There were millions of Native American people in the Americas before contact with Europeans, and their lifestyles and cultures were very diverse, influenced by their respective environments, as well as contacts with other peoples. A few generalizations can be made about most Native American, however. First, most (but not all) did not believe in private property in the European sense (i.e., that it could be held by an individual in perpetuity). This aspect of Native culture led to clashes with Europeans, particularly the English. Additionally, most Native peoples from Mesoamerica to modern New England (and east of the Mississippi River Valley) were to one degree or another settled agriculturalists, cultivating corn, beans, squash, pumpkins, and other crops. They were not, contrary to contemporary popular culture, nomadic peoples. Indeed, it was only with the arrival of the horse from Europe that many of the Plains Indians that most associate with Native culture today began to embrace a lifestyle that revolved around hunting buffalo. Many, including Mesoamerican and Mississippian peoples, lived in and around large urban areas constructed of earthen mounds or stone. No Native societies featured what Europeans recognized as written languages, and some predominately hunter-gatherer societies were quite egalitarian, but many had formal structures of government and bureaucracies that rivaled those of Europe.

What were two main characteristics of Native Americans' lives before European settlers arrived?

It is difficult to offer two main characteristics of Native Americans' lives prior to the arrival of European settlers, because there was a multiplicity of civilizations, with and without agriculture, and varying social hierarchies. But within the "difficulty" may lie the answer: there was a multiplicity of civilizations and widely varying social hierarchies. The level of sophistication among some civilizations is astounding and should never be underestimated. Centers of religion, science, trade and urban development in North, Central and South America reached pinnacles that rivaled those of the Old World. In the North, the Mississippian civilization, culminating in the great city of Cahokia, flourished; Central America was home to the Olmec, Maya, and Aztec civilizations; in South America were the great Incas and mysterious civilizations that long predated the Incas.