1. Why were North American societies generally less complex and less densely populated than those in Mexico and South America?

2. What were the typical settlement sizes and gender roles in most North American Indian societies by 1491?

1. How did the linguistic diversity of American Indian languages compare to European languages, and what were the major language families in North America?

1. How did the spread of maize cultivation and irrigation systems contribute to the development of complex societies in the Southwest?

2. What factors led to the decline of Southwest groups like the Hohokam and Anasazi by the time Europeans arrived?

1. What environmental advantages and challenges characterized the Pacific Northwest, and how did geography affect tribal development?

2. What role did totem poles play in Northwest Indian societies?

1. How did nomadic tribes in the Great Basin and Great Plains adapt to their environment, and what role did the buffalo play in their survival?

2. How did the acquisition of horses from Spanish settlers in the 17th century change the way Plains tribes lived and hunted?

3. What was the difference between nomadic hunting tribes and the more settled tribes that lived in earthen lodges on the Great Plains?

1. What advantages did the Mississippi River Valley provide to Woodland Indians, and what was significant about the Adena-Hopewell culture?

2. What made Cahokia one of the largest settlements in the Midwest, and how did it compare in size to European cities?

1. How did the farming techniques of Northeast Indians affect their settlement patterns, and what was the structure of their dwellings?

2. What was the Iroquois Confederation, which tribes formed it, and what role did it play in the region?

1. What groups lived on the Atlantic Seaboard, what was their cultural heritage, and what resources did their environment provide?

1. Why did North American Indian tribes develop such diverse cultures, and when did they begin to develop a shared identity as Native Americans?