The American West Flashcards
Who were the Plains Indians?
Many different tribes made up these people and they have adapted to living on the Great Plains. The tribes were different in appearance and had different languages and customs. Each tribe lived on each of their territory, some were allies and some were enemies.
What did the Indians believe about the Spirit World?
They believed that there is one great Spirit who the Sioux called Waken Tanka who had created the world and ruled over it. They believed everything had spirits and these were important as they thought that these would influence their lives and the way they live on the Great Plains.
Why were circles important to the Plains Indians?
They believed the power of the earth always moved and worked in circles. The Indian’s tipis were round, the circles of the moon and the sun were above them and life was also a circle with childhood at the start and the old behaving like a child at the end.
Why was land important?
Land particularly in high places were special and was sacred. The Black Hilld of Dakota were sacred to the Sioux as here they took the dead for burial. Here, Sioux medicine men went for special guidance when taking an important decision. Indians believed that they came from the earth and when they died they returned to the earth. Therefore all living things were a part of the land so land could not be owned, bought or sold. The land was life itself and the earth was their mother so farming or mining is cutting into their mother.
Why were visions important to the Plains Indians?
They believed that this was the one way they contacted the Great Spirit. Boys fasted and prayed when they got their first vision and told this in a sweat lodge. Girls did the same for some tribes and in others their first monthly period was celebrated.
Why were dances important in the Indians’ lives?
They believed that through elaborate and agonising ceromonies such as the Sun Dance and theBuffalo Dance, they can contact the spirit world. For some tribes, the Sun Dance was important and this was led by medicine men. They believed that by torturing themselves they hoped to become better hunters or warriors.
How important were medicine men?
They were able to interpret the visions of young men snd were able to contact the spirits of all living things. For example, they advised the chief when to go to war whilst he was sick by contacting the spirit world and asking for guidance. If a buffalo herd was not found, medicine men would reach the spirit world and get guidance.
What did Indians believe about illnesses?
They usually got illnesses such as broken limbs or wounds due to buffalo hunting and war. They believed these happened as they got possessed by evil spirits. It was the medicine men who helped cure them through the power of the universe. Each male would carry a medicine bag to protect him from harm.
How did the Indians hunt buffalo?
Before they had horses, they stalked the buffalo on foot and covered themselves with animal skins to disguise their human smell. Sometimes they stampeded a buffalo herd so that animals got trapped in the valley or tumbled over a cliff. Then, horses made hunting much easier.
What was done to the buffalo after they were hunted?
The women and children butchered it by cutting parts to eat raw such as the kidneys, liver and brain. The flesh was boiled and roasted. The leftover was sliced into thin strips and dried in the sun and this jerky was stored to help in the cold winters. Pemmican was often made with the leftover meat too, it was pounded into a pulp, mixed with berries and put into skin containers. Marrow fat or hot grease was poured over to keep them airtight.
What other examples of buffalo are used?
- Tongue - hair brush
- Fat - soap
- Hooves - glue
Were all the parts of the buffalo used? Why?
No, the heart wasn’t as they believed that by leaving the heart on the Plains, this gave the herd that was killed a new life.
How did the Plains Indians get horses?
This was around the 1600s. The Spanish conquered Central America and build towns and bred horses. They refused to give these to the Indians but the Pueblo Indians drove the Spanish out and captured the horses, using some for meat, breeding them and selling them to other Indian tribes.
How did the Plains Indians use horses?
At first they just stole and traded them. Then, they used them to hunt buffalo, transport their belongings, for practising skill, for fun, war.
What happened by about 1820?
Indians began measuring a tribe’s status and wealth using the number of horses they owned.
What was an Indian’s home?
Tipi
How was the tipi and ideal design for the Indians?
It was a framework of wooden poles made with 10 to 20 buffalo skins. The flaps at the top could be moved so that wind blew smoke from the fire away. In summer the skins at the bottom were rolled up to let air through. In winter the earth was banked around the tipi to keep the inside warm. The conical design helped resist the strong winds.
How did the tipis help the Indians’ nomadic lifestyle?
It could be taken down quickly and put up again quickly.
Describe the differences in the attitudes of White settlers and Plains Indians towards land and property.
- No ownership of land
- Land temporary - nomadic
- No conquering of land - no measure
- Respected land and nature
- Women owned majority possessions - except horses and weapons
- Gold was called shiny yellow metal
Why did Indians need to be on the move?
To get sufficient buffalo and follow buffalo herds
What helped the Indians in their nomadic lifestyle?
- Tipis
- Travois - two tipi poles attached to horse to carry belongings
- Horses
What were Indian children like?
They were taught to respect all living things. They were prepared - boys learned skills of horsemanship and fighting, girls learned to dela with the tipi, provide clothes and food. Everyone cared for one another and were equal, they were always cared for - they were the future for the band.
What were the jobs of Indian Men?
Defending their band against enemies and hunting buffalo
What were the jobs of Indian women?
Preparing tipis, food and clothing and processing the buffalo meat
What were marriages like for the Indians?
Not always happy. In some tribes such as the Cheyennes, a man can divorce his wife by beating a drum and shouting ‘I throw her away.’ In other tribes, a divorced man had to leave everything to his wife and go back to his mother’s tipi with only the clothes he was wearing.
How were widows and old people treated by the Plains Indians?
When men were killed, their wives were shared out to the surviving men. It was usual for a man to have more than one wife. All pregnant women ahd as many children as possible. Old people were left behind when Indians were on the move due to the long journeys.
What would happen within different bands of a tribe in the summer?
They will meet up to feed their horses with the rich grass and hunt as many buffalo as possible to ensure the tribe’s survival on the Plains.
What were the pull and push factors of going west?
