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Indian Society (Chiefs (1: Chiefs were the leaders of Plains Indian…
Indian Society
Chiefs
1: Chiefs were the leaders of Plains Indian society and were always men. Each tribe could have many chiefs eg. war chief and spiritual chief.
White Americans found this difficult to understand and this led to problems. Each band had a band chief, who was chosen to guide the band in finding food and protecting the tribe.
6: In tribes like the Lakota Sioux, chiefs had no power to command their people. Bands made their own decisions. Some bands might follow one chief and others would choose a different leader.
7: There were many different ways for choosing chiefs. They were chosen because of their values. Chiefs were rarely chiefs for life. Band chiefs and elders made up the tribe’s council when the tribe came together. They could make decisions that affected the whole tribe.
Women
5: A successful man could have more than one wife. Women were responsible for feeding and clothing their families, as well as for their families’ possessions. Women were also responsible for processing buffalo hides and meat to turn them into products to be traded.
8: Women were actually really valued in Plains Indian society. Both men and women had set roles that could not change. This was because everyone needed to perform their specialised role with skill if the tribe was to survive.
For the Plains Indians women owned the family home (tipi) and all material possessions.
15: Polygamy: It was common for a man to have more than one wife. This was to ensure the survival of the tribe.
Polygamy ensured that each woman had a husband and that each woman could become pregnant to produce future generations for the tribe.
Attitudes to war
2: Plains Indian tribes raided each other for food, horses, weapons and people (women to marry and children to bring up as part of the tribe).
However, because young men were so valued by a tribe as hunters and protectors, no tribe could afford to lose many warriors in a fight. They developed ways to avoid this happening.
10: Raids would only go ahead if it appeared they would be successful and raiders could escape if needed. This was unlike white American soldiers who were taught to never surrender.
Only selected brotherhoods would go on a raid. This minimised losses.
14: Counting coup was a special type of fighting in which a warrior would attempt to hit or touch (not kill) their enemy and get away without being injured.
It required a lot of skill and bravery and gained the warrior respect from the rest of the tribe.
Success was shown through feathers.
Warrior Brotherhoods
4: There were several different warrior brotherhoods within a tribe and young men joined after proving their bravery and skill in fighting with other tribes. Warrior brotherhoods were important for all Plains Indian tribes because they trained young men in fighting skills. They also taught young men about the tribe’s beliefs and values.
11: Warrior brotherhoods, like bands, were not under the command of the tribal council in many tribes.
This meant that they might not always respect any peace treaties. Leading members from brotherhoods were also invited to join a guard unit.
They organised the yearly buffalo hunt, made sure old/ill tribe members were fed and chose where the tribe should make camp.
Beliefs about land
9: Some Plains Indians farmed land as well as hunting, fishing and gathering wild plants. In these cases, a farming plot belonged to a family rather than the whole tribe.
However, most land on the Plains was difficult to farm due to lack of rain and infertile soil and therefore was not owned.
Land was not something that could be bought or sold.
12: Land was seen as sacred - the ‘mother’ of the Plains Indians. For the Lakota Sioux the Black Hills of South Dakota were the most sacred of all.
They believed that their people had been created in a special cave their by the Great Spirit.
Farming or mining were seen to be disrespectful by some Plains Indians. These activities in sacred places would be especially likely to disrupt the scared link between the tribe and the spirits.
Survival
13: All Plains Indian tribes had hunting areas. Sometimes treaties were agreed between tribes to share these areas. When food resources were scarce this caused conflicts between tribes.
Therefore Indians developed a nomadic lifestyle in which they followed the buffalo herds, living in temporary camps until they had to move again.
16: The survival of the tribe was the most important thing to the Plains Indians and all Indians worked together for the good of the tribe.
In times of hunger younger children were killed. When the elderly became a burden, due to their nomadic lifestyle they stayed behind when the tribe moved on
Beliefs about nature
3: Plains Indians believed that everything in nature had a spirit.
These spirits would sometimes help humans.
They believed that humans were a part of nature and should work with the spirits of nature rather than trying to tame nature to obey them.