Long before the white man set foot on American soil, the American Indians or the Native Americans, had been living on this land. When Europeans came here, there were probably 10 million Indians north of present-day Mexico and they had been living here for quite some time. The first people arrived during the last ice-age 20,000-30,000 years ago. When Columbus landed in what is now known as the West Indies, he incorrectly thought he had reached the Indies. He called the native people he met Indians. The Indians of the Americas spoke hundreds of different languages,had many varied ways of life and each group had its own name. Some lived in large cities and others in small villages. Varied tribes ranged from the Arctic regions of North America to the Southern tip of South America.

There were many different types of American Indian houses in North America. Different American Indian tribes had different traditional lifestyle. Wigwams are good houses for people who stay in the same place for months at a time. They are easy to build. Long houses -for people who intend to stay in the same place for a long time. Tepees-for people who are always on the move. Grass Houses are good homes for people in a warm climate.

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Indians ate turkeys ducks, geese, dogs, pigs. Sometimes they ate snakes and monkeys. They hunted and went fishing. Farming was another very important source of American Indian food materials. They grew cotton, tobacco, medicinal plants, beans, pumpkins, sunflowers, peppers, peanuts, wild rice, potatoes, sweet potatoes, avocados, papayas, and chocolate. Fish was often baked or smoked on the Indian candles.

Masks are used by many Native American tribes from Alaska to Argentina. In most tribes masks are used for religious rituals or festivals( animal masks, buffalo bull, bear or wolf masks, dance and false face masks, etc.

The newer generation of Native Americans have gone to school or can be found in schools and higher education institutions. They have degrees in business management, nursing, carpentry, Economic development and the list goes on. They have their own music to express themselves, picture galleries, holidays, shops and markets. They sell native clothes, moccasins and jewelry, and so on.

Originally, there were many different traditional clothing styles in North America. Every Native American tribe had its own style of dress. In most tribes Native American men wore breechclothes, sometimes with leather leggings. Some Native Americans wore war shirts. Nearly all Indians had some form of moccasin. These are traditional hairstyles from several different tribes. Mittens Feather Headbands Leggings boots Basket hats