Indigenous Peoples' Day: Native American History - Middle School and High School

Practice this list to learn the vocabulary of Native American history. Review tribe names, as well as features of Native American life and culture, including pueblos, shamans, canoes, and wigwams.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. agriculture
    the practice of cultivating the land or raising stock
  2. Aleut
    a community of Native Americans who speak an Eskimo-Aleut language and inhabit the Aleutian Islands and southwestern Alaska
  3. Algonquian
    a member of any of the North American Indian groups speaking an Algonquian language and originally living in the subarctic regions of eastern Canada; many Algonquian tribes migrated south into the woodlands from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic coast
  4. Anasazi
    a Native American who lived in what is now southern Colorado and Utah and northern Arizona and New Mexico and who built cliff dwellings
  5. ancestor
    someone from whom you are descended
  6. Apache
    any member of Athapaskan tribes that migrated to the southwestern desert (from Arizona to Texas and south into Mexico); fought a losing battle from 1861 to 1886 with the United States and were resettled in Oklahoma
  7. arrowhead
    the pointed head or striking tip of an arrow
  8. barter
    exchange goods without involving money
  9. bison
    a large humped animal having hooves and shaggy hair
  10. brave
    a North American Indian warrior
  11. buckskins
    breeches made of buckskin
  12. buffalo
    a ruminant mammal resembling an ox
  13. canoe
    a small, light boat propelled with a paddle
  14. Cayuga
    a member of an Iroquoian people formerly living around Cayuga Lake in New York State
  15. Cherokee
    a member of an Iroquoian people formerly living in the Appalachian Mountains but now chiefly in Oklahoma
  16. Chickasaw
    a member of the Muskhogean people formerly living in northern Mississippi
  17. chief
    the head of a tribe or clan
  18. clan
    group of people related by blood or marriage
  19. Coeur d'Alene
    a member of an Amerindian people living in northern Idaho around Coeur d'Alene Lake
  20. colonialism
    exploitation by a stronger country of a weaker one
  21. colony
    a geographical area controlled by a distant country
  22. Comanche
    a member of the Shoshonean people who formerly lived between Wyoming and the Mexican border but are now chiefly in Oklahoma
  23. confederation
    the act of forming an alliance
  24. Creek
    any member of the Creek Confederacy (especially the Muskogee) formerly living in Georgia and Alabama but now chiefly in Oklahoma
  25. Haida
    a member of a seafaring group of North American Indians who lived on the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Alaska
  26. headdress
    clothing for the head
  27. hogan
    a Navajo lodge covered with earth
  28. Hoka
    a member of a North American Indian people speaking one of the Hokan languages
  29. Hopi
    a member of the Shoshonean people of northeastern Arizona
  30. Inuit
    a member of a people inhabiting the Arctic
  31. Iroquois
    any member of the Native American peoples on land that later became New York State; the Iroquois League were allies of the British during the American Revolution
  32. kachina
    a deified spirit of the Pueblo people
  33. Kiowa
    a member of a Tanoan people living in the southwestern United States
  34. lodge
    any of various Native American dwellings
  35. maize
    corn
  36. mesa
    flat tableland with steep edges
  37. moccasin
    soft leather shoe; originally worn by Native Americans
  38. Mohawk
    a member of the Iroquoian people formerly living along the Mohawk River in New York State
  39. Muskhogean
    a member of any of the peoples formerly living in southeastern United States and speaking Muskhogean languages
  40. nomad
    a member of a people who have no permanent home
  41. Oneida
    a member of the Iroquoian people formerly living east of Lake Ontario
  42. Onondaga
    a member of the Iroquoian people formerly living between Lake Champlain and the Saint Lawrence River
  43. papoose
    an American Indian infant
  44. Penutian
    a family of Amerindian language spoken in the great interior valley of California
  45. Plains Indian
    a member of one of the tribes of American Indians who lived a nomadic life following the buffalo in the Great Plains of North America
  46. potlatch
    a ceremonial feast held by some Native American tribes
  47. powwow
    a council of or with Native Americans
  48. pueblo
    a Native American village in the southwestern United States
  49. reservation
    a district that is set aside for a particular purpose
  50. sachem
    a chief of a North American tribe or confederation
  51. Salish
    a member of a group of North American Indians speaking a Salishan language and living on the northwest coast of North America
  52. sannup
    a married male American Indian
  53. Seneca
    a member of the Iroquoian people formerly living in New York State south of Lake Ontario
  54. shaman
    one acting as a medium between the visible and spirit worlds
  55. Shoshone
    a member of the North American Indian people (related to the Aztecs) of the southwestern United States
  56. spirit
    any incorporeal supernatural being that can become visible
  57. tepee
    a portable, cone-shaped tent used by some Native Americans
  58. Tlingit
    a member of a seafaring group of North American Indians living in southern Alaska
  59. toboggan
    a long narrow sled without runners
  60. tomahawk
    weapon consisting of a fighting ax
  61. totem pole
    a tribal emblem consisting of a pillar carved and painted with totemic figures; erected by Indian tribes of the northwest Pacific coast
  62. treaty
    a written agreement between two states or sovereigns
  63. tribe
    a federation (as of American Indians)
  64. Wakashan
    a family of North American Indian languages of British Columbia and Washington
  65. wampum
    small cylindrical beads made from polished shells and fashioned into strings or belts; used by certain Native American peoples as jewelry or currency
  66. weave
    create a piece of cloth by interlacing strands of fabric
  67. wigwam
    a Native American lodge frequently having an oval shape
  68. wikiup
    a lodge consisting of a frame covered with matting or brush
  69. Zuni
    a member of the Pueblo people living in western New Mexico
Created on January 5, 2017 (updated April 3, 2017)

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