Native American Encyclopedia Abalone Shells To Bone Artifacts

Native American Encyclopedia Abalone Shells To Bone Artifacts — page 5
6 Achomawi Achomawi also known as Pit River Indians are Native Americans who lived in the river basin of the Pit River in north central California They spoke a Palaihnihan branch of the Hokan family of languages They lived in bark lodges and partially underground homes in the winter They ate fish wildfowl and vegetables They were known to be expert basket weavers Spanish settlers built this mission church in the Acoma Pueblo in the 1600s Acoma Pueblo is a 70 acre village in New Mexico It was built on top of a mesa that is almost 400 feet high Another name for this pueblo is Sky City It is believed to have been built in the 1100s Its high location and steep sides protected the Acoma people from raiders The Acoma Pueblo is said to be the oldest continually inhabited community in the United States Today less than 50 people live in Sky City About 3 000 Acomans live in nearby villages These people continue the traditions of their ancestors Many of them are farmers Some practice their traditional religion and others observe the Catholic religion which was brought by Spanish settlers in the 1500s On special feast days all the Acomans gather together on the ancient mesa for cultural celebrations The Achomawi crafted baskets using grasses and willow which they colored with vegetable dyes WORDS TO KNOW Latin alphabet lah TIN al FAH bet the alphabet used by most people in North America and in many other places it is also called the Roman alphabet mesa MAY suh a flat topped hill with cliff like sides many mesas can be found in the southwestern United States river basin RIH vur BAY sin the area of land that is drained by a certain river as well as the creeks and streams that flow into that river needed Seeds were stored inside this Acoman seed pot The pots were broken as