In general, however, a cultural definition of the Southwest includes the following characteristics:
- Maize agriculture
- Use of ceramics
- Settled village life
What is the culture in the Southwest region?
Within the greater Southwest, the ranges of several major cultural groups – the Ancestral Puebloans, the Mogollon, the Patayan (Hakataya), the Hohokam, and the Trincheras – further define cultural boundaries. Part of a series of articles titled Defining the Southwest.
What is the main cultural influence in the Southwest?
In the American Southwest, much of the culture has been developed from American Indian and Hispanic heritage. The unique climate and desert landscape had a great influence on art and architecture as well.
What is the southwestern region known for?
The Southwestern United States is known for its arid deserts, red rock landscapes, rugged mountains and natural wonders like the Grand Canyon. The diversity of people who have lived and moved to the Southwest give it a distinctive culture and history that continues to grow and evolve today.
What were the Southwest beliefs?
Like most Native American religions, those of the Southwest Indians were generally characterized by animism and shamanism. Animists perceive the world as filled with living entities: spirit-beings that animate the sun, moon, rain, thunder, animals, plants, topographic features, and many other natural phenomena.
What are 3 facts about the Southwest region?
Temperatures in the summer can reach over 110 degrees. Most of the region is a desert and receives very little rain. There are mountains, mesas (or tabletop hills), and huge areas of flat plains. Plants like cactus, sagebrush, and yucca plants are commonly found because they can adapt to small amounts of water.
What did the Southwest tribe traditions?
Like most Indian religions, those of the Southwest Indians were generally characterized by animism and shamanism. Animists believe that spirit-beings animate the sun, moon, rain, thunder, animals, plants, and many other natural phenomena.
What is popular in the Southwest?
The Southwest is a region of the United States that includes California, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. It is known for its deserts, canyons, and plateaus. Some of the most famous landmarks in the Southwest include the Grand Canyon, Yosemite National Park, Zion National Park, and Monument Valley.
What defines the Southwest?
The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural region of the United States that generally includes Arizona, New Mexico, and adjacent portions of California, Colorado, Nevada, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.
What are some fun facts about the Southwest?
SummaryThe Sonoran Desert is the only place in the world where Saguaro cacti grow. ... The Sonoran Desert receives more rainfall than any other desert, which is approximately 10 inches (25 centimeters) a year on average.In the 1800s, many people used the Gila River as a trail across Arizona.More items...
What was the Southwest daily life like?
They lived in small family groups. Each family lived near their corn fields. The men hunted deer and the women took care of the sheep and the crops. They lived in homes called Hogans.
What is living the Southwest way?
Employees of Southwest Airlines are encouraged to “Live the Southwest Way.” This includes having a Warrior Spirit (work hard, desire to be the best, be courageous), a Servant's Heart (put others first, live by The Golden Rule), and a Fun-LUVing Attitude (be a passionate Teamplayer, have fun).
What did the Southwest peoples eat?
Natives foraged for Pinon nuts, cacti (saguaro, prickly pear, cholla), century plant, screwbeans, mesquite beans, agaves or mescals, insects, acorns, berries, and seeds and hunted turkeys, deer, rabbits, fish (slat water varieties for those who lived by the Gulf of California) and antelope (some Apaches did not eat ...
Which cultures influenced the Southwest region?
Three of the major cultural traditions that impacted the region include the Paleo-Indian tradition, the Southwestern Archaic tradition, and the Post-Archaic cultures tradition. As various cultures developed over time, many of them shared similarities in family structure and religious beliefs.
What is the main culture in Southwest Asia?
The cultures of Southwest Asia are more generally known as the cultures of the Middle East. The Islamic religion and Arab ethnic groups dominate this area, but they are not the only ones.
What is the main culture of Arizona?
Arizona has a mix of Native American Indian and Hispanic cultures, and represents the quintessential flavor and essence of the American West. Science museums and vast nature preserves include the Colorado River, the Grand Canyon, Monument Valley, the Painted Desert, the Sonoran Desert and Lake Havasu.
Which culture has an influence on the cuisine of the American Southwest?
The food of the Southwest is all about big flavours in big landscapes. A fusion of 4 different cultures – Aztec, Native American, Spanish and American – taking place over as many centuries has evolved into what is today, quite simply, a taste sensation.
