Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets Native Americans

Native Americans in the Northern Area Native Americans

---

Native Americans in the Northern Area
Print Native Americans in the Northern Area Reading Comprehension with Fourth Grade Work

Print Native Americans in the Northern Area Reading Comprehension with Fifth Grade Work

Print Native Americans in the Northern Area Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print Native Americans in the Northern Area Reading Comprehension

Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 4 to 6
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	7.79

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		broadleaf, flat-bottomed, ingenuity, kinship, mink, nomadic, self-reliance, supernatural, taiga, tipi, presented, area, supplement, currently, capes, porcupine
	content words:		Native Americans, Rocky Mountains, Hudson Bay, North America, Klondike Gold Rush

---

Native Americans in the Northern Area By Jennifer Kenny

---

¹     The Native American Northern cultural area is also called the Subarctic area. It includes most of Canada. It is a belt of land extending from the Rocky Mountains to Hudson Bay. It goes from inland Alaska to Newfoundland and Labrador.
 
²     The Subarctic is an area of thick coniferous forests called taiga that includes some broadleaf trees. There are also flat, treeless arctic plains called tundra on the northern edge. Thousands of lakes, ponds, swamps, rivers, and streams exist here as well. The winters are long and filled with deep snow and thick ice. The summers are short.
 
³     Limited growing seasons and poor soil have prevented adequate farming here. Instead, the people must hunt, gather, trap, and fish. It requires ingenuity, courage, and self-reliance to live in this area.
 
⁴     About 8,000 years ago, nomadic hunters followed game, including caribou herds. In the spring, hunters would gather at the edge of the taiga to catch the animals migrating to the tundra in the north. The caribou were extremely important to them because they provided the native people with food, clothing, and some shelter (tents). In the fall, the Native Americans returned to the same spot to hunt the caribou coming south. They used bows, arrows, and spears in the hunt. Many hunters used dogs to hunt. Sometimes they would snare animals with ropes strung between the trees. They also attacked animals from their canoes as the animals crossed rivers or lakes. They used lines and hooks, barbed arrows, spears, nets, and enclosures called weirs.
 
⁵     Large game in the area included moose, deer, musk oxen, mountain sheep, and bison. Small game included beaver, mink, otter, porcupine, rabbit, squirrel, and waterfowl.
 
⁶     The natives would often collect berries and edible roots to supplement their diets. Seeds and bark were also important.
 
⁷     The peoples native to this area included the Cree, Algonquin, Chipewyan, Beaver, Kutchin, Ingalik, Kaska, Tanana, and Ojibwa (or Chippewa). They are often called the First Nations. The individual groups were small because food was limited. They traveled in hunting bands united by kinship - some families, some extended families. There were chiefs who were chosen for their hunting skills and bravery. They did have the power to settle disputes, but there was little power for the chiefs beyond their families.
 
⁸     The most common dwelling was a cross between the tipi and the wigwam. It was a small cone-shaped tent with a pole framework. A smoke hole was open at the top.
 
⁹     Women worked hard as part of the family. They made fires, prepared food, and cured animal hides to make leather. When moving their camp, women hauled provisions on their backs or on toboggans. Women could hold loads of up to 140 pounds on their backs. The men's job was to search the woods for game.

Paragraphs 10 to 19:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on Native Americans in the Northern Area

Leave your feedback on Native Americans in the Northern Area   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

Native Americans

Native Americans

---

United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

---

United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

---

50 States

Fifty States Theme Unit

---

Document Based Activities

Document Based Activities

Copyright © 2018 edHelper