SUBSISTENCESTRATEGIESIN MIDDLE TO LATEPRECONTACT ARIZONA
Lesson Plan for Grades 4-7

Teacher’s Materials
Teacher’s Keys

Created by Carol J. Ellick, M.A., RPA, SRI Foundation
Illustrations by: Cindy Elsner Hayward

TEACHER’S KEY
Using the information listed in the essays, fill in the territory, the time
period, and subsistence patterns for each cultural group.

Group, Territory, Time, and Subsistence Strategy
Group

What was theirtraditional territory?

When did theyoccupy the area?

ApacheEast-Central andSouthern Arizonan

YavapaiWest-Central Arizona

Verde Valley
after A.D. 1700In Verde Valley
after A.D. 1300

Ancestral
Puebloans (Anasazi)NortheasternArizona

Mogollon

Did they mostly
practice huntingand gathering oragriculture?

Hunter & Gatherer
Hunter & Gatherer

A.D. 1–1400

Agriculture

East-Central
Arizona

A.D. 1–1400

Hunter & Gatherer
to Agriculture

HohokamSouthern Arizona

A.D. 1–1400

Agriculture

PatayanWestern Arizona

A.D. 1–1400

Hunter & Gatherer

Sinagua

Central Arizona

A.D. 650–1400(1350–600 years ago)

Agriculture

Archaic

All Over Arizona

8000–2000 years ago

Hunter & Gatherer

Paleoindians

All Over Arizona

10000–6000 B.C.
(12,000–2,000 years ago)

Hunter & Gatherer

TEACHER’S KEY
Based on the information provided in the essays and from research, draw the territories for theApache and Yavapai peoples from A.D. 1400 to present. (Note: there may be overlap.)
Locations of Groups: A.D. 1400 to present (600 years ago to now)

Ancesteral PuebloGroupsPatayan Groups
Sinagua Groups
Mogollon Groups

Hohokam Groups

TEACHER’S KEY
Based on the information provided in the essays and from research, draw the territories
for the hunting and gathering and agricultural groups of people who lived in Arizona between
A.D. 1 and 1400. (Note: There may be overlap.)
Locations of Groups: A.D. 1 to 1400 (600 years ago to 2000 years ago)

Apache Groups
Yavapai Groups

TEACHER’S KEY
Fill in the name of each cultural group that lived during the time periods
listed below. Each block will have one cultural group listed in it.

Chronology and Timeline
A.D. 1400 to present — 600 years ago to now
Yavapai

ApacheSpanish

European

Hohokam

Mogollon

A.D. 1 to 1400 — 600 to 2000 years ago
Sinagua

Ancestral Pueblo

6000 B.C. to A.D. 1 — 2,000 to 8,000 years ago
Archaic

10,000 to 6000 B.C. — 8,000 to 12,000 years ago
Paleoindian

After completing the above table, answer the following two questions.
In looking at the time periods for groups and at the maps, what are therelationships between groups, subsistence patterns, and territory?
People during the earlier time periods all practiced hunting andgathering. Between A.D. 1 and 1400, people who lived close torivers began including agriculture and over time switched fromhunting and gathering to agriculture. People who had limitedaccess to water may have had small gardens that relied on the rain.
The Yavapai and Apache, who came to the area sometime after
1300, were more nomadic. They practiced primarily hunting
and gathering.
What scientific process can be used to understand the lifeways of people
who lived in the area before written historical accounts?
The archaeological process can be used to understand the lifeways ofpeople who lived in an area before written historical accounts.

PatayanTEACHER’S KEY
Answer the following questions as you read the Harvest Festival story.
Use an additional piece of paper, if necessary.

The Harvest Festival Questions for Understanding
1.

What are the three basic human needs?
Food, water, shelter

2.

Which group of people was nomadic and were hunters and gatherers?
Yavapai3.

Which group lived in a large village and were farmers?
Sinagua

4.

What things did the Sinagua family make to trade?
Cotton, turquoise beads, corn, beans, woven cotton blanket, soft
cotton cloth. Yellow Moon wove a soft cotton cloth as a gift forBobcat Boy.

5.

What things did the Yavapai family make to trade?
Willow baskets, seed parching trays, pine pitch olla, hairbrushmade of mescal fibers, agave (mescal), saguaro, deer hides, blackrock (obsidian). The year before, Bobcat boy gave Yellow moon ashell pendant, this year a prairie dog skin bag.

6.

What did the Sinagua family worry about?
Not having enough crops, good weather and rains to grow crops,
having the right things to trade7.

Why was trading important to the Sinagua and Yavapai people?
Each group could get the items that were useful to them that they
did not make or grow.

8.

What changes would the Sinagua have to make if the weather turned
bad and they were unable to grow enough food to survive the winter?
They would have to add more hunting and gathering to theirsubsistence pattern.

9.

What is exchanged between the two groups beyond the objects?
Stories, friendship, information, goodwill

10. Do you think that a hunting and gathering subsistence isharder or easier than agriculture? Why?
11. If Yellow Moon lived in your town and Bobcat Boy lived in theneighboring town today, what might they be trading?

TEACHER’S KEY
After reading the Verde Valley and the To Farm or Not to Farm essays, list
the advantages and disadvantages of hunting and gathering and farming.

Subsistence Strategies: Advantages and Disadvantages
Hunting & Gathering Advantages

AgricultureAdvantages• Frequent movement permitted people to follow
the seasonal availability of plants.
• People were able to follow thegame animals and gather other importantresources like rocks, plant dye, salt and othermaterials from specific areas.
• Frequent movement kept diseases down.
• Frequent movement kept people from using up
all the plants, firewood, and animals in one area.

• People stay in one place. They can build morepermanent homes and set up storage areas forfood and other belongings.
• Crops like corn, beans, and squash provide extra
nutrition. They are high in calories and they
can be dried and stored to last through thewinter and early spring when wild foods are
difficult to come by.
• The agricultural way of life and living in a morepermanent place encourages cooperation.
People work together for the survival of theentire group.
• Women get enough nutrition which makes them
healthier and able to have more children.
• Living in a large group is safer.

Hunting & Gathering Disadvantages

Agriculture Disadvantages• Hunters and gatherers moved frequently making
it more difficult to accumulate too many
possessions.
• Frequent movement made it difficult to store
extra food for the future.
• Moving frequently and having to carry
everything would be hard on people. It would
be a heavy load. Women would have fewer
children.

• When people stay in one place
for a long time, they use up the local resources,
especially the firewood, building materials, local
game, and plants.
• Eating lots of carbohydrate-rich foods likecorn can cause cavities and othernutritional problems.
• If people don’t hunt enough meat, they
will not get enough protein.
• People have to find a safe way
to store enough seeds and grains
for food and for planting the following year.
• If the weather is bad, crops might fail.