered a strong structural base to work with. They also provided natural protection against wind, snow, and rain without the need for much additional reinforcement.

The arrival of Europeans in the Western Hemisphere brought forced relocation, warfare, disease, and slavery to the Native American peoples. Over the course of the following centuries, Native American populations would continue to decline at alarming rates, in large part due to the interference of the European cultures.