1.4Many worlds, many lifeways

The continent held a staggering variety of ways of life shaped by land and climate. On the Great Plains, peoples hunted bison on foot for centuries before the horse—reintroduced by Europeans—transformed their societies. In the Pacific Northwest, abundant salmon supported wealthy, settled communities famous for totem art and elaborate ceremonial feasts.

Across the Southwest, desert farmers built irrigation canals; in the eastern woodlands, peoples combined farming with hunting and fishing. Spiritual life was equally varied, though many peoples shared a sense of the natural world as alive with power and of humans as part of, not above, creation. This diversity is essential to remember: there was no single "Indian" way of life, but hundreds of distinct cultures, each with its own history, language, and identity.