Traditional Stories of the Southwest Nations

Traditional Stories of the Southwest Nations — page 5
in this area such as the Yuma the Navajo the Hopi and the Zuni built permanent villages The Rocky Mountain region is east of the Colorado Plateau The land has rugged mountains with thick forests of evergreen trees Because of the cooler temperatures and short growing seasons the tribes in this area did not spend much time farming Instead they hunted in the forests and found plants to eat Many Pueblo lived in this area as well as some Apache The central mountains zone makes up a fourth region This area cuts across the middle of Arizona and western New Mexico A VALUABLE CROP Agaves are plants with long stiff leaves The leaves often have sharp teeth along the edges The plants range from a few inches to more than 12 feet 3 5 m tall They grow well in rocky soil in dry climates The Apache and other tribes depended on the agave plants Not only were they used for food but tribes also used the plants to make baskets mats and sewing needles Some even grew crops of agave in large fields 8