Personal Characteristics Of Native Americans

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More than 12,000 years ago ancestors hiked from Asia to claim what is now known as the Americas. By 15th century A.D., scholars estimate that more than 50 million Native Americans inhabited the land we call ours. More specifically, 10 million people lived in what we call the United States. Native Americans have many different groups within the broad culture. These groups of people share similar living arrangements and personal characteristics. These groups are: the Arctic, the Subarctic, the Northeast, the Southeast, the Plains, the Southwest, the Great Basin, California, the Northwest Coast, and the Plateau. The Arctic The group of Native Americans live in the Arctic, otherwise described as a frozen desert. These people, known as the Inuit …show more content…

(Native American Culture, 2016). The Southwest This culture group lived in what is currently known as Arizona and New Mexico along with part of Colorado, Utah and Texas. Part of the group, called the Hopi, Zuni, the Yaui, and the Yuma grew vegetable crops. These people also invented homes built with stone and adobe. The other part of the group is known as the Navajo and the Apache. These are more well-known groups. They tended to be hunters that stole from others’ crops. Their homes were made from mud and tree bark. During the latter half of the 19th century, the federal government resettles most of the remaining Indians onto government reservations. The Great Basin The culture group lived near the Rocky Mountains, the Sierra Nevadas, and te Columbia Plateau, and the Colorado Plateau. These desert land was home to those who spoke Shoshonean or Uto-Aztecan languages. This group was constantly on the move so they lived in homes built from willow poles, leaves and brush. They ate what was easily found: snakes, lizards, roots, and seeds. After white people discovered gold in the area, most of this group lost their land. …show more content…

A major factor was the introduction of fortified and distilled alcohol, first by the Europeans and later the Americans, to an indigenous population whose physiology (metabolism and neural compensation) was not accustomed to this concentration of ethanol. Another factor was the introduction of alcohol outside of traditional customs and folkways. While there is evidence of substance use during aboriginal times, notably of fermented corn or cactus juices and psychoactive agents such as peyote and cocoa leaves, these substances were confined to prescribed rituals and were not known to be abused” (French, Laurence 2000). The general public is not aware of the current problems that face Native Americans. They can have alcohol and substance abuse problems, just like any other culture group. Native Americans are also subject to mental health issues such as anxiety and depression as they can only live on reservations for those of the same

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