The following are some cultures of the Americas that I researched to get ideas for the kind of culture the game might have.  Most of them are Pre-Columbian Mesoamerican, with a segment on the Mikmaq at the end.  More cultures will be explored in time.

============

Aztecs: Name from “Aztlan” (“White Place”) where, according to legend, is the name of the place they come from.  Their god Huitzilpochtli gave them a prophecy that they were to settle where they found an eagle on a cactus eating a serpent.  After much wandering they found this on an island in the middle of a lake.  There they established their settlement, later to become Tenochtitlan (Mexico City).  At first made servants to a nearby city, they eventually rose up and emerged as great conquerors.  This conquest made many enemies of the Aztecs who would help the Spanish later on (Vazquez et al).

Their culture shows influence from many other Mesoamerican cultures.  Their language was Nahuatl.  The empire was ruled by and emperor.  The Aztec civilization lasted from c. 1200 A.D. to 1521 A.D.

A model of what Tenochtitlan would have looked like, found at the National Museum of Anthropology in Mexico.  Since Mexico City was built over Tenochtitlan, few ruins remain.

some important deities:

Quetzalcoatl:  In the Aztec pantheon, the god of civilization, learning, and the wind.  Note the stylized gator mouth in his depiction.

Tezcatlipoca:  "Smoking mirror," the god of war.  Note how he is black with yellow stripes on his face, and in place of one of his feet is a smoking mirror. According to the myth he and Quetzalcoatl helped make the world by conquering the earthmonster and forming the world out of it.  He is the rival of Quetzalcoatl, and as the god of war, the Aztecs honored him greatly.

Huitzilpochtli:  Not much is heard concerning him until the aztects come along--but to them he was very important and was even the patron of their capital city Tenochtitlan.

Tlaloc:  god of rain.

Mictlantecuhtli:  "Lord of Mictlan (the Aztec underworld)".  The picture above shows him (left) and Quetzalcoatl(right).

Toltec: Militaristic society, founded the city of Tula (Hidalgo).  Primary god Quetzalcoatl, whose priests took up his name.  The most famous of the priestly-overlords is Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, a cultural hero to the Toltec people (Vazquez et al).

Notable motifs in Toltec art include the Chac-Mool, which is a reclining male figure carved from basalt rock, and  15 foot tall sculptures of warriors.

the picture immediately above is an example of a Toltec Chacmool.

Mixtecs: “People of the Clouds,” tended to live in more elevated regions.  They developed advances in mining technology.  They were remarkable potters, goldsmiths, and painters of codices (Vazquez et al).  Time period c. 800 – 1500 B.C.

Above is an example of a Mixtec work depicting Mictlantecuhtli.

Zapotecs:  Came from the same region as the Mixtecs but mainly from an earlier time.  They developed a system of hieroglyphic writing and advances in astronomy.  Culture had a sense of death evident throughout artwork and the existence of their ornate tombs.  Origins have been traced back to 900 B.C., but the civilization truly begins around 100 B.C. and lasts to 900 A.D.

A mask of a sculpted mask depicting a Zapotec bat god, who was associated with death.

Teotihuacan:  Great city in central Mesoamerica.  Sacred and culturally important, it was also the object of some Aztec myths.  Evidence indicates a society held by a greatly powerful priestly class, as religious themes are immersed in their culture (Vazquez et al).  One of the most important among their gods was Tlaloc, god of rain.  Aquatic and horticultural themes pervade their artwork.  The city had a decent drainage system and developed agricultural techniques.  The higher classes tended to live in palaces close to the city center, while further out the standard of living declined, to where there were a great many commoners living in huts made of perishable materials.  Teotihuacan has left some architectural wonders and many mural paintings (Vazquez et al).   Quetzalcoatl also makes a noticeable appearance in the city’s culture.  Teotihuacan lasted from c. 500 B.C. to around 900 A.D., when the city was sacked and burned by the Toltec.

Pyramid of the Sun in Teotihuacan.

Temple of Quetzalcoatl in Teotihuacan.  Tlaloc is the leftmost head, Quetzalcoatl, "feathered serpent,"

can be seen just to the right.

Detail from a mural from Teotihuacan.

Olmecs :  Commonly referred to as Mesoamerica’s “Mother Culture,” the Olmecs lasted from around 1500 B.C. to 200 A.D.  Artistic motifs include jaguar themes, and the giant eight-foot high “baby-faced” heads.  The belief that the shaman could at will turn into an animal (esp. the jaguar) can be traced to the Olmecs(Longhena).  Artwork made of mostly basalt stone but also other rocks including, of course, jade (Vazquez et al).

an example of an olmec heard sculpture.

Maya:  Display the most advanced culture of all Mesoamerica in terms of intellectual achievement esp. in mathematics and astronomy.  Jadeite is commonly used in art.  They have left great amounts of structures and art to archeology as well.  As with all other Mesoamerican peoples their religion played an important role in daily life.  Their pantheon included Chac, god of rain (equivalent to Tlaloc), who was very important to them.  Itzamna, lord of the heavens; Hanub-Ku, primary creator of life and father of Itzamna; Kinich-Ahua, sun god; Ah-Puch, lord of the underworld (Xibalba) and god of death; many more deities also included.  In later periods Kukulcan, feathered serpent, made some appearances, probably due to Toltec influence (Vazquez et al). “He had led, legend said, a tribe of Toltecs called Itza, who renamed a Mayan center Chichen Itza, and eventually combined with the Maya” (Vazquez et al).  The various regions were ruled by the halachuinic, the warrior chief.  Time: c. 200 B.C. to 1500 A.D., with traces of cultural beginning stretching as back as far as older than 1500 B.C.

Sources: 

Vazquez, Pedro Ramirez, Ignacio Bernal, Ricardo de Robina, Demetrio Sordi, Ramon Pina Chan, Luis Aveleyra, Alfonso Caso. The National Museuam of Anthropology, Mexico. Pedro Ramirez Vazquez. 1968.

Longhena, Maria. Ancient Mexico. Barnes and Noble Inc.  2001.

==========

Mikmaq: Lived in present day Nova Scotia.  Had friendly relations with the French Acadians who settled there.  The Mikmaq referred to themselves as “L’nuk” (“the people”).  The villages were led by a chief, a “sagamore”, who could also have been a “buoin,” one of their medicine men/soothsayers/shamans.  The Mikmaq traded many beaver pelts in exchange for French goods.  They, the Mikmaq, lived in cone-shaped wigwams.  They believed “in a world infused with a spirit, a force they called manitou.  Every living thing had a measure of this spiritual power.  Special manitou looked after the Mikmaq, and Membertou (this village’s sagamore) assumed that the Normans as well had their own guardian manitou (Faragher).”

Source:

Faragher, John Mack. A Great and Noble Scheme. W.W. Norton & Company Inc.  2005.