Food - Plateau Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids - Native Americans in Olden Times for Kids

For Kids

Food: Nearly half the diet of the people of the Plateau was fish. They also ate vegetables, fruits, nuts, and meat. There was a wide variety of game including deer and squirrels. The people of the Plateau used all the parts of any animal they killed � some parts for food, and other parts to make clothes and other goods.

Hunting: The hunt leader (task leader) would choose a hunt team from men in the village. Once a hunt leader had a team together, he would assign various jobs to his team members to prepare for the hunt. The hunt leader also directed the hunt in the field. There could be several hunts going on at the same time. Within the hunting party, the game killed was shared equally by all villagers. But the horns and skin belonged to the person who had killed the animal.

Fishing: Fishing parties were organized when the salmon were running. But some men were always fishing to collect food for the village. They used spears, dip nets, bag nets, reef nets made from wicker baskets, weirs and fences that allowed fish to swim in but not out. The Plateau Native Americans believed that no one owned the waterways. But they could own fish stations. A fish station was a great fishing hole, with a frame that caught a lot of fish. Usually 6-10 related men were the owners of a fish station. The station was passed down from generation to generation. To remove a fish from a privately owned fish station needed the permission of one of the owners. However, custom allowed old men (anyone really) to take fish from any fish station for each of their 2 meals a day. So the owners of fish stations did share.

Agriculture: The people of the Plateau did not farm as we understand farming today. They did not plant and till crops. Instead, they improved the yield of many naturally growing wild plants by pruning and weeding and burning areas as needed to encourage healthy, editable plants that anyone could harvest. This was very effective. It allowed for adequate supplies of roots, berries, nuts and other naturally growing foods for all the people of the Plateau. Most women worked the fields near their village, but overlap was common and encouraged. Nobody owned the fields. Everyone shared the benefits.

The Sharing Ceremony

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Native Americans for Kids

Native Americans in US, Canada, and the Far North

Early people of North America (during the ice age 40,000 years ago)

Northeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Northeast Woodlands include all five great lakes as well as the Finger Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River. Come explore the 3 sisters, longhouses, village life, the League of Nations, sacred trees, snowsnake games, wampum, the arrowmaker, dream catchers, night messages, the game of sep and more. Special Sections: Iroquois Nation, Ojibwa/Chippewa, The Lenape Indians. Read two myths: Wise Owl and The Invisible Warrior.

Southeast Woodland Tribes and Nations - The Indians of the Southeast were considered members of the Woodland Indians. The people believed in many deities, and prayed in song and dance for guidance. Explore the darkening land, battle techniques, clans and marriage, law and order, and more. Travel the Trail of Tears. Meet the Muscogee (Creek), Chickasaw, Choctaw, Mississippians, Seminole Indians and Cherokee Indians.

Plains Indians - What was life like in what is now the Great Plains region of the United States? Some tribes wandered the plains in search of foods. Others settled down and grew crops. They spoke different languages. Why was the buffalo so important? What different did horses make? What was coup counting? Who was Clever Coyote? Meet the Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and Sioux Nation.

Southwest Indians - Pueblo is not the name of a tribe. It is a Spanish word for village. The Pueblo People are the decedents of the Anasazi People. The Navajo and the Apache arrived in the southwest in the 1300s. They both raided the peaceful Pueblo tribes for food and other goods. Who were the Devil Dancers? Why are blue stones important? What is a wickiup? Who was Child of Water?

Pacific Coastal Northwest Indians - What made some of the Pacific Northwest Indian tribes "rich" in ancient times? Why were woven mats so important? How did totem poles get started? What was life like in the longhouse? What were money blankets and coppers? How did the fur trade work? How did Raven Steal Crow's Potlatch?

Inland Plateau People - About 10,000 years ago, different tribes of Indians settled in the Northwest Inland Plateau region of the United States and Canada, located between two huge mountain ranges - the Rockies and the Cascades. The Plateau stretches from BC British Columbia all the way down to nearly Texas. Each village was independent, and each had a democratic system of government. They were deeply religious and believed spirits could be found everything - in both living and non-living things. Meet the Nez Perce

California Indians - The Far West was a land of great diversity. Death Valley and Mount Whitney are the highest and lowest points in the United States. They are within sight of each other. Tribes living in what would become California were as different as their landscape.

Native Americans of the Far North: What trick did the Kutchin people use to catch their enemies? How did these early people stop ghosts from entering their homes? Why was the shaman so powerful? What is a finger mask? Play games! See and hear an old Inuit myth! Enter the mystical world of the people who lived in the far north in olden times. Algonquian/Cree, Athapascan/Kutchin, Central Canada, Inuit, The Shaman

Myths & Symbol Stories

The Importance of Baskets

Many Types of Homes

Canoes & Horses

Pow-wow & Potlatch

Medicine Man & Religion

Dream Catchers

Totem Poles

Native Americans Art

Native American Holidays

Some Principal Tribes

Comparison Chart (Europeans & Indians)