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   The Northwest Indian Culture was in what is today the states of Washington, Oregon, and northern California.    .

  HOMES

The Northwest Indians depended on the forests for their shelter. Every home was made of wood, and the whole village pointed toward the water, whether it was a river, a quiet bay, or the ocean.    Along the beach were the canoes, covered with bark matting or branches to protect them from the weather.    In the back of the house were wooden racks that dried fish, wooden sheds for smoking fish, and storage sheds.

The homes themselves were quite large.    They were built for more than one family.   There is evidence of houses that were over 1,000 feet long--big enough for the whole village.   The houses were built with frames made of large trees.   These were then covered with wooden planks that overlapped to keep out the wet weather.   There were no windows, but there was a hole in the roof that let in air.

   In the middle of the home was a kind of sunken living room.    In the center was the fire pit.   This part of the house was used for cooking and gathering.   The inside had rods and curtains for privacy.   The most important member of the household lived in the room farthest back.

FAMILY HISTORY

   Outside of each home was a totem pole.   A totem pole was a tall, carved cedar log painted and decorated.   The totem pole of a family might have animals, birds, and religious spirits carved on them.   The totem pole told a story of the history of the family.   You could tell a family's importance by looking at their totem pole.

Another way a family showed its importance was to have a potlatch.   A potlatch was a "party" given by important members of the village.   But instead of the guests bringing gifts to the family, the family gave gifts to the guests.   Sometimes the family would give away almost everything they owned.   The potlatch was a way of showing off their wealth and importance.

 When a child was old enough to understand, the time had come to learn the history of the family. The mother and grandmother would tell the child the history of their family over and over. This was a very long story telling of the good deeds, important events, and honors of the family. This was a very important thing for the children to remember and pass on to their children some day.

   The Northwest Indians did not make pottery. Instead they used the trees and plants around them to make baskets and wooden boxes. They wove baskets tight enough to hold water, and they used their boxes for many things, even to cook with! They could not put the wooden boxes over the fire, of course, so they heated rocks and put them into whatever food was in the box to heat it up.

FISHING

   Fishing was very important to this culture of Indians. The most important time of the year was the spring. This is when the "salmon run" began. As the salmon left the ocean and began their swim up stream to lay eggs, men and women from all over the area gathered along the riverbanks to trap the salmon.

   The first salmon caught was a special salmon. It was taken to the person in charge of the ceremony. It was pointed with its head a certain way to tell the other salmon which way to travel. They believed if they did not do this, the salmon would not return the next year. The Indians would put a wooden trap with small holes across the stream or river. This would allow the water to flow through, but would trap the salmon. Then they would spear the salmon. The women had the job of cutting it up and drying it. The women would then remove the head, tails, and fins, and slit the belly open. They would then gut the fish with a bone knife and hang the fish on a drying frame.

   The oil from the salmon was very important. The salmon would be left to rot for several days. Then it was thrown into a canoe half buried in the sand. The canoe was filled half full with water and heated rocks were thrown into the water in the canoe. When the water was boiling, the oil from the salmon would float on top of the water. The women would then skim it off and let it cool. This oil was used for cooking, seasoning, and medicine.

   In the state of Washington live a tribe called the Makah. They were great whale hunters. The Makah hunted whales in a canoe. This was very dangerous because the whale might turn and cause the canoe to tip over or break the canoe in half. The harpooner stood in the front of the canoe. He always talked to the whale. He promised the whale that if it let itself be killed, it would be rewarded in the village with singing and dancing. After the harpooner had promised the whale these things, he raised his harpoon and threw it into the side of the whale. There was a rope tied to the end of the harpoon. All the men held on tightly. Eventually the whale would tire and stop fighting. Then it was harpooned until it died. Every part of the whale was used. The skin and meat were eaten, the blubber , or fat, was used for oil, and the tendons were used to make rope.

The Makah kept their promise. When the whale was brought to the village there was much celebrating!

