American West

American west:

Plain Indians:

Community spirit on the Plains:

1.     The whole tribe had to join together for the buffalo hunt.

2.     The young braves thought it was an honour to feed the old and the weak.

3.     Old people voluntarily committed exposure (wandered off to die), as the tribe couldn't afford hangers-on.

4.     They considered the worst crimes to be not looking after one's parents, hurting people who were sick, or harming the religion.

5.     Horse stealing (from other tribes) was admired.

Native American view of war:

1.     War was based on ambush and skill (eg stealing a tied horse).

2.     No one was forced to go to war - individual warriors chose to follow the chief to war or not, as they felt best.

3.     The aim of war was to capture horses and to show bravery.

4.     The bravest act of war was to score a coup (where a warrior tapped his enemy with a stick and escaped).

5.     Native Americans scalped their enemy to stop him going to an after world they called the Happy Hunting Ground.

6.     The main aim in war was to stay alive, in order to care for the family (community spirit).

Nomadic Life:

-         Each tribe split into smaller bands (of about 400). The bands moved 6-8 times a year, and camp could be broken (dismantled and packed up) in a few minutes

-         People put their belongings into buffalo-skin bags called parflèches, which were dragged on poles pulled by horses.

-         Native Americans lived like this for two main reasons:

-         Partly because the Great Plains would not support their way of life in any one place for long, and they had to follow the buffalo migrations.

-         Also partly because they believed that their god, the Great Spirit, wanted them to live a life of continual moving.

Lifestyle:

-         Had very limited technology when European settlers first arrived in America. Some tribes were still using stone implements.

-         Were hunter-gatherers. They gathered maize, squash, beans and turnips (asking permission from the spirits of the land before pulling them up).

-         Men went off to the hunt and to war (on horseback). Women (and any males too timid to go through initiation) gathered food, stayed at home and looked after children.

-         Sports were designed to help their people survive in the Great Plains, by preparing them both for war and for the buffalo hunt. These sports included horse racing (sometimes with the riders dropped to the horse's side) and shooting contests (when they fired as many arrows as possible in the air at once).

-         The women spent their leisure time decorating their clothes and tipis (tents) with beads and quills. The decorations often had a religious meaning.

-         Horses were money

Why did Native Americans live in tipis?

1.     Tipis…