America West Plains Indians and early migration west

Question 1

What was the purpose of the warrior brotherhoods?

Answer 1

surpervised hunting, protected the band and carried out raids.

Question 2

How was a decision made in Plains Indian society?

Answer 2

Everyone in the council had to agree to it.

Question 3

Why would bands sometimes split up?

Answer 3

When food was scarce and they would spread out so that there was more chance of everyone getting enough to eat.

Question 4

Which areas were often particularly sacred to a Plains Indian?

Answer 4

Usually high land e.g. the Black Hills were scared to the Lakota Sioux.

Question 5

What was counting coup?

Answer 5

Landing a blow on an enemy with a coup stick and getting away without being injured.

Question 6

What was the Indian Removal Act?

Answer 6

Forced Indians in the eastern states to move west of the Mississippi River.

Question 7

When was the Indian Removal Act passed?

Answer 7

1830

Question 8

What was the Indian Trade and Intercourse Act?

Answer 8

It set out the frontier (Permanent Indian Frontier) between the USA and Indian Territory.

Question 9

What territory became part of the USA in 1845?

Answer 9

Texas

Question 10

What territory became part of the USA in 1846?

Answer 10

Oregon

Question 11

What happened as a result of the successful US war against Mexico?

Answer 11

California

Question 12

How many Indians were forced to leave the eastern states in the “trail of Tears”?

Answer 12

46,000

Question 13

What happened in the eastern states in 1937?

Answer 13

A financial crisis which led to banks and businesses collapsing and high unemployment rates.

Question 14

What happened in 1848 that encouraged people to travel to California?

Answer 14

Californian Gold Rush

Question 15

What action did the US government take in 1841 to encourage settlers to move west?

Answer 15

It funded expedition maps of the Oregon Trail and published a guide book for migrants.

Question 16

What was meant by the phrase “manifest destiny”?

Answer 16

that it was God’s will that white Americans should settle over all of America.

Question 17

What was so attractive about Oregon and California?

Answer 17

Initially, free land, fertile soil, good climate for farming and gold.

Question 18

What was the name used by many Americans to describe the Great Plains in the 1830s?

Answer 18

The Great American Desert.

Question 19

Approximately, how long was the journey along the Oregon Trail?

Answer 19

2,000 miles

Question 20

From which town did most pioneers start their journey along the Oregon Trail?

Answer 20

Independence, Missouri.

Question 21

What was the Sioux name for the Great Spirit?

Answer 21

Waken Tanka

Question 22

What is meant by the word polygamy?

Answer 22

A man having more than one wife.

Question 23

Where did the Plains Indians spend the winter months?

Answer 23

In a sheltered valley, living in lodges.

Question 24

What was the role of the medicine man in Plains Indian society?

Answer 24

To contact the spirit world, to remove bad spirits and to provide herbal remedies.

Question 25

What was the sun dance?

Answer 25

A festival to initiate a young man into a the warrior brotherhood.

Question 26

What was the travois?

Answer 26

A structure to help the Indians to transport their belongings, dragged by horses.

Question 27

What were “vision quests”?

Answer 27

A means of contacting the spirit world.

Question 28

Approximately, how many migrants used the Oregon Trails to move west?

Answer 28

Nearly 500,000