Why is the Southwest and Mesoamerican border not distinguishable?
The geographical boundary between the Southwest and Mesoamerica lacks distinction, in part because of the characteristics both regions share as part of the maize agricultural complex. However, cultural distinctions between the two regions allow for a culturally defined, albeit very flexible, boundary, with the Mesoamerican civilizations ...
What are the major cultural groups in the Southwest?
Within the greater Southwest, the ranges of several major cultural groups – the Ancestral Puebloans, the Mogollon, the Patayan (Hakataya), the Hohokam, and the Trincheras – further define cultural boundaries. Tags: swscience american southwest southwest definitions ceramics.
What are the characteristics of the Southwest?
In general, however, a cultural definition of the Southwest includes the following characteristics: 1 Maize agriculture 2 Use of ceramics 3 Settled village life
What is the cultural definition of the Southwest?
In general, however, a cultural definition of the Southwest includes the following characteristics: In broad anthropological terms, the Southwest includes the northernmost extension of the maize agricultural complex of Mesoamerica.
Which regions are excluded from the hunter-gathering community?
Under this definition, the regions surrounding the Southwest – California, the Great Basin, and the Plains – are excluded as hunter-gather communities, communities with high mobility, and/or economies lacking maize agriculture.
What were the first crops grown in the Southwest?
Southwestern farmers probably began experimenting with agriculture by facilitating the growth of wild grains such as amaranth and chenopods as well as gourds for their edible seeds and shells. The earliest maize known to have been grown in the Southwest was a popcorn varietal measuring one to two inches long. It was not a very productive crop. More productive varieties were developed later by Southwestern farmers or introduced via Mesoamerica, though the drought-resistant tepary bean was native to the region. Cotton has been found at archaeological sites dating to about 1,200 BCE in the Tucson basin and was most likely cultivated by indigenous peoples in the region. Evidence of tobacco use and possibly the cultivation of tobacco, dates back to approximately the same time period.
What are the beliefs of the Southwest?
Many of the tribes that made up the Southwest Culture practiced animism and shamanism . Shamanism encompasses the premise that shamans are intermediaries or messengers between the human world and the spirit worlds. At the same time, animism encompasses the beliefs that there is no separation between the spiritual and physical (or material) world, and that souls or spirits exist not only in humans, but also in some other animals, plants, rocks, and geographic features such as mountains or rivers, or other entities of the natural environment, including thunder, wind, and shadows.
What was the food source of the Hohokam?
Agave, especially agave murpheyi, was a major food source of the Hohokam and grown on dry hillsides where other crops would not grow. Early farmers also possibly cultivated cactus fruit, mesquite bean, and species of wild grasses for their edible seeds.
What were the subsistence strategies of the Southwest?
During this time, the people of the Southwest developed a variety of subsistence strategies, all using their own specific techniques. The nutritive value of weed and grass seeds was discovered and flat rocks were used to grind flour to produce gruels and breads. The use of grinding slabs originated around 7,500 BCE and marks the beginning of the Archaic tradition. Small bands of people traveled throughout the area gathering plants such as cactus fruits, mesquite beans, acorns, and pine nuts. Archaic people established camps at collection points, and returned to these places year after year.
What are the major cultures of the Southwest?
The greater Southwest has long been occupied by hunter-gatherers and agricultural settlements. This area, comprised of modern-day Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico, Utah, and Nevada, and the states of Sonora and Chihuahua in northern Mexico, has seen successive prehistoric cultural traditions since approximately 12,000 years ago. Three of the major cultural traditions that impacted the region include the Paleo-Indian tradition, the Southwestern Archaic tradition, and the Post-Archaic cultures tradition. As various cultures developed over time, many of them shared similarities in family structure and religious beliefs.
How did the Paleolithic peoples in the Southwest evolve?
Paleolithic peoples in the Southwest initially structured their families and communities into highly mobile traveling groups of approximately 20 to 50 members, moving place to place as resources were depleted and additional supplies were needed. As cultural traditions began to evolve throughout the Southwest between 7,500 BCE to 1,550 CE, many cultures developed similar social and religious traditions. For the Pueblos and other Southwest American Indian communities, the transition from a hunting-gathering, nomadic experience to more permanent agricultural settlements meant more firmly established families and communities. Climate change that occurred about 3,500 years ago during the Archaic period, however, changed patterns in water sources, dramatically decreasing the population of indigenous peoples. Many family-based groups took shelter in caves and rock overhangs within canyon walls, many of which faced south to capitalize on warmth from the sun during the winter. Occasionally, these peoples lived in small, semi-sedentary hamlets in open areas.
