Native Americans

The native American Indians were the original indigenous people who lived in North America when the Europeans arrived in the 1600s. They were hunter-gatherers and lived in homes called wigwams, which were cone-shaped structures made from wooden poles covered with fabric. Some carved totem pole monuments from large trees that illustrated familiar legends or special events. On ceremonial occasions, the important men would wear feathered war bonnets or headdresses. Most of the American Indians died because they: caught diseases from the Europeans; were killed in wars with the Europeans who wanted to take their lands; were made to work as slaves by the Europeans.