by Linda Azzarella - Pacoima Middle School - Los Angeles USD

printer friendly

Native American is the term some historians use to identify the descendants of the people who inhabited the North and South American continent prior to the arrival of the Europeans. The ancestors of Native Americans crossed the Bering Strait from Asia over 14,000 years ago and eventually settled throughout the North American continent. Historians refer to this type of movement as “ migration ”. This migration occurred over a long period.

By the time the Europeans arrived in the 15th century, Native Americans had developed distinct cultures. Some had settled in the Great Lakes area, others in the deep south of what are now Georgia , Alabama and Florida . Still others settled in the southwest area of the United States . Just as each region of the United States has distinct geographical and cultural characteristics (for example, the Rocky Mountain region is very different from the Great Lakes area) so too Native Americans developed distinct cultures from each other depending on the area they settled. Geography and climate strongly influenced development. In this museum exhibit we are going to explore the social and historical backgrounds of three Native American cultures.

You can learn about the Nez Perce of the northwest, the Native American Plains culture, and the Cherokee Nation of the southeast by visiting museum displays here in this exhibit.