Worksheet: Cultures of the West, Chapter 1, Section 3

1. True or False: The land west of the Mississippi River was densely populated.
2. What were the different environments that the people in the west had to adapt to?
3. Who were the nomadic people found on the plains by Francisco Vasquez de Coronado?
4. How did the Plains People adapt their way of life with the introduction of horses?
5. What resources did the bison provide for the Plains People?
6. Name three groups of people who lived in the deserts and river valleys of the Southwest.
7. How did the Pima, Yuma, and Pueblo people adapt to the arid climate?
8. Where did the Apaches and Navajos migrate from?
9. What were the main occupations of the Apaches and Navajos?
10. What were the different types of houses built by the Southwest groups?
11. Which groups lived in the Great Basin?
12. What was the main food source for the Coastal People of the Far West?
13. How did the groups living further south along the California coast gather food?
14. What were the main food sources for the cultures living in the interior and the Great Basin?
15. Describe the different types of houses built by the groups in the Far West.

Answer Key:

1. False
2. Mountains, deserts, and plains
3. Nomadic people who followed the bison herds
4. They adapted their hunting techniques to hunt bison on horseback.
5. Food, hides for clothing and shelter, bones for tools
6. Pima, Yuma, Pueblo
7. They had to irrigate or bring water to the fields.
8. Alaska and Canada
9. Apaches hunted and gathered, Navajos hunted and herded sheep.
10. Shelters made of woven grass, large houses made of stone and adobe, ladders to enter rooms through the roof
11. Paiute and Shoshone
12. Fish, specifically salmon from the Columbia River
13. Fishing in the ocean with nets, gathering mussels and clams
14. Hunting deer and rabbits, gathering acorns and grass seeds
15. Cedar-wooden plank longhouses, shelters made of thatched grass and reeds, reed huts and shelters covered with animal skins.