PEOPLES OF THE SOUTHWEST The Southwest region is the original home of many American Indian nations This map shows the areas where some of them lived before Europeans arrived in the region Hopi Hopi Hualapai Hualapai Mojave Mojave Yavapai Yavapai H H a a v v a a s s u u p p a a Anasazi Anasazi Apache Apache Pueblo Pueblo Yuma Yuma Maricopa Maricopa i i Zuni Zuni Cocopah Cocopah Apache Apache T T o o h h Hohokam Hohokam Apache Apache o o n n o o O O o o d d h h a a Apache Apache Pima Pima Apache Apache CULTURAL AREAS Mogollon Mogollon m m Yaqui Yaqui California Plains Southeast Southwest Great Basin Other Cultural area border International border State province border Many Peoples The earliest people to settle the Southwest were the Anasazi ah-nuh-SAH-zee They lived in Chaco Canyon in present-day Mexico There they built cliff dwellings with enough rooms for four thousand people The settlement was the center of trade for ancient Southwest Indians until about 1000 CE About 400 miles 644 kilometers of dirt roads connected it to other villages in the region By 1300 the Anasazi moved from Chaco Canyon to other 6
parts of present-day New Mexico Other peoples settled farther west The Hohokam ho-ho-KUM lived in the southern part of present-day Arizona by the Gila and Salt Rivers The Mogollon moh-go-YONE lived farther south in the desert mountains of modern-day Arizona New Mexico and Mexico These ancient groups eventually vanished But their descendants spread throughout the Southwest Many Pueblo PWEB-lo peoples settled along the Rio Grande a river that runs through parts of present-day Texas New Mexico and Colorado The Zuni lived farther west in present-day New Mexico The Hopi HO-pee lived near the Grand Canyon in modern-day Arizona The Pima PEE-muh and Tohono O’odham toh-HO-no oh-OH-dum lived far south near present-day Mexico The This Anasazi construction in Chaco Canyon is named Kin Kletso or yellow house It has sixty-five rooms Archaeologists have dated it to around 1125 CE 7
Peoples of the Southwest lived in a variety of landscapes Most of those landscapes were dry like the land in this photo taken in the Sonoran Desert of Arizona Navajo NAH-vuh-ho lived close to the Hopi and Zuni near the Grand Canyon The Apache uh-PAH-chee traveled through hot southern deserts including land in present-day Texas New Mexico and Arizona Other peoples lived in the western part of present-day Arizona The Yuma YEW-muh and Mojave mo-HAH-vay lived along the Colorado River The Yavapai YAH-vuh-pie and Hualapai WAH-lah-pie had settled along the rim of the Grand Canyon The Havasupai ah-vah-SOO-pie lived in the Grand Canyon itself surrounded by red sandstone and sparkling waterfalls Southwest peoples spoke different languages from six main language families Other languages called isolates were also spoken Each language family included many different but related languages A single language might also have several 8
different versions or dialects But people still found ways to communicate even if they spoke different dialects or languages One way was by using sign language Peoples that belonged to the same language group often shared many other cultural traits But they did not always have the same government For example all Apache speak the same language and have a common culture But this group is made up of six smaller independent groups Each subgroup has its LANGUAGE FAMILIES OF SOUTHWEST PEOPLES LANGUAGE FAMILY CULTURAL GROUP Tanoan three subgroups Tiwa Tewa and Towa Pueblo Keresan Pueblo Zuni Zuni Uto-Aztecan Hopi Pima Tohono O’odham Yaqui yah-KEE Athabaskan Apache Navajo Hokan Cocopah kwee-KUH-puh Havasupai Hualapai Maricopa mayr-ee-KOH-puh Mojave Yavapai Yuma 9
