Daily Life
Native cultures during historic times were defined by two major lifeways—nomadic hunters and sedentary farmers. Each lifeway was based on the region in which the community lived and the resources available. As new technologies were introduced, such as the horse, or when climate change effected a region, communities that were once sedentary became nomadic and nomadic cultures became sedentary.
Nomadic hunters typically ate large and small game, fish, and harvested wild berries, roots, and nuts. Corn, beans, and squash (known as the three sisters in the Southwest) were the primary crops for most sedentary groups.
The most prominent icons of the nomadic lifeway, for tribes like the Kiowa, Comanche, Lakota, and Nez Perce, were the tipi and the horse. Brought by the Spanish to the Americas in the 1500s, horses afforded nomadic tribes greater and easier movement. Parfleche containers were an integral part of this lifestyle as they could be easily attached to a travois pulled by either horses or dogs.
More sedentary tribes, like the Caddo, Hopi, Cherokee, Wichita, Potawatomi, and Mandan, were noted for their large grass, earthen, or wooden lodges and advanced agricultural practices. In addition to durable items of rawhide and leather, sedentary tribes produced more fragile items like pottery and basketry for storage.
Commerce and trade between nomadic and sedentary groups were common. They exchanged hides, meats, and other materials for pottery, baskets, blankets, maize, melons, and beans.
Objects
Corn Mortar and Pestle
Southeast, possibly Muscogee
Parfleche
Central Plains, Cheyenne
Bear Basket
Great Lakes, Ojibwa
Berry Basket
Alaska, Tlingit
Cherokee Basket
Eastern Woodlands
Water Bottle
Southwest Apache
Possible Bags
Northern Plains, Cree
Burden Basket
Southwest, Apache
Bentwood box—Bear Design
Ron Sebastian
Pacific Northwest, Gitxsan
Cradleboard
Eastern Woodlands, Osage
Toy Cradleboard
Richard Aitson
Southern Plains, Kiowa
Cradleboard
Southwest, Apache
Cradleboard
Plateau, Nez Perce
Lattice Cradleboard
Central Plains, Cheyenne
Cradle
California, Pomo
Cradle
Plateau, Thompson River Salish
Tobacco Bag
Plateau, Nez Perce
Cradleboard
Southwest, Havasupai
Olla
Lucy Lewis
Southwest, Acoma Pueblo
Cradleboard
Southwest, Diné (Navajo)
Possible Bag
Northern Plains, Crow
Frog Olla
Southwest, Zuni Pueblo
Storage Basket
Southwest, Apache