An artist’s impression of Southwest Nations farmers 1,000 years From 300 BCE to 1300 CE they built towns and irrigation systems They grew cotton corn beans and squash People from different communities met and traded with one another But around 1300 the land suffered a severe drought With no water the people were forced to leave their towns and move to other places Then around 6
1500 the ancestors of the Navajo Diné and Apache people came into the area from Canada The lifestyles and cultures of the tribes developed in different ways depending on where they settled SOUTHWEST REGIONS The two major rivers in the Southwest are the Colorado River and the Rio Grande These rivers create four different environmental regions The largest is the desert basin and range It reaches across the states of Arizona and New Mexico Most of this area is a desert covered with shrubs and cacti Some places get less than 5 inches 13 cm of rain a year Tribes here such as the O’odham and the Yuma Quechan have traditionally farmed caught wild game and eaten wild plants including agave and the fruit of cacti Another region is the Colorado Plateau It includes the area where New Mexico Arizona Colorado and Utah meet The land is made up of mountains canyons and forests Lower areas have shrubs and grasses Tribes 7
in this area such as the Yuma the Navajo the Hopi and the Zuni built permanent villages The Rocky Mountain region is east of the Colorado Plateau The land has rugged mountains with thick forests of evergreen trees Because of the cooler temperatures and short growing seasons the tribes in this area did not spend much time farming Instead they hunted in the forests and found plants to eat Many Pueblo lived in this area as well as some Apache The central mountains zone makes up a fourth region This area cuts across the middle of Arizona and western New Mexico A VALUABLE CROP Agaves are plants with long stiff leaves The leaves often have sharp teeth along the edges The plants range from a few inches to more than 12 feet 3 5 m tall They grow well in rocky soil in dry climates The Apache and other tribes depended on the agave plants Not only were they used for food but tribes also used the plants to make baskets mats and sewing needles Some even grew crops of agave in large fields 8
NATIONS OF THE SOUTHWEST HAVASUPAI JICARILLA APACHE НОРІ NAVAJO TEWA TIWA TOWA MOJAVE ARIZONA ZUNI PIRO TIWA YAVAPAI MARICOPA NEW MEXICO YUMA COCOPA MIMBRENO APACHE CHIRICAHUA APACHE MESCALERO APACHE PIMA The Nations of the Southwest traditionally had different lifestyles depending on the region where they lived Sometimes they traded with one another What kinds of things do you think they might have traded The climate is cool and most of the land is sloping and steep Similar to the Rocky Mountain region the growing season in the central mountains is short Tribes such as the Yavapai and Western Apache used the wild plants and animals in the forests for food MANY CULTURES Though the Native Americans of the Southwest lived in different climates and developed different cultures the tribes were often in contact with one another They traded and sometimes moved from one area to another
