Native Americans And The Early Pioneers Flashcards
Where did they migrate across?
Bering Striet from Siberia
Which continent did they spread across?
North America
Where did the Indians first live in America?
River valley in the east
Why did the Indians move from the river valley?
European settlers started discovering America and started settling there and moved the Indians onto the plains
Where did the Indians originally come from?
North Asia
What did the Indians get from the European settlers?
Horses
Why were horse useful to the Indians?
They were able to hunt the buffalo far more easily and enabled them to live successfully on the plains
What diseases did the European settlers bring?
Smallpox and cholera
What was the plains called on the early maps?
The great American desert
What was near the Great Plains?
It was in the north of the American continent and lies between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The Great Plains stretch from the Canada to the Mexico border
What does semi-arid mean?
Little water available in most areas of the plains
What animals were inhabited on the plains?
- locust
- grasshoppers
- wolves
- gophers
- antelope
- rabbits
- birds
What are characteristics of the Great Plains?
- gently rolling grass lands
- slow flowing rivers
- enormous size
- flat and featureless areas
- lack of tress
What was the weather like on the plains?
Extremely cold and violent winters and scorching summer winds
What does nomadic mean?
When you don’t stay in one place just like the Indians
Why did they live a nomadic life?
- to follow the Buffaloes
- Indians thought the land was provided by the great spirit for all living creatures to share, therefore no one should ever live permanently on a piece of land
Which tribe was the most famous?
Apache, Sioux and Cheyenne because they were lead by a council of elders
Which tribe dominated the North?
Blackfoot, Assiniboine and crow
Where were the largest tribes?
In the centre of the plains
Which tribes were in the centre plains?
Sioux and Cheyenne
What tribes were in the south of the plains?
Comanche, Kiowa and Arapaho
What tribe was the biggest?
The Sioux with 25,000 people
What was each band lead by?
A chief
Did the chief have any formal power?
No if people didn’t like the way the chief was doing they would follow someone else
How did someone become a chief?
Because of there wisdom, skills as a hunter or warrior
Why did people have respect for Chiefs ?
Because of his bravery in war and wisdom
What was the native police called?
Dog-soldiers
What did dog soldiers do?
Fed the old and weak
Stopped the buffalo from being scared away
Controlled the hunt
What was each tribe split into?
Band of about 100-500
Who was the chef helped by?
The council of elders
Who would the council of elders listen for advise off?
Chiefs
Medicine men
Elders
What would be smoked at the tribal councils?
Ceremonial pipe
What shape did the tribal councils sit in?
A circle
What did the Native Americans live in?
A tipi
Who made the tipi?
Women who sewed buffalo hides together into semicircles
What were the hides placed over for the tipi?
Cone of wooden poles
Why was the tipi in a shape of a semi circle
To withstand strong winds
Why were there flaps on the tipi?
To draw the smoke out from the fire and pipes inside
What were tipis decorated with?
Geometric designs or bright coloured pictures of birds and animals
How quick could a tipi be taken down?
Very quickly in about 1hour
What did the poles from the tipi turn into?
A travois where all the families possessions would be packed and pulled by a horse
What were women’s roles in Indian life?
- packing away tipi and moving the family from one place to another
- preparing food
- making clothes
- on some tribes they have to search for berries and edible plants
What were the role of men in the Indians life?
-hunt buffalo on horseback
Were children ever punished?
No
Why were babies taught not to cry?
So they didn’t scare away the buffalo
What were the children’s role in Indian life?
Boys - learnt about hunting and welfare
Girls - learnt how to prepare food, make clothes from buffalo skin and learnt how to pack away the tipis and family belongings
Both - lookouts on the edge of the village, giving warnings of unwelcome visitors
What happened if if I wife’s husband was killed in battle?
The wife would be taken in by another man even if he already had another wife also known as polygamy and the white settlers called the Indians savages for doing this
How did a man try and impress a women?
With his bravery, or gifts of horses or buffalo skins to her family
Were there arranged marriages?
Sometimes but most marriages were love matches
What games did Indians play to help th survive on the Great Plains?
- horse racing
- shooting contests
What were elders role on the Great Plains?
-story-tellers who passed on the history of the tribe
What happened when the elderly got to weak and helpless?
- young found it a honour to feed the old and weak
- when they got to helpless they were left behind by the tribe to die or they voluntarily committed exposure
What was the worse crime an Indian could of committed?
- not looking after parents
- hurting people who were sick
- harming religion
Who would people go to to contact the great spirit through visions?
The medicine man
Who did medicine men call upon?
The sick and advise chief and elders
Indians were usually associate with animals why?
It was claimed that the animal had given them their powers the bear was a favourite
What was a greatest fear for Indians?
Being scalped because Indians that you did not have your spirit this meant that you couldn’t move on to your after life
Why were special feathers awarded?
For counting coup
What does happy hunting ground mean?
The Indians after life
What was war based on?
Ambush and kill
Was Indians forced into war?
No they would chose to follow the chief into war or not
Why were buffalo a important?
-they would use buffalo parts for survival
What were the Indians currency?
Horses they would trade things with the white settlers to get horses or over items
What did horses enable the Indians to do?
Fight other band and steal there horses
What would they place around the horses neck?
There most valuable possessions
Why were circles important to the Indians?
Because they had no beginning or end. The sun the moon and the circle of life all had meaning this way. That’s why the tipis were circular
What did a man do to contact the spirits?
When a man of age, he would take part in a ceremony which involved fasting, self harming,going into trace and seeing an animal that was a spirit friend
What is the sun dance?
The sun dance featured a centre pole signifying the sun from which the young man hung themselves from there nipples
What did the Indians believe the spirits did to the weather and illness on the plains
They believe the spirits brought harsh weather and they thought the medicine would be able to speak to them and ask for help
What did they call land?
Mother
Where did Indians believed they come from?
The earth
