Native People and the Land: The A:Shiwi (Zuni) People
This teaching poster looks at reciprocal relationships with the land and how the A:shiwi people, also known as the Zuni, adapt to the semiarid climate of New Mexico through a centuries–old farming technique known as a waffle garden.
Resource Information
1: American Indian Cultures
Culture is a result of human socialization. People acquire knowledge and values by interacting with other people through common language, place, and community. In the Americas, there is vast cultural diversity among more than 2,000 tribal groups. Tribes have unique cultures and ways of life that span history from time immemorial to the present day.
2: Time, Continuity, and Change
Indigenous people of the Americas shaped life in the Western Hemisphere for millennia. After contact, American Indians and the events involving them greatly influenced the histories of the European colonies and the modern nations of North, Central, and South America. Today, this influence continues to play significant roles in many aspects of political, legal, cultural, environmental, and economic issues. To understand the history and cultures of the Americas requires understanding American Indian history from Indian perspectives.
3: People, Places, and Environments
For thousands of years, indigenous people have studied, managed, honored, and thrived in their homelands. These foundations continue to influence American Indian relationships and interactions with the land today.
Common Core State Standards
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.R.1
Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.7
Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.CCRA.W.8
Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.
National Curriculum Standards for Social Studies (High School)–National Council for the Social Studies
I. Culture.
Knowledge–How culture influences the ways in which human groups solve the problems of daily living.
III. People, Places, and Environments.
Knowledge–The theme of people, places, and environments involves the study of the relationships between human populations in different locations and geographic phenomena such as climate, vegetation, and natural resources.
College, Career, & Civic Life–C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards
D2.Civ.2.6-8
Explain specific roles played by citizens.
D2.Geo.5.6-8
Describe how environmental and cultural characteristics influence population distribution in specific places or regions.
D2.Geo.10.6-8
Analyze the ways in which cultural environmental characteristics vary among various regions of the world.
