By the time Christopher Columbus reached the New World in 1492, Native Americans had been living on the American for thousands of years. They came from Asia across the Strait during the Ice Age and throughout North and South America.

Native Americans led a life quite different from the one we live today. They collected and nuts and hunted wild animals in the forests. Indians of the flat grew crops, such as corn and beans. They dried meat in the sun.

Family life was very important for Indian tribes. Boys were tested for their strength and , while girls helped in the household. They at an early age. Indians made clothes from the skin of animals.

on the climate in which they lived, Indians constructed houses out of different . Canadian Inuit lived in snow houses during the winter and in the summer. Other tribes built which they covered with leaves or animal skin. The Pueblo Indians of the southwest were very well-developed. They built houses which they called cliff .

Indians fought against other tribes in order to settle . The most common was the bow and arrow. Sometimes they used spears or . Indian warriors often brought back the of their enemies as a prize. When Europeans came to America they introduced guns and other weapons to them.

Indians believed in nature and and thought that they influenced their lives. Shamans were religious leaders who had close contacts with such spirits. They often had magical powers and treated the ill people of a tribe. Some Indians held special at which they danced and prayed for rain.