Written to provide a view of the American landscape as it was before the European colonization, this book consists of 14 units which provide portraits of the American Indian tribes who occupied the land, on a bio-regional basis. The units are about the: basket makers of California, gatherers of desert and mountain, fishers of the streams, boat people of the Northwest Coast, hunters of the Arctic Coast, hunters of the Northern Forest, hunters of the Great Plains, prairie hunters and farmers, people of the pine and maple woods, farmers and hunters of the Eastern Woodland (northern and southern parts), farmers of the Tropical Forest, farmers and town builders of Mexico and Central America, and Pueblo people and their neighbors (the American Southwest and North Mexico). These units cover: the land, water, weather, and wild life of the area; the ecological balances that these cultures tended to provide; how and where the Indians lived; how man grew more civilized by learning more skill in the use of nature; and the things the Indians taught the white people. At the end of each unit are some questions covering the unit's most important ideas. Nine maps of the United States and North America showing their land, water, yearly rainfall, and vegetation are included. (NQ)