Although numerous Native American tribes and cultures exist, they are all mostly derived from other tribes. For example, in the Southwest there are large numbers of Pueblo and Apache including the Acoma Pueblo tribe, Chiricahua Apache, Jemez Pueblo, and Western Apache. This section will discuss the widely populated groups in certain regions (Northwest, Southwest, Great Plains, Northeast, and Southeast), religious ideas, practices, and impact on American culture. First, the Northwest region, which includes the areas of: the Northwest Coast from Oregon to Washington, the Rocky Mountains, and the Cascades are made up primarily of the Paiute, Shoshone, and Blackfoot tribes. According to A Native American Encyclopedia: History, Culture, and Peoples by Berry M. Pritzker, these three groups collectively consisted of more than 52,500 Native Americans. Even though they lived close together, each tribe saw the world slightly differently and practiced religion in various ways. The Paiute, for example, believe that all things animate or inanimate possess power. In contrast, Pritzker states, “Only shamans gained enough [power] to help, or hurt, others… Their power often came in a recurring dream” (225). The Paiute also considered the sun a particularly powerful spirit, to which they prayed daily. Subsequently, the Shoshone people believe in the importance of dreams and visions for obtaining help but, unlike the Paiute, the Shoshone believe in help from spirits instead of shamans. Author Pritzker states, “Such spirits instructed people in the use of medicines with which to activate their power…The spirits could cause illness, protect an individual from arrows, or harm other people” (237). The Shoshone also believe that... middle of paper... Everything is sacred and interrelated. For example, religion equals identity equals clan equals location. The main role of ceremonies is to maintain or restore this harmony. Therefore, most ceremonies serve to cure, illness, broadly defined as an imbalance for a variety of reasons, such as contact with non-natives, ghosts, witches, or the dead (53). Musical instruments, masked dancers, the paintings say, are important aspects of these Navajo ceremonies, and unlike the Shoshone, traditional Navajo ceremonies do not include religious societies. Works Cited Keoke, Emory Dean. and Kay Marie. Porterfield. Encyclopedia of American Indian Contributions to the World: 15,000 Years of Inventions and Innovations. New York, NY: Facts on File, 2002. Print.Pritzker, Barry. An Encyclopedia of Native Americans: History, Culture, and Peoples. New York: Oxford UP, 2000. Print.