Native Americans Educational Posters, Prints & Charts
for the social studies classroom and home schoolers.

North American Indian Cultures - A Legacy of Language and Inspired Ideas - National Geographic map printed at a scale of 1 inch to every 199 miles.

• North America posters
• more map posters

THE TEN INDIAN COMMANDMENTS

Treat the Earth and all that dwell thereon with respect

Remain close to the Great Spirit

Show great repect for your fellow beings

Work together for the benefit of all Mankind

Give assistance and kindness wherever needed

Do what you know to be right

Look after the well-being of mind and body

Dedicate a share of your efforts to the greater good

Be truthful and honest at all times

Take full responsibility for your actions

• more Prose posters
• Ten Commandments

American Indian Chiefs Portraits, 1900

Indian Prophecy
“Only after the last tree has been cut down, Only after the last river has been poisoned, Only after the last fish has been caught... only then will you realize that money cannot be eaten.”

Canon de Chelly, Arizona-
Navaho, 1904
Edward Curtis

• more Edward S. Curtis photos

Dancing to Restore an Eclipsed Moon,
Edward S. Curtis

• dance posters

Handprints on a Rock Wall by the Ancient Pueblo People, also known as the Anasazi.

• history of printing & posters

Indian Shell Mound, St. Petersburg, Florida

• more Florida posters

Native American Cultures Posters Series

Northeast, Southeast, Plains, Great Basin, Pacific Northwest, Plateau, Soutwest, California and Artic regions

Corn - The precursor plant to what we know as corn today is believed to be a wild grass called teosinte, indiginous to central Mexico, and first cultivated (made part of the culture) about 7,000 years ago.

The wild grass, which has relatively few, small seeds that easily scatter when the plant is touched, was domesticated for traits of larger, easier to harvest seeds. The domesticated plant and seeds came to be known as maize by the indiginous peoples throughout North and South America, and a major food source.

• food posters

Medicine wheels, made by placing rocks into a circle shape with four or more lines of rocks across the circle, were used by North American indiginous peoples to mark the geographical directions and astronomical events of the sun, moon, some stars, and some planets in relation to the Earth's horizon, at that location. Medicine circles were also used for important ceremonies, teachings, and as sacred places to give thanks to the Creator.

• mandala posters
• Stonehenge posters
• health posters
• Medicine Wheel National Historic Landmark
• Haskell Indian Nations Univ. Medicine Wheel

Two Hopi Indians with Bird Head Masks Art Print

Two Hopi Indians with Bird Head Masks

• more mask posters
• more bird posters

Cherokee Alphabet, from Pendelton's 'Lithography', 1835, Giclee Print

There are 85/6 characters in the Cherokee Alphabet devised by the Cherokee silversmith Sequoyah (c 1775-1843) who saw the advantages of the white peoples "talking leaves" and wanted the Cherokee to have the same ability to communicate. While some symbols in the Cherokee Alphabet resemble Latin alphabet letters the sounds are much different; the characters represent syllables. Sequoyah's writing system was made official by the Cherokee Nation in 1825.

• alphabet posters

Montezuma II (Aztec) Receiving Tributes Book IX

• more Mexico posters

The Incas
(A.D. 1200 — A.D. 1533)
The Inca Indians ruled one of the largest and richest empires in the Western world. The Inca empire at its height stretched for 2,500 miles along the western coast of South America. And it included parts of the present-day countries of Peru, Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Argentina and Chile. The empire was centered around the capital city of Cuzco, located high in the Andes mountains. From there the Inca ruler controlled the lives of his 6 million subjects.

