Traditional Native American Culture

The Native American population is comprised of distinct and heterogenous ethnocultural groups that make up about 1.8 million of the total people in the United States. The American Southwest is particularly unique because of the environment, the Native traditions and culture, and the historical contact with the Spanish as well as the interactions with the United States government. An enclave describes an area surrounded by or within a territory in which the people in the area are culturally and/or ethnically different than the larger, surrounding territory. The American Southwest encompasses the tip of California, Arizona, the southern most portions of Utah and Colorado, western New Mexico, and the most western bit of Texas. The environment
In order to learn the language, elders and parents tell stories. Oral tradition is incredibly important because the Native languages are only spoken and not written, but modernly, people are trying to use the English alphabet to write Native words. Unlike Spanish, English, and other languages, Native language cannot be written and translated because the words lose meaning and cannot be correctly written using any alphabet. Additionally, within traditional Native culture, Native Americans are known for their art and use of Turquoise: baskets, pottery, jewelry, and silversmithing. The traditional adobe homes are unique to the American southwest; the homes are durable in dry climates because they store heat within the walls during the day so that at night the home stays warm. The American Southwest is considered an enclave of traditional Native American culture particularly because many of the communities were shaped by their contact with the Spanish. The Spanish introduced many crops—wheat, alfalfa, chili, and fruit trees—as well as domesticated animals like horses. The Spaniards also imposed Catholicism on most of the Pueblo communities and established missions and encomiendas among the Native