I know it's a nebulous question, but how much well native peoples understand the breadth of the land they inhabited? Would Plains cultures know about the coasts? Would Northeastern First Nations know about the ocean to the west? Would Mesoamerican cultures have interacted with any of the above?
Follow-up: How would they have measured distances? Did they have units of measurement for large distances, like a mile or kilometer?
Hi,
For your other questions on contact between indigenous groups: this has its own section in the FAQ. You may esp. find these anwers interesting feat. various flairs: 1 - 2 - 3
You may also be interested in my earlier reply on pre-Hispanic names for the known world in Mesoamerica & Peru (Anáhuac, Tawantinsuyu). As I mention there, we don't know the exact boundaries of the Aztec known world - esp. since they did not have the same European border concept. But very probably it stretched for them between the two oceans, and in the north to modern-day New Mexico and in the south to Yucatán at least; and with trade contacts from Mexico running further south. I also mention what the Inca realm encompassed in there, then the largest empire in the Americas.
Hope this helps!