Book Review: The Southwest Indians: Daily Life in the 1500s

  The Southwest Indians: Daily Life in the 1500s by Mary Englar, Bridgestone Books, Capstone Press, 2006.

Agter reading this short book I was not sure why it had the subtitle, daily life in th 1500s.  The book did not touch the topic at all.  The book does give a pretty good list of tribes living in the Southwest.  It extends into Mexico.  It does include Navajo, Apache, Zuni, Hopi, Hualapai, Yavapai, Mohave, Pima and a few more.  The social structure is similar to that of other Native American groups; groups of families called a clan or a band and a leader called a chief.  Unique in this area is Native American homes made of brick.  You use what you have.  Much of the Southwest is desert and tribes had to make adaptations.  The Navajo raised wool and cotton for fibers for clothing.  The Pueblo traded with others across a wide area.  Popular games were Patol (a game with sticks) and the moccasin game (a hiding game).  Also racing was popular.  Ceremonies were held to honor nature.  The Hopi danced with the kachina dolls to pray for rain and long life.  They passed along oral traditions from one generation to the next.