The Anasazi
The Anasazi Indians were ancestors of the Pueblo Indians who continue to live in the Western part of the United States today. They were originally a basket making society and lived in underground pits. They began to build pueblos (above-ground buildings) because their culture was based on agriculture and they had little need to move. The Anasazi are often called “cliff dwellers” because they built apartment-like homes in the sides of canyons or cliffs that were chosen for their flat tops, called “mesas” (Spanish for table). The Anasazi lived near the bottom of the canyon floors and cultivated their crops on the top of the mesas.  Crops consisted of squash, beans, corn, tobacco, and cotton. Meat came from turkeys, deer and mountain sheep. The Anasazi disappeared sometime around 1300. No one knows for sure what happened to them; perhaps a disease or a series of droughts drove them south. Because of the dry climate of the Southwest, many of their artifacts have been preserved and may be seen in museums.
 

Indian Reservations

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Pueblo Indians
The term “Pueblo” (Spanish for town) refers to Native Americans in the southwest United States. Pueblo Indians include a variety of tribes that speak different languages. Most Pueblos today live in New Mexico, although their towns once extended across the Southwest. Villages each have unique government systems, however the Pueblos share many customs and rituals that promote harmony in the universe. Many Pueblo Indians today embrace their traditional customs, arts, and crafts, even while they live in one-story houses and commute to cities to work. Their arts and crafts include baskets, weavings, pottery, and jewelry.
 

Southwest United States
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The Southwest
The Southwest is a vast region including New Mexico, Arizona, northern Mexico, southern Utah, and southern Colorado. The region is extremely dry; most of the land outside the cities is desert. The population includes large Spanish-American and Native-American ethnicities and is less dense than the coastal regions. Many Native American reservations are found in an area of the southwest called the Four Corners and Monument Valley. This area is home to Navajo, Apache, Hopi, Zuni, and Pueblo people.

New Mexico		Colorado
Arizona		Utah