The California Native Americans lived in a culture where food was plentiful and the land was rich. Because of this, these Indians had much less trouble finding food than some of the other Indian cultures.

The people of California were hunters and gatherers. They gathered nuts, seeds, berries, roots, bulbs, and tubers. Deer, rabbits, and game birds provided meat for these Indians. Fish also provided food the these Indians.

Acorns were a very important part of the California Culture. In the fall they would harvest the acorns from oak trees. Gathering was mostly done by women, but men and boys would climb the tree and shake the branches so the nuts would fall. Then the acorns were dried, taken out of their shell, and pounded into flour. This was then put into a round hole in the sand. Hot water was poured into it to rinse out the acid. This was boiled in a basket using hot rocks because the basket could not be put over the fire without burning it. This paste was very healthy for the Indians. It could be dried and eaten raw, boiled as porridge, or mixed with water and served as soup.

The Native Americans of California lived in communities that had up to 2,000 people. Their houses were arranged in groups. The houses were round frames covered with grass. There was a hole in the roof where light could enter. The beds were made on frames with skins to cover them. Each bed had a divider between it so that if many people slept in one house they could not see each other. In the middle of the floor they made a fire for cooking seeds, fish, and other foods.

All of the California Indians were basket makers, but no tribe was as accomplished at weaving things as the Pomos. They made baskets as large as 3 feet wide and as small as a thimble. Some of their baskets were covered with shells, others with feathers. They not only wove baskets, but hats, trays, cooking pots, boats, and baby carriers.

INTERMOUNTAIN CULTURE

The Intermountain Culture, also known as the Great Basin, was found between California and the Rocky Mountains. This land was mostly desert land. The land itself contained large hills, some as much as a mile high with valleys in between. In some of these valleys an oasis could be found. An oasis was a spot in the desert that contained water, plants, and  wildlife.

Because these Indians lived in a desert-like environment, food was hard to find. This meant they had to constantly move in order to find food. Because of this, their homes were temporary structures. Willow branches were leaned together with bundles of twigs, branches, and reeds to cover them.

Winter was the hardest. Storms blasted the desert and snow fell. Some Indians would camp near a marsh where possibly seeds and nuts left over from fall could be found. Meat was hard to find in the winter. Kangaroo rats, field mice, ground squirrels, and gophers were in underground burrows for the winter. Men would try to "drown out" an animal in a burrow by pouring water into the hole. When the animal came out of the burrow, they would shoot it with their bow and arrow. Fish was safe under a coating of ice. Men had to hunt long and hard just to find a rabbit or two. Lots of times the hunters would lose the rabbit to another of its enemies--the coyote. The Native Americans would not kill the coyote because they believed it to have special powers.

During this time the women would pound plants into shreds and weave it to make shirts, blouses and skirts. Baskets were also woven during the winter months. The Indians in this culture were well-known for their baskets. Indians from the Southwest culture would come north to trade for the baskets.

When spring came, so did the ground squirrels. These animals were an important source of food. Geese, mallards, and other waterfowl would return. The Indians would put small bundles with feathers in the water to trick the birds into thinking it was a safe place to land. In late spring fish would be swimming upstream to lay their eggs. Men would stand in the water and spear them. Women waited on land to gut the fish and dry them out.

During the summer the Indians would harvest rice grass and cattails. Rice seeds and cattail pollen was made into a dough for cakes which were loved by the children.

September was the best month of all. This was when the Intermountain Indians moved to the sides of the hills to gather pine nuts. Boys would climb the trees and shake the branches. Young girls would carry baskets of nuts to the camp where the older women heated the nuts to loosen the seeds. Like the California Indians, there were several way to eat the seeds.

In November was the rabbit hunt. These Indians would trap the rabbits by making nets up to 500 feet long. They would chase the rabbits into nets where they would be caught and killed with clubs or bows and arrows. This was an important time because the meat was important. The pelt was important too. It took 100 rabbits to make one coat for winter.