The Inca began their rise to power in the year 1200. At that time, there had already been civilizations in the highlands of Peru for more than 1,000 years. It was from these earlier civilizations that the Incas learned to build fortress walls made from huge blocks of carefully carved stone. The Incas did not use mortar to hold the stones together. Instead, they carved the stones so precisely that they fit perfectly. And many of their walls still stand, despite the many earthquakes that have struck Peru. The Inca were farmers, and they found ways to grow corn and potatoes at elevations of 11,000 feet and higher. They build terraced fields along the steep mountainsides in order to increase the amount of land they could use for growing food. The Inca were also known for their fine cloth and beautiful jewelry. The vast Inca empire was held together by a system of stone highways. Swift runners used these highways to carry messages from the Inca ruler to all parts of the empire. Religion was very important to the Inca. Their most important god was Inti —the sun god. The Inca never developed a system of writing. But special officials kept detailed records with a device called a quipu (key-poo), which was a length of cord with knotted strings of different sizes and colors. Each color or knot stood for a different item.

In 1532, the Spanish explorer Francisco Pizarro arrived in South America. Within months, Pizarro and his army had slaughtered most of the Incas and taken the Inca ruler, Atahualpa, prisoner. And even though he paid a huge ransom of gold and silver, Atahaulpa was killed. The Spanish tried to destroy all traces of the Inca empire. But fortunately many Inca objects and ruins have survived the centuries — including the famous city of Machu Picchu, shown here, which attracts thousands of tourists every year.

Artwork depicts the ruins of Machu Picchu, and a carved stone figure.

• South America posters
• more Ancient Civilizations posters
• The Ancient Inca (People of the Ancient World)

The Maya
(500 B.C. – 900 A.D.)
The Maya Indians built one of the world's most remarkable civilizations in the jungles of Central America. Like the ancient Greeks, who civilization was nearing its peak just as the Maya appeared, the Maya are known for their fabulous temples, and for their amazing knowledge of math and science. The Maya were the only Indians in America to develop a written language. Today, people come from all over the world to view the crumbling ruins of their once-great cities.

The Maya lived throughout Central America's Yucatan Peninsula in what are now the nations of Mexico, Guatemala, and Belize. They were a short, stocky people, with dark skin and black hair. They greatly admired sloping foreheads, and would frequently strap boards to babies' heads in order to flatten them. Maya life centered around the great cities, which were used for festivals, markets, and religious ceremonies. Strangely enough, almost no one lived in the cities. Only priests were allowed to live there for short periods of time. All other people lived in smaller communities around the cities, or on farms scattered throughout the countryside. The Maya grew crops such as corn, beans, squash, and tomatoes. They liked to dance, and they played a difficult game in which players had to hit a ball through a stone ring with their knees or hips.

Like the Greeks, the Maya worshipped many gods. They had rain gods, a sun god, a corn god, and gods of death and the underworld. The Maya were very interested in measuring and studying time. They invented a highly accurate calendar, which they used to help them track the movements of the sun, stars, and planets. Maya civilization began to decline around 800, as the Maya abandoned their cities one by one. Even today, no one really knows why this remarkable civilization suddenly ended.

Artwork depicts the Temple of the Inscriptions at Palenque, statue of the Maya leader Lord Pacal, and the Mayan calendar.

• more Ancient Civilizations posters
• more Maya posters
• Honduras posters

• Your Travel Guide to Ancient Mayan Civilization

Kuna Indian Woman and Hand-Stitched Applique Textile (Mola), Panama

• more Panama posters

Pocahontas
b. c.1595; present day Virginia
d. 3-21-1618; England

Pocahontas, the childhood nickname of Matoaka, a daughter of Wahunsonacock, the “Powhatan” or leader of a Native American confederation in the tidewater area of present day Virginia, figures prominently in the history of the early British settlements of North America. She was reported by Captain John Smith, leader of the Jamestown Settlement, to have saved his life.

In 1614 she and farmer John Rolfe were married and she became known to the English as Lady Rebecca Rolfe. The birth of their son Thomas made the Rolfe family one of the First Families of Virginia (decendents of English settlers). Rebecca Rolfe died just prior to their return to Virginia from a visit to London, likely causes could have been pneumonia, tuberculosis or smallpox.

• more women posters
• The True Story of Pocahontas: The Other Side of History

• more Lewis and Clark posters