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The Southwest Indian tribes
lived in the deserts of the southwestern United
States. The climate was hot and dry. They had
strict rules about water. They were farmers.
Anasazi, Hopi, Pueblo and Navajo were some of the
Indian tribes that lived in the
southwest.
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Some southwestern tribes built
their homes into the side of the mesas. Mesa means
"table" in Spanish. A mesa looks like a high flat
table. These indians were sometimes called
The Cliffdwellers. Their homes were
built with mud, sticks and stones. They looked like
big apartment buildings. Each home could have more
than 400 people living in them. The homes had very
few windows. They had no doors. The indians climbed
through a hole in the roof to get into their home.
Then they pulled their ladder up into their homes
to protect themselves from unwanted people.
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Hopi Indians lived in pueblos.
Those were houses made out of mud bricks and sticks
but they weren't built into cliffs.They were built
on the desert land at the foot of the mesa.
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Anasazi farmers raised their
crops on top of the mesa. They raised corn, beans,
and squash which they called The Three
Sisters. Sometimes they hunted wild
turkeys.
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The men wore belts with short
skirts. Women wore belts with long dresses. They
wore moccasins on their feet. The children dressed
like their parents.
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The women made beautiful pots of
clay and baskets. Those pots and baskets are very
valuable today.
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Hopi indians belived
that they could use Kachinas to talk to
their gods. Mostly, they asked their gods
for rain. They sang and danced to talk to
the gods. They made Kachina dolls out of
wood to teach their children about the
gods.
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