Native Americans

KEY QUESTIONS:

Who were the Native Americans?
How do we know what they were like?
What were the different types of Native Americans?
What were the Native American Spiritual beliefs?
What impact did Europeans have on Native Americans ?
How did Native Americans respond to US government policies?

This diversity in landscape, environment and climate in North America would lead to differences in the sorts of Native Americans in certain regions.

The Native Americans were not ONE tribe but lots of very different tribes.

Each tribe would adapt to its own environment, learning to deal with the heat or the extreme cold. Learning to survive in different areas of a very diverse country.

We will investigate some of these tribes.

who are they?

They have been called the ‘LORDS OF THE PLAINS’
The Plains are the Huge American Grasslands where the Buffalo lived and where the Comanches hunted.

HORSES

The Comanches were famous for their skills with HORSES.
The horse changed the way they lived from Farming to Hunting.
They used them to hunt Buffalo and fight enemies

WHERE DID THEY LIVE?

The Comanches moved around following the Buffalo.
They lived on camps and used tents called TIPIS

WHAT DID THE MEN DO?

The men were BUFFALO HUNTERS and WARRIORS who often attacked other tribes

WOMEN
The women were cooks and mothers. They often set up and took down the Tipis attaching them to horses on poles called DRAGS

TRADE
They were skilled at trading and sold Buffalo skins

The Native Americans always faced dangers of some sort in their lives

They believed that NATURE was full of powers (‘Spirits’) that affected their lives.

WHAT WAS A SPIRIT FRIEND?

When Native American boys reached 12-14 they would try to ‘see’ a Spirit Friend— This would be an animal or Bird that they thought would help them in their lives.

how would they 'see' their spirit friend?

They believed a Spirit friend would protect you for life! Around 14 years old They tried different things to help them 'see' their spirit friend.

1) hunger

They would go without FOOD for 4-5 days!

2) medicinal

The Native Americans knew a lot about natural herbs. They would take ones which would make them hallucinate (see things)

3) the sundance

They would do a SUNDANCE.
• This is how a boy became a man
• They put a sharp stick through the skin and hung from a tree until the flesh ripped!!!
The pain would cause them to see visions.

Every tribe had a medicine man. They were the second most important person in the tribe after THE CHIEF.

The medicine man was the HOLY MAN who believed he had the power to talk to Spirits and help his tribe
He wore animal skins and believed they would make him strong.

The Native Americans believed when they died they would go to the HAPPY HUNTING GROUNDS. (Heaven)

The Native American lifestyle was mostly peaceful. However sometimes they would have to go to War.

To do this they would call a WAR COUNCIL
No one could make you go to war.
A Red War Pipe was passed around after the war council. If you wanted to go to war you smoked it
Men painted themselves RED and BLACK and did a WAR DANCE.

WHAT REASONS WOULD THEY HAVE TO GO TO WAR?

A native Americans favourite tactic was AMBUSH which gave them the clearest advantage

They would often SCALP their enemies (slice off their scalp) as a way of proving their bravery and stop them from haunting them in the Happy Hunting Grounds when they die!!

The best warriors were called DOG SOLDIERS!! They would often be the warriors in charge of hunting the buffalo too
The Bravest thing that they could do was COUNTING COUP - This was when they would ride up to an enemy, hit them with a stick and ride away to show their courage.

RECOGNISING A WARRIOR

mandan chief

A yellow hand print means they have been taken prisoner
An eagle feather means they have scalped a man
6 sticks show they have been shot 6 times
A knife in the hair show that the warrior has killed a man with their own knife

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