Throughout the year the Indians would move from one part of the area to another. Sometimes a spot that had a large lake the year before would be dried up. Spots where berries grew one year would have none the next. Pine trees might be full of nuts one year and have none for the next three years. For this reason this was the hardest culture of all to live in.

In l848 when gold was discovered in San Francisco the lives of these Indians changed forever. White man came through their land looking for gold and silver. The pine trees were cut down and used for fuel to burn. Horses and cattle trampled the seeds that lay on the ground. White man's diseases killed thousands of Indians. These Indians never tried to fight the white man. They were not warriors, and so they kept moving and moving to new areas. Some Indians were forced to live outside of white settlements and beg food for their families. Others were taken as slaves to be married to white men to be used as housekeepers and to skin animals for their husbands.

Southwest culture

The Southwest Culture was very different from the Plains Culture. The climate of the Southwest is very dry. Much of the land is a desert. A desert is a very dry place where few plants will grow. Water was a precious natural resource in this culture. The Indians in this culture had strict rules about the use of water. Even the very young children were taught to be careful with the water they used. There were very few animals in the desert. This meant that the Indians could not depend on hunting to find food. They had to find other ways to get food. They became farmers. Some important Southwest Culture tribes are the Anasazi, Hopi, Pueblo, and Navajo. 

Anasazi indians

The Anasazi Indians lived over 1,000 years ago. The Anasazi built their homes in a special place. The land in the Southwest was very different from the Great Plains. Instead of wide open land, the Southwest is made of uneven land with canyons and mesas (ma' suz). A mesa is a landform that is made of rock, and that is shaped like a high flat table. In fact, the word mesa is the Spanish word for table.

The Anasazi built their homes into the side of the mesa. For this reason, they were also called the Cliffdwellers. The buildings that the Anasazi lived in looked like large apartment buildings. These buildings had over 200 rooms, and more than 400 people lived there.

The Anasazi built their buildings with stone. Remember that the Indians used the natural resources around them for their basic needs. Because of the stone mesas, there was an abundance of stone to use for their homes. In between the stones they put mud to hold the stones together. They had square windows but no doors. The Anasazi entered their homes by climbing a ladder and going through a hole in the roof. They could then bring the ladders inside their homes to keep out unwanted visitors.

Each family had at least two rooms of its own. If a family was large, it had more rooms. Rooms were sometimes built on top of other rooms as the family grew. There were also rooms shared by all the people in the community.

The Anasazi were farmers. They lived at the base, or bottom, of the mesa, but they farmed on the top of the mesa. This gave the mesa a green appearance. For this reason, the community that the Anasazi lived in was called Mesa Verde. Verde is the Spanish word for green. Mesa Verde meant green table. The Anasazi grew corn, beans, and squash. They also tamed wild turkeys for meat. They used their feathers to make their blankets and clothing warmer.

In order to reach the top of the mesa to farm it, the Anasazi had to climb the steep mesa. They carved small toe and finger holes into the side of the cliff. In this way, they were able to climb up and down the mesa carrying heavy burdens.

Water was very precious to the Southwestern people. Because they lived in the desert, they had very little rainfall. When it did rain, the Anasazi would store their water in ditches. They built gates at the end of the ditches that could be raised and lowered to let water out. They used this to water their crops in the field.

The people of the Anasazi village were very busy. The men and women would plant, weed, and water the crops. The women would make beautiful pots out of clay. They also made baskets, some woven so tightly that they held water. The men would carry water to the top of the mesa. They also used stones to sharpen tools. Even the children had jobs. Some would grind corn using smooth round stones. Others would look after the younger children. When they did have time, they children enjoyed playing tag.

