The Southwest region is situated in what is now the US Southwest. It is an arid plateau, dotted with mesas and interrupted by mountain ranges. The Colorado River and the Rio Grande bring fresh water down from the mountains through the region and eventually into the Gulfs of California and Mexico. So, the region is dry but not absolutely barren. Each year, a six-week rainy season brings violently rushing waters and new life.

Local vegetation varies with altitude and rainfall. The western evergreen, piñon, juniper trees, mesquite trees, and varying species of cacti and desert shrubs are found in this area. Animal life is scarce and mostly small in size, mainly deer, rabbits, squirrels, mice and lizards, although some large birds - eagles, hawks and vultures - can be in the region.

This corner of Turtle Island is home to artistic peoples who have developed practical ways of living in the harsh Southwest environment. Historically, these peoples formed two types of society: semi-nomadic hunters and gatherers, and farmers.

Farming peoples managed to grow enough crops to sustain sizable populations in permanent villages. In one part of the Southwest the Pueblos, Rio Grand Pueblos, Hopi and Zuni built apartment like complexes out of adobe bricks: a method unique to the region known as Pueblo Architecture. In agricultural villages located in desert lowlands, houses were constructed from small pole frames and covered with plant matter or earth. Peoples in this type of village included the Akimel O’odham (Pima) Havasupai, Hualapai, Mojave, Tohono O’odham (Papago), Yaqui, Yavapia, and Yuma (Quechan).

The nomadic hunting and gatherering peoples – the Navajo and Apache - developed two types of houses: brush covered wickiups and earth covered hogans. While they managed to find a good deal of food in their travels, they also supplemented their subsistence by raiding farming villages for crops.

The ancestors of some these tribes belonged to the Anasazi, Hohokam and Mogollon who were the earliest peoples living in the Southwest.