NATIVE AMERICA
"Long ago, America was their land. For thousands of years, the only inhabitants of the continent were Native Americans. They were descendants of Asians who crossed a land bridge to the northernmost part of America and eventually spread south. Then, beginning in 1492, Europeans arrived in America. Over the centuries, as a result of wars, policies, and diseases introduced by the newcomers, the Native. . . "

SACAGAWEA
"She is one of the most well- known, and unknown, figures in United States history. A river, two lakes, and four mountain peaks are named for her, but no one is certain how to pronounce or spell her name. Every child in the United States learns about Sacagawea (sa-CA-ga-we-a), but what does anyone actually know about her? We know for certain that in 1805 and 1806 she traveled with the Lewis and Clark. . . "

SOUTHWEST PEOPLES
"With flat-topped mesas, steep canyons, towering buttes (be-yoots), and scorching deserts, the American Southwest is spectacular to behold. But the land also provides enormous challenges to people living there. For many years, though, Native Americans of the Southwest have lived in harmony with the land. They cherish it and use its resources wisely. Over thousands of years, these people evolved from. . . "

AMERICA 1492
"The very first Americans were big-game hunters. They came from Asia and carried spears of bone and stone. They weren't searching for a new place to live. They were following the animals they hunted for a living. They stalked giant buffalo and huge woolly mammoths. In North America they found beavers as big as bears. But no jets roared through the skies, and no car horns honked. There were no towns. . . "

NORTHWEST COAST PEOPLES
"Thousands of years ago, humans began to settle along the narrow strip of land that hugs that Pacific Coast from what is now southern Alaska to southern Oregon. It was a land of abundance. Fish and sea mammals crowded the ocean. In spring, salmon left their ocean homes to swim up streams, where they were easily caught. The nearby forests provided berries, meat and edible roots."

CHILDREN'S BOOKS

• A Plains Indian Village. By Stuart Kallen and P.M. Boekhoff, KidsHaven Press, 2002.
• Nations of the Plains. By Bobbie Kalman, Crabtree Publishing, 2001.
• Native Americans of the Plains. By Lucille Wood-Trost, Lucent Books, 2000.
• People of the Plains and Prairies, Rourke, 2004.

ADULT BOOKS

• Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee. By Dee Brown, Holt, 1970.
• The Columbia Guide to American Indians of the Great Plains, Columbia University Press, 2003.

WEBSITES

• The America West - Native Americans: www.americanwest.com/pages/indians.htm
• Native American Settlements in North America: www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/prehistory/settlements/index.shtml
• Smithsonian Native American Resources: www.si.edu/resource/faq/nmai/start.htm

COMMUNITY RESOURCES

• Smithsonian National Museum of the American Indian (DC):
  http://www.nmai.si.edu/