The native inhabitants of the Southwest, adapting to the dry desert climate, built houses made of adobe, a sun-dried clay brick. Spanish conquerors brought a more ornate style of architecture, but they learned to build more simply with local materials. In New Mexico, this blending of native and European styles and materials eventually became known as "Santa Fe style" architecture.

In the 1800s, American pioneers built their homesteads with the materials at hand: log cabins where there were trees; sod houses on the plains and prairies; and adobe-brick houses in the desert areas.

Adobe architecture of Taos, New Mexico	Spanish Mission San Xavier del Bac in Tucson, Arizona	Pioneer cabin in Utah

Pueblo, Navajo, and Apache tribes are the main influences on the art of this area. Some of the most common styles of native art include pottery, sandpainting, blanket and rug weaving, mosaic inlay, tinwork, and oil and watercolor painting. Many of these styles sprung from ancient native traditions; however, some genres were influenced by European cultures. For example, Native Americans had traditionally painted on animal hides or walls but switched to canvas when introduced to that practice by American settlers. After the completion of railroad lines to the area, non-native artists began settling in the Southwest. Drawn to the area by the dramatic landscapes, they eventually started artists' colonies in towns such as Santa Fe and Taos, New Mexico, which remain influential hubs of Southwestern art.

Jewelry making is another art form common to the American Southwest. Silver, turquoise, and other semi-precious gemstones help form its distinctive look. Turquoise was cherished by native tribes and used in amulets, small objects carried for spiritual reasons. Turquoise was thought to give archers better aim, to bring rain, and to promote health and healing. The use of silver was a European influence that took hold in the 19th century. Mexican silversmiths used to trade their silver work and silversmithing lessons to native tribes in exchange for cattle. Over the years, Native Americans such as the Hopi and the Zuni shared the craft with each other.

The predominant musical genres that have characterized this region are Mexican folk music and indigenous music of the American Indians. Tribal music played a central role in Native Americans' traditional ceremonies and dances. Traditionally, Native American music includes heavy beats and intonations that are expressions of their social and religious lives.

Click below to hear an example of a traditional Hopi song.

Mexican folk music spread to the Southwest as Mexicans emigrated to what were then Mexican northern territories. Son mexicano, meaning "Mexican sound," is a mixture of Spanish, African, and Native American elements that traces back to the 18th century. One form of son mexicano came to be called mariachi music. Mexican folk music is considered a precursor to modern country and western music.

Click below for an example of the mariachi sound.

When the Spaniards arrived, Native American tribes had their own rich and diverse religious traditions. Many religious ceremonies expressed the interrelationship between the people and the land. In Pueblo tradition, human beings were thought to have a powerful effect on the world through their thoughts, feelings, and actions.

San Miguel Mission in Santa Fe, New Mexico, is the oldest church in the United States	Hopi Pueblo Kachina dolls depict spiritual beings that are thought to reside with the community

The conquering Spaniards succeeded in converting many native people to Catholicism. Missionaries were not only preachers of Christianity; they also are credited with the true beginnings of colonization of the Southwest. They quickly built churches and other social institutions. Additionally, they taught Native Americans how to grow new foods such as fruit and wheat and to raise traditionally European livestock such as sheep and goats, leading to further fusion of southwestern cultures.