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Native American Indian Facts

Hopi Ceramic Jar

Hopi Indian Introduction
The Hopi Indians are Native Americans who have lived in Northwestern Arizona for thousands of years. Information suggests that the name 'Hopi' is translated to mean peaceful person. These Southwest American Indians inhabit an area called the Black Mesa, a plateau which rises 1,000 feet above the surrounding grasslands, and refer to this place as the center of the universe. They are entirely surrounded by the much larger, Navajo reservation. Facts and history about these Southwest American Indians can be found below.

Click here for a great selection of Hopi Indian books on AMAZON .

Hopi Indian General facts

Hopi lived in pueblos or adobe houses made of dried clay and stone. They had flat roofs and multiple levels which were accessible by ladder. The bottom level was an underground chamber called a Kiva. It was primarily for religious ceremonies. The upper levels contained apartments so that the entire extended family could live in the home.

The Hopi language is a complex and difficult language descended from the Aztec language and unrelated to other pueblo languages. The language is known for having a unique was of expressing of time and space concepts. The language is spoken by about 5,000 people today although all Hopi today speak English as well.

Oraibi was an important Hopi village. With the demise of several smaller Hopi villages, it became the center of Hopi population and culture and one the oldest continuously inhabited settlements in the U.S, dating back to 1100 A.D.

Farming and agriculture was the cornerstone of traditional Hopi life. With over twenty different varieties of corn, including yellow and blue, it was the most common crop grown. They also grew squash, not only for eating, but for making instruments and utensils. Pumpkins and beans were grown for food and they cultivated sunflower so they could make dyes and oils. They also grew cotton and tobacco.

Hopi Indian Art

The Hopi were skilled artisans and had a special flair for making pottery and intricately woven rugs.

In fact, Hopi pottery is one of the most recognizable of all of the pottery making tribes with its vivid colors and distinct hieroglyphics. It requires great attention to detail and long hours of hard work.

The pottery not only looked beautiful, but it was used in everyday life.

Hopi Indian Tribe Clothing

The Hopi lived in a very warm and dry climate so clothing was usually kept to a minimum.

Men typically wore a simple breechcloth for cover and deerskin moccasins on their feet. They usually wore their hair in a bun called a homsoma along with a headband tied around their forehead. In cooler months and in the evenings, blankets were used to stay warm.

Women wore mantas which were light dresses that left one shoulder exposed and came down to their knees. They also wore moccasins on their feet and if it was a special occasion they decorated them. They also added deerskin leggings to their shins for special events.

The Hopi liked to adorn themselves with accessories. These included wildflowers, beaded necklaces, various feathers, and eventually silver jewelry such as necklaces, bracelets and rings.

Both men and women had a distinct pattern in which they would paint their faces for specific occasions like war or special tribal ceremonies.

Hopi Tribe Tools and Weapons

Although the Hopi did not normally participate in acts of war, they did have weapons to defend themselves against an attack on their land by the Navajos and the Spanish. In this circumstance they would use bows and arrows and spears.

They used carved rocks and animal bones, traps, and large sticks when hunting animals like deer, antelope and other game.

Tools included rakes and hoes and other farming implements, cotton looms, knives, arrowheads and adz. Adz allowed them to carve out big logs that could then be made into water-worthy canoes, an important means of transportation.

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Southwest American Indian Facts

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The Hopi Indian tribe is well known for their beautiful pottery and intricate woven rugs. On this page we list many facts about these interesting American Indians.

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Kids learn about the Cheyenne Tribe including their history, lands, traditional homes, language, clothing, food, government, and interesting facts.

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Sioux women were never chief, but they
were in charge of the house. They gathered
berries and plants for food and created clothes
and crafts such as the ones shown in the picture.

Since the Sioux were animistic,
their rituals were to nature and the sun.

Chief Sitting Bull, a medicine man
and a warrior, led theSioux against
the settlers. He and his son, along with
other followers, were shot when the
Indian Police were trying to arrest him.

The Sioux Indians fought fiercely against
the Americans to defend their territory.

Sioux tepees were made of wooden
sticks and sometimes up to fifteen
buffalo skins stitched together.

The Sioux used horses to catch buffalo,
their main source of food.

The Sioux, also known as the Dakota or the Lakota, were made up of seven different tribes that lived over a large area in the Great Plains of the United States. Their original territory included Wisconsin, North and South Dakota, and Minnesota. They were nomads, who migrated according to the season and the movement of the buffalo, their main food. The Sioux originally grew crops, but once they moved onto the plains, their primary food became the buffalo. They grew very few crops, and mostly traded weapons and meat with other tribes for corn.

