I got into a discussion with my dad today about the lack of permanent structures in Canada and the United States, such as pyramids or castle ruins. Is it related to the veneration of emperors and kings across the West and in Asia, or is it related to the nomadic nature of some Native American/First Nations tribes?
I tried to answer my dad's question to the best of my abilities, but I don't know much about Native Americans/First Nations. I figured it had something to do with the lack of a venerated ruler or leader in Native American tribes. We're both interested in knowing an answer! Thanks.
I'll start off by talking about Cahokia, the biggest city north of the Rio Grande, whose population wasn't overtaken until the 1700s.
When you think about a city, you think about farmers on the outskirts of the city trading food for goods from artisans and professionals. That is how the city gets its food.
Cahokia wasn't like this. Cahokia, which appeared just south of modern-day East St. Louis, probably was the result of a group of farmers agreeing to store their crop in a single place. Eventually, as more farmers stored their stuff in this one place, someone was needed to watch over the grain. Over time, that person progressed to becoming the ruler of Cahokia.
Cahokia would fall due to poor descisions by these rulers in the early 1300s, but the point is that cities emerged north of the Rio Grande in a different way than we would call normal. That's a main reason why cities in North America (apart from Mesoamerica) never lasted very long, resulting in less well-known structures.
Anyway, what you might be looking for are Mounds. Specifically Monks Mound, near the aforementioned Cahokia, which was the largest of these mounds.
But there was never really any structure fully comparable to the Pyramid of the Sun. The pyramid is twice as high as the mound, after all.
Hope that answers your question, if you still have more I'll try my best to answer them as well.