The Anasazi men went to a special room for religious ceremonies. This special room was called a kiva. (keeva) A kiva was a round room built underground at the base of the homes. Only men were allowed into the kiva. To get in and out the men had to go by ladder through the roof. There were paintings of gods around the walls and a mysterrious hole in the floor. This hole was to remind the Indians that their first ancestors, relatives that lived long ago, came from the belly of the earth. The men would pray to the Great Spirit for things such as rain, good harvests, etc.

The Anasazi left Mesa Verde suddenly. The Indian village soon became forgotten. Then in l888, two cowhands that were chasing some stray cattle accidentally discovered the ruins of Mesa Verde. Ruins are the remains of very old buildings. Since then the buildings have been repaired to look as they did when the Anasazi lived there. 

Mesa Verde is now a national park. A national park is land set aside for all the people of a country to enjoy.

Hopis

The Hopis have lived in the same area of the Southwest since before the time of Columbus. They lived in what is now Arizona. They lived on desert land at the foot of the mesas.

The Hopis believed in many gods.  They used kachinas to talk to their gods.  Kachinas were Hopi spirits or gods which lived within the mountains. Hopi dancers would dress like Kachinas to represent, or stand for, the gods. Wooden Kachina dolls were made to teach the children about the gods. The Hopi believed the Kachina costume gave magic power to the man who wore it. They felt a man needed magic to talk to the gods. Hopi Kachinas talked to the gods by singing and dancing. The Kachinas danced and sang for rain. They did their dances over and over. Sometimes the gods did not seem to hear the Kachinas, and it would not rain for weeks. At other times the gods seemed to hear the Kachinas right away, for it would rain and rain.

When it rained hard, the rain would run down the mesas forming little paths. The Hopi would plant corn in the paths that the running water took. Like the Anasazi, the Hopi grew corn, beans, and squash. But the Hopi Indians depended on the rain to make their crops grow. If their plants did not grow, the Hopi might starve. The Hopi also planted cotton and tamed wild turkeys.

Hopi Indians built their houses out of stone with clay plastered on the outside and inside. There were no doors or windows. The Hopi entered their homes through a hole in the ceiling with ladders. Hopi Indians of today live in the same type of homes, but now have doors and windows. 

The Hopi ate very little meat because animals were so scarce. Mostly, the Hopi ate something made with corn. Hopi women knew over 50 ways to cook with corn. Corn was dried on the roof of the house and then ground into a flour-like meal. Hopi women and girls would gather in groups to visit while spending hours grinding corn.

Hopi women also made beautiful baskets, clay bowls, and jewelry. The men hunted, farmed, and wove cloth for blankets, clothing and belts. The men wore these belts with short skirts. The women wore them with long dresses. They wore moccasins on their feet. The children dressed like their parents.

Hopi children almost never had to be punished. If they were bad, they were talked to. If they were very, very bad, the men would dress up as a Scare Kachina to frighten them. The men would wear scary masks with long teeth and popping eyes. They would scare the children but never hurt them.

The religious beliefs of the Hopi Indians were called the Hopi Way. It was the Hopi Way to love all people, plants, animals. It was the Hopi Way to be kind to everyone and everything. If a Hopi Indian was cruel, everyone in the village would stop talking to him. The Hopi Indians lived a quiet, peaceful life. They almost never fought because they were too busy farming to have time for fighting.

PLAINS CULTURE

The Plains Native Americans lived in the area of our country known as the Great Plains. This culture group is well-known for the importance of the buffalo, their religious ceremonies, the use of the tepee, and their war-path customs. Four important tribes in this culture include the Dakota, Cheyenne, Sioux, and Comanche.

The buffalo was the most important natural resource of the Plains Native Americans. These people were hunters. They hunted many kinds of animals, but it was the buffalo which provided them with all of their basic needs: food, clothing, and shelter.

The Plains Culture followed the buffalo migration-or movement of the buffalo. Because of the constant moving of the tribe, they needed a form of shelter that could be quickly and easily put together and taken down. They called this type of home the tepee. The tepee was made by leaning long poles together and covering them with buffalo hide. The long poles of the tepee were dragged behind the horse and used to carry their belongings when they moved their village. This was called a travois.  