What are the Pueblo people known for?
Ancestral Pueblo peoples are renowned for the construction of and cultural achievement present at Pueblo Bonito and other sites in Chaco Canyon, as well as Mesa Verde, Aztec Ruins, and Salmon Ruins. Other cultural traditions that developed during this time include the Hohokam and Mogollon traditions. Hohokam House.
What is the difference between Akimel and Tohono?
The main difference was that the Tohono O’odham would trade with the Akimel O’odham in order to acquire the willow, while the Akimel O’odham had it naturally in their area. Around the mid-19th Century, however, things began to change.
Why did the Tohono O'odham sell baskets?
They began to sell their traditional baskets in order to make money.
What are the Navajo baskets known for?
Unlike many other Southwest cultures, the Navajo were never prolific basket-weavers. They are more known for their textiles and turquoise adorned silver jewelry, both of which originated after the 17th century. Navajo Wedding Baskets are well known but are many times crafted by the Paiute in the Great Basin region (although not exclusively). And, despite the common name, are used for many ceremonies other than weddings.#N#Their textiles are not only a prized commodity, but an efficient use of their already expansive resource; sheep. In 1930, the Navajo had over 1 million mature sheep grazing on their reservation. This caused heavy erosion and deterioration of the land. The Navajo Livestock Reduction program was instituted in order to regulate how many sheep could graze on the reservation. Although the impact on the land was reduced, it also had an impact on the Navajo economy as sheep were their primary source of income and important to their culture. There is still a quota system in place on the reservation.#N#The Navajo have already had dramatic changes in resources due to European contact. How might it continue to evolve?
How far do basket weavers travel?
In some cases, a basket-weaver may travel over 300 miles to gather materials. Artists go to great lengths because baskets are vital to the Hopi culture and are used in a plethora of ways: The future of Hopi basketry is dependent on access to their traditional resources and threatened by political and natural changes.
When were baskets made?
By 2,000 BCE most baskets were made in the coiling technique in the O’odham areas, however plaiting was used in smaller amounts. Traditionally, Tohono O’odham and Akimel O’odham used similar basketry techniques. They were tight coils with willow and devil’s claw for the wrap.
What is the future of Hopi basketry?
The future of Hopi basketry is dependent on access to their traditional resources and threatened by political and natural changes. In the future they may have to choose between tradition and production. What changes might take place?
What are the Navajo used for?
And, despite the common name, are used for many ceremonies other than weddings. Their textiles are not only a prized commodity, but an efficient use of their already expansive resource; sheep. In 1930, the Navajo had over 1 million mature sheep grazing on their reservation.
What is Southwest's icing on the cake?
The icing on the cake is an elaborate recognition program for all employees who are recognized by customers. They are lauded in newsletter features, on the intranet, by the CEO in videos that are played at staff meetings, and dinners honoring them. Voluntary turnover is only two percent, and many of Southwest’s original employees are still there. The company receives 43,000 commendations a year, from both inside and outside the company.
What does "Warrior Spirit" mean?
a warrior spirit. a servant's heart. a fun-luving attitude (the way Southwest spells “love”) The values transcend the more typical ones, such as “take the initiative” or “care about your customers.”. A warrior spirit, according to Ms. Hardage, means being fearless in terms of delivering the product.
Who is the chief communications officer of Southwest Airlines?
I have always heard from those who have flown Southwest how celebrated they feel as passengers. It was this enthusiasm that caused me to call Ginger Hardage , the airline’s chief communications officer, to get behind the face of this seemingly fantastic organization.
What Makes Southwest Airlines’ Culture So Unique?
Ever since its founding in 1967, the Texas-based airline company has built a reputation for thinking outside the box. Their founders have, from a very early stage, decide to think and act differently from what the common airline industry’s practices were at the time.
Who is the founder of Southwest Airlines?
Southwest Airlines’ founders Herb Kelleher and Gary Kelly made sure to establish and promote the company’s secret recipe to safeguard its culture. Unlike other organizations that place the customers first, Southwest places a higher priority on the wellbeing of its employees.
