3. Native American culture of the West

• Native American groups inhabiting the western United States

  • Tribes in modern California
  • Mono
  • Paiute
  • Bannock
  • Shoshone
  • Ute
  • Gosiute peoples
• Western indigenous people


  • Subsisted (exist) on hunting, fishing, and foraging (=gathering)
  • Gathered wild food and planted tobacco along the Colorado River
  • Processed acorns into flour
  • Foraged for pine nuts and wild plants
  • Hunted American bison, small mammals, snakes, and lizards
  • Fished for salmon using harpoons and trapping systems
  • Invented canoes to aid fishing in the Great Basin
• Salmon


  Crucial in Western indigenous diets and trade networks
• Central trade points


  • The Dalles on the Columbia River
• Acorns


  Used as currency
• Dwelling types


  • Mobile wikiups
  • Permanent villages in resource-rich areas
• Availability of food


  Determined the permanence of settlements
• Division of labor


  • Men hunted and fished
  • Women harvested crops and prepare for food and trade
• Sociopolitical organization


  • Family-based bands called tribelets common
  • More nomadic groups in less resource-rich areas
• The Chinookan people 


  Practiced slavery for labor-intensive tasks
• Hunting and gathering 


  Held spiritual significance, with rituals and prayers associated with them
• Chumash people 


  Traded marine mammals for shells and animal hides