Once the buffalo herd was spotted by the scouts, it was the job of the women to set up the tepees while the warriors began the hunt.

There were several ways to hunt the buffalo. One way was to ride into the herd on horseback and use bows and arrows to kill the buffalo. Another way was for a large group of people on horseback to chase the buffalo off a cliff. An unusual way some Native Americans hunted the buffalo was to sneak up on the buffalo with wolf skins covering their bodies, then killing them with bows and arrows. As soon as the hunt was over, the women and children would join the warriors to cut up the buffalo to bring back to camp. At this time it was considered a real treat to eat the heart, liver, kidneys, and brain while they were still warm.

They used the meat of the buffalo for food. The fresh meat was either roasted on a stick over the fire or boiled, sometimes with fresh vegetables. They also made a sort of sausage by stuffing meat and herbs into the buffalo's gut. The meat that could not be eaten right away was cut into strips and hung on racks to dry. It would then keep for a long time.

The skin of the buffalo was used for clothing and shelter. Before the skin or hide of the buffalo could be used, it had to be treated. First, the hide was staked to the ground or tied to a frame. Then the flesh was scraped off the inside, and the hair was scraped off the outside. When the hide was clean, the inside was rubbed with a mixture of liver, fat, and brains. This was done several times and then washed in a stream. Finally, it was softened by pulling it back and forth through a loop of rope. The hide was then used as the outer covering of the tepee. It was also decorated with beads, porcupine quills, and feathers to be worn as clothing by the Native Americans of the Plains.

No part of the buffalo went to waste. The horns were used as spoons, cups, and toys. The bones were used as tools and weapons. The tail was used as a fly brush or whip. The stomach and intestines were cleaned and then used to carry water. Native Americans of the Plains ONLY killed what was needed to survive, never more. It was only when the white man started moving west that the slaughter, unnecessary killing, of the buffalo occurred. Thousands of buffalo were killed for sport or to clear the land for the railroad. These animals' bodies were just left on the prairie to rot.

The Plains people believed in many gods. They believed the gods showed themselves in the form of the sun, moon, stars, and anything that was strong or strange, such as an animal, person, or even an odd-shaped stone. The way the men received this power of the gods was from visions. To receive a vision the man had to go to a lonely place. He would stay there for several days without food or water. During this time the vision was "seen" by the man. Those that became known for receiving many visions were called medicine men. These men were said to be able to see the future and cure diseases.

Powwows were one of the ceremonies of the Plains peoples. A powwow was a celebration or prayer to the Great Spirit.

An important Plains ceremony was called the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance took place in the summer months. It was a ceremony of celebration. The Sun Dance lasted around four days. During this time dancers performed the same exact movements and had nothing to eat or drink. They lifted their eyes to the sun for as long as they could endure it. Some men would pierce their chests with wooden skewers. This was later outlawed because it was thought to be too cruel. Another important dance was the Ghost Dance. This was a dance performed nightly in which the Plains people believed that they could speak to the gods and their ancestors. They also believed that this dance would help get their land back.

The way for a Plains warrior to earn respect was through battle. Warfare consisted of short raids by small groups to capture horses or kill enemies. A warrior who killed an enemy brought home his scalp to prove it. Warriors would trim their pants and shirts with scalps to show their success. "Counting coup" was a Native American expression that meant they got close enough to the enemy to actually touch him with his hand. Plains warriors would keep count of how many enemies they had killed by adding a feather to their headdresses or war bonnets.  The feathers on it represented acts of bravery.

Sitting Bull was one of the most famous Chiefs of the Plains Culture. He was a Sioux leader in the area that is now known as South Dakota. He lived from l83l-l890. During this time gold was discovered on the land that Sitting Bull's tribe lived on. The government tried to force the Sioux to move off their land. Sitting Bull and his tribe would not peacefully move. In June, l876, a major battle occurred between Sitting Bull and U.S. soldiers led by George Custer. 