A man in the Sioux tribe would usually be awarded the title of "Chief" as recognition for brave or outstanding behavior. However, the chief did not make decisions for his tribe. Instead, a tribe council, and sometimes even the entire tribe, would vote on what to do in a situation. Women were allowed to vote and owned property in the Sioux tribe. Though men were expected to hunt and fight, women were in charge of the house. Children were considered sacred by the Sioux and were given a lot of attention.

Buffaloes were used as food, clothing, housing, and weapons. Though they mostly ate buffalo, the Sioux also hunted elk and deer. They would tan the hides of these animals and use them as clothing. The women wore dresses, the men pants, breechcloths, and shirts, and all of them wore moccasins. Both men and women also wore their hair long. Sioux tepees, which were almost fifteen feet high, were made of buffalo-hide. Because the Sioux migrated often, their tepees were easily assembled and disassembled. The Sioux used shields, bows and arrows, spears, and clubs while hunting and fighting. Shields and bowstrings were usually made from buffalo.

For the Sioux, war was a major part of their lives, and an initiation rite for young Sioux men included getting a scalp. In addition to beadwork, quillwork, and pottery, the Sioux created buffalo-hide paintings, which most Sioux women wore. The Sioux told many legends to explain the world around them and to teach their children. They were also animistic, which meant that they believed in the power of nature. For this reason, they performed many tribal dances in honor of the sun and other parts of their environment. The Sioux also believed that white buffaloes were the most sacred animals in the world, and therefore never hunted them.

When French settlers first arrived, the Sioux were forced to move further west onto the plains, where they split into seven different clans. Later, gold was found in the Black Hills, leading to a gold rush in Sioux territory. Led by brave chiefs (including the famous chiefs Sitting Bull and Red Cloud), the Sioux resisted American attempts to take their land. At first, the Americans tried to convince the Sioux to sell their land. When this failed, they decided to take the land by force.

This led to many violent encounters such as the Battle of Little Big Horn (a.k.a. Custer's Last Stand) and the Battle of Wounded Knee. The Battle of Little Big Horn was a famous Native American victory, but despite winning the battle, the Native Americans lost many of their tribe members, including women and children, to the settlers' attacks. Eventually, the Sioux were defeated and forced onto reservations throughout the northern United States, where most of them live today. However, a few tribes managed to escape to Canada during the war and continue to practice their culture in the North.

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Sioux women were never chief, but they were in charge of the house. They gathered berries and plants for food and created clothes and crafts such as the ones shown in the picture. Since the Sioux were animistic, their rituals were to nature and the sun.

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History for kids - Free history network for kids

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The Iroquois tribe, also known as the Haudenosaunee, was a group of Native American people who inhabited the northeastern part of North America. They had a unique system of government known as the Iroquois Confederacy, which was a union of six different tribes. The Iroquois were skilled farmers, hun…

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Lenape Lifeways presents a series of videos teaching the Lenape way of life. Learn about the Lenape through our website, programs, books and videos. Visit our website at www.Lenapelifeways.org.

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Around and About New Jersey: The Lenape Indians

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Kids learn about Native American Indian tribe the Cherokee from the Southeast of the United States.

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The Lenni Lenape are a group of Indigenous peoples who originally lived in a large area around the Atlantic coast of the United States. They call themselves the Lenape (meaning "real people"), but they came to be known as the Delaware because that is what the English settlers called them.

The Lenni Lenape originally lived in a huge territory that included what are now New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware. Lenni Lenape men fished and hunted deer, elk, bear, and beaver. Women planted fields of corn, beans, squash, and other crops. The women also made clothing, baskets, and pottery.

The Lenni Lenape built dome-shaped houses called wigwams that they covered with tree bark. They also built large structures made of wood and bark called longhouses. Each autumn, people gathered at the longhouses for a 12-day ceremony. During the Big House ritual, the Lenni Lenape thanked their Creator for their latest harvest. The Big House ceremony was performed until the 1900s.

In the early 1600s white settlers began arriving in Lenni Lenape territory. They carried diseases, such as smallpox and measles, that killed many tribe members.

Europeans also forced the Lenni Lenape to give up much of their land. In the 1780s many Lenni Lenape moved to Ontario, Canada. The Lenni Lenape who stayed in the United States moved west. In the mid-1800s the government forced them to move to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma).

In the early 21st century, there were more than 16,000 Lenni Lenape. Most live in the states of Oklahoma and Wisconsin and in the province of Ontario.

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The Lenni Lenape are a group of Indigenous peoples who originally lived in a large area around the Atlantic coast of the United States. They call themselves the Lenape...

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The Hopi - Kid Friendly Educational Social Studies Videos for Elementary Students & Kids

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The Incredible History and Culture of the Cheyenne Tribe Revealed