The political, economic, cultural, and social impact of the European settlements in North America were enormous. To factors influence the initiation and continued use of alcohol and tobacco among adolescents and adults. Over thousands of years, Native Americans living in North America developed different cultures. This website describes different types of native American dwellings, including hogans, tipis and igloos, and shows their distribution on a map of the continent. In this lesson, students will analyze primary source images of Native Americans interacting with the environment. Culture means ways of life. While Native American people share values, each nation, tribe, band, or community has its own culture, language, history, and traditional belief system. Few studies have examined the effects of sociocultural factors on the tendency of smokers to drink and drinkers to smoke. Oswego Middle School. I n recent years, Native Americans have increased their income and wealth through new and innovative economic development activities. And yet, most American Indian tribes are faced with a number of significant environmental problems. Native American Housing from the Pre-contact Period Native American tribes built homes and shelter according to the climate, agriculture, and materials of their environment. INTRODUCTION . Today, this influence continues to play significant roles in many aspects of political, legal, cultural, environmental, and economic issues. Unlike the urban empires the Spanish had found in Central and South America, many North American Indians lived … For instance, tribes have increased their control over their natural resources and food systems, they have become players in the country’s energy sector, and they have begun trading with Asia (National Congress of American Indians 2013b). The images show different aspects of how Native Americans dressed, hunted, and lived. However, the limited evidence available suggests that such factors exist and that the strength of the association Exploring the ecological transformation of the colonial South offers an opportunity to examine the ways in which three distinct cultures—Native American, European, and African—influenced and shaped the environment in a fascinating part of North America. After 1980, the political, economic, and cultural influence of the American South and West continued to increase as population shifted to those areas; International migration from Latin America and Asia increased dramatically. Nature was a big part of the belief systems of Native American tribes. Environment influenced the cultures of the Northwest and Southwest Native American tribes in different forms. Deep cultural differences drove a wedge between Native Americans and European settlers. The relationship they had with mother nature was so close that became part of its folklore, culture… The kinds of food the Native Americans ate, the clothing they wore, and the shelters they had depended upon the seasons. In the United States, “Indian country” is a unique world, composed of individual tribal nations with different levels of needs and varying resources. Native American Culture and Their Environment. A person’s or people’s culture is made up of language, religion, clothing, food, the types of homes we live in, and many other things. Mr. Malone. The new immigrants affected US culture in many ways and supplied the economy with an important labor force Historical Background. Europeans looked down on Native American spirituality and way of life. American Indians and the events involving them greatly influenced the histories of the European colonies and the modern nations of North, Central, and South America. One reason Europeans misunderstood Native culture was that it was very different from European culture, especially in the way the Americans used the land and its resources. If that happens, there will be no trace of our living culture." Mutual distrust grew and war ensued, followed by attempts at forced cultural assimilation of Native peoples and relocation to …