Please enable JavaScript.
Coggle requires JavaScript to display documents.
Plains Indians: Social and tribal structures (Many different social and…
Plains Indians: Social and tribal structures
Many different social and tribal structures made up of people known as Plains Indians.
Most tribes were divided into bands, each with a chief and council
Examples
-The Sioux
-Cheyenne
-Blackfoot
Bands
-Most people in a band were related to each other
-Bands were led by chiefs and had councils of advisers
-Council members agreed everything the band did
-The survival and protection of the band as a whole was seen as more important that the individuals within it
Chiefs
-Chiefs were chosen because of their wisdom and skills a warriors/hunters
-They were rarely chiefs for life
-Chiefs and Councils decided where their bands would go and what should happen to those who broke with customs and traditions They did not have to be obeyed
Tribes
-Bands in the same tribe supported each other during crises
-Tribal meetings of all bands were held each year to arrange marriages, trade horses and discuss issues
-Chiefs and elders formed the tribal chiefs
-Some tribes
(The Sioux)
were part of larger groups called
Nations
Warrior societies
-The best warriors from each band formed its Best Warrior Society
-Members of the warrior societies supervised hunting and protected their bands from attacks
-all short raids and wars were led by the Warrior Society and the Band's Council would always consult them before they made decisions
Chiefs and Leaderships
Plains Indians Society did not view leadership in the same way as White American Society did
-No decision could be made until everyone at the council had agreed to it
-The rest of the tribe or band did not have to obey the decision
-Chiefs and elders were often guided by the spirit world through visions
Consequences
The US government thought that if a chief signed a treaty, all his tribe should obey the terms of the treaty, bu this is not how Plains Indian Society worked
Example
Chief Red Cloud signed a treaty in 1868, but many Lakota Sioux bands followed chief Sitting Bull who opposed it
Band Roles
A band saw every member as being equally important to its survival
-Men(braves) hunted and fought enemies. Women (Squaws) made clothing, fed the family and looked after their Tipi
-Everyone looked after children, who were taught the skills of their parents
-Elders were respected for their wisdom but were left behind to die if their weakness threatened the survival of the band
consequences
traditionally, Plains Indians children were taught by many different band members
-When US government tried to break Indian Society up into family units, or when Indian children were moved to schools far away from their tribe; it meant Indian children did not learn skills and traditions of their people
-Had an impact on Plains Indians way of life
Plains Indians: Survival on the Plains
-The Great Plains was a very tough environment; very dry, hot summers and extremely cold winters.
-Plains Indians depended on each other, the land and animals to survive
-Plains Indians relied on horses to hunt, and the Buffalo was considered the most important animal for hunting
The importance of buffalo and horses
-The Indians needed buffalos and horses to survive.
-Buffalos lived on the Plains
-Horses had been introduced by Spanish Invaders
-The Indians bred, traded and even stole them
Catching Buffalos was quicker and easