SOC 249: Native Nations of the US,
TR 10-11:50  OL 215
Fall 2006
DePauw University
Professor Thomas Hall
 Office:  106 Asbury, x4519, email: thall@depauw.edu
 OFFICE HOURS:  TuTr 1-1:50; W 11-12; & by appt
Culture and Language Areas of North America
Last Updated 8-16-08

Because of the tremendous diversity among the indigenous residents of North America, anthropologists have mapped nine different culture areas. These are not some cosmically correct categories etched in stone, but a means to organize a vast diversity. Borders are fuzzy, some make more areas, others fewer. Some groups do not fit well, but the following maps organize the region. I urge all of you to look at the originals in the books listed here or other sources. Also see the general map inthe Sutton text, and the individual maps of each culture area in the relevant chapters, which often show languages.

This map is taken from Volume 4 of the Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 4. This is the one to know for the quiz and tests.

This next one is taken from Fred Hoxie's Encyclopedia of North American Indians. It lists a number of groups by name.

PLEASE NOTE: Hoxie divides Plains from the first mapinto Prairie and Great Plains

Below is a map of language groups for North America, taken from Robert Spencer & Jesse Jenning's The Native Americans. A key point is to note how the language groups bear very little connection to the culture areas. Language spoken and adaptive strategies are nearly independent of each other. There is a similar map in Sutton.

Send comments or questions to thall@depauw.edu
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