Custer's groups of soldiers had 260 men. Custer was told to wait for more soldiers to arrive. Instead of waiting, he decided to go forward with just the men he had. Sitting Bull's group of warriors numbered between 2,500 -4,000 men. The warriors surrounded Custer's soldiers and attacked. Custer and all of his soldiers were killed. This became known as the Battle of Little Bighorn. After this event, Sitting Bull was punished and forced to live on a reservation. Later in his life he caused more problems for the U.S. government and was finally arrested. While some of his friends were trying to rescue him, Sitting Bull was shot and killed by U.S. soldiers.

Eastern Woodland Native Americans

The people of the Eastern Woodland Culture lived east of the Plains Native Americans. Like the people of other cultures, they depended on the natural resources around them for all of their basic needs. Their food, shelter, clothing, weapons, and tools came from the forests around them. They lived in villages near a lake or stream. The Woodland Indians lived in wigwams and longhouses. The Iroquois, Cherokee, and Mound Builders were important Woodland tribes.

The Iroquois

The Iroquois lived in the Northeastern part of the Woodland Culture. Today we call this part of our country New York. The Iroquois were actually a "nation" of Native Americans made up of 5 tribes. These tribes were the Senecas, Onondagas, Oneidas, and Mohawks. These tribes were hostile, or war-like, to each other until they joined together to become the "League of the Five Nations". Even after the forming of this nation there was still some fighting among the 5 tribes.

The Iroquois lived in wigwams and longhouses. Wigwams were made by bending young trees to form the round shape of the home. Over this shape pieces of tree bark were overlapped to protect them from bad weather. Over the bark a layer of thatch, or dried grass, was added. A small hole from the top allowed smoke from the fires to escape. Beds were matting covered with animal skin.

Longhouses were long rectangular homes. Longhouses were made by building a frame from saplings, or young trees. They were then covered with bark sewn together. There was a long hallway with rooms on both sides. Sleeping platforms, covered with deerskin, lined each wall. There were also shelves for storing baskets, pots, and pelts. Pelts are the skins of animals with the fur attached. Several families would live in the long house, but the families were related to each other.

The Iroquois built log walls all around their villages. The wall had only one opening. They could quickly close this opening if their enemies came near.

The Iroquois found their food by hunting, fishing, and gathering berries, fruits, and nuts. They also cleared the land and planted large fields of corn, beans, and squash which Native Americans called "The Three Sisters". The Iroquois used a bow and arrow to hunt. They would sometimes wear the skin of a deer over their body to sneak up to the deer. The Iroquois also used traps for small animals. A canoe made from a hallowed out tree was used to fish in the lakes and streams nearby. Nets and traps were also used to catch fish.

During the winter months, trees were tapped to get maple sugar. The liquid was put in wooden troughs and stirred day and night over a fire. After a long time the liquid syrup changed into sugar.

Food was not always plentiful for the Iroquois. During hard times when food was almost impossible to find they would boil their moccasins for soup or chew on their clothing.

Some historians have portrayed the Iroquois as being very violent. They write of how fierce the Iroqouis were, especially the Mohawk. They speak of the cruel way the Mohawks tortured their captives. The Mohawks, especially the women, took great delight in burning the victim alive with torches and tearing out bits of their flesh with jagged pieces of seashell. The neighbors of the Iroquois were also said to be quite fierce.

The kindness of the Iroquois is also talked about by historians. Strangers were welcome and food was always provided. When visiting an Iroquois home one was expected to taste the food offered and to say -Hi-ne-a-wah-I thank you. Visitors were given food, clothing, and a place to sleep.

Very important to this culture was wampum. Wampum belts and necklaces were made from wampum beads. These beads were actually white and purple shells. Wampum was used as money between white man and Indians. Wampum belts were used as a form of communication between Indian tribes. Wampum belts would be made into pictures showing the reason it was made. All Indian messengers carried wampum belts when going to other tribes.

The Cherokees

The Cherokee lived mainly in what is now Tennessee and Georgia. Like the Iroquois, the Cherokee depended on their natural resources for survival.

They lived in about 200 fairly large villages. A normal Cherokee town had about 30 - 60 houses and a large meeting building. Cherokee homes were usually wattle and daub. Wattle is twigs, branches, and stalks woven together to make a frame for a building. Daub is a sticky substance like mud or clay. The Cherokee covered the wattle frame with daub. This created the look of an upside down basket. Later, log cabins with bark roofs were used for homes. The Cherokee villages also had fences around them to prevent enemies from entering.

Like the Iroquois, the Cherokee also hunted small game such as deer, rabbit, and bear. Since their villages were usually near streams or lakes, they also fished using spears and nets. Berries, nuts, and wild plants were important forms of food for the Cherokee. The Cherokee were considered to be excellent farmers. They had large farms which grew corns, beans, and squash.

The Cherokee women wore skirts woven from plants. The men wore breechcloths or leggings. The men would paint their skin and decorate it with tattoos. The women would sew feathers into light capes made of netting.

They had their own government, laws, courts, and schools. A Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah invented a written language called "Talking Leaves". It had 86 characters. Within a few years all of the Cherokees could read and write it.

Between 1790 and 1830 the white man began to push westward into the Cherokee territory. The Cherokee fought hard to keep their land. They even took their fight against being removed from their land to court. At first it seemed like they might win. But they were forced to leave the land they loved.

IN ONE of the saddest stories in our history, thousands of men, women, and children were forced off of the land they loved and moved into crowded forts with very little food. They were then forced to walk over a thousand miles to what is now Arkansas. It was an unusually cold winter. Many of the Indians were barefoot with little clothing. They were forced to walk through snow and ice. They ate only what they could find along the way. Many Indians died along the way, especially older Indians and children. Their bloody footprints left trails of blood in the snow. They cried as they went because they were leaving the land they loved, the land they had called home for so many years. This horribly long, sad journey of the Cherokee has become known in history as "The Trail of Tears".

Mound Builders

Mound Builders were Native Americans who built large mounds, or hills, or earth. There were two types of mounds, flat-topped and conical. Flat-topped mounds were flat on the top. These mounds were used as the base for temples or chief's homes. Conical mounds were rounded on the top like a steep hill. These mounds are believed to be where the Mound Builders buried important people.

These mounds were built entirely by workers who carried loads of earth on their backs. They had no horses or oxen or other forms of transportation to use for help. Many of these mounds have several hundred tons of dirt, stone, and other materials.

The largest of the Mississippian Mounds was found in Cahokia, Illinois. It had about 40,000 people. Cahokia had over 100 mounds. Some were conical to bury their dead. Some were platform mounds for homes of the chiefs.

Religious ceremonies were held at the temples at the tops of the mounds. Some families had small mounds where they buried their dead. "Grave goods" would be buried with them. These were things such as pottery, baskets, and carvings.

They practiced a religion called the "Southern Cult". Drawings show pictures of spiders and woodpeckers, which the Indians believed had special powers. These Indians are believed to have sacrificed humans as part of their religion. Some of the Mound Builders had a leader known as the "Great Sun". He would be worshipped as a god. He would live on top of the highest mound, and his wife would live on top of the next highest. The Indians believed that living that high brought them closer to the heavens. If the "Great Sun" died, his wife was strangled and buried with him. Others would be killed also to go along with him into the world of death.

The Mound Builders were farmers. They planted corn, squash, beans, and other seed plants. They also hunted for nuts, berries, and small animals.

The Mississippian Mound Builders are believed to have died from diseases brought to this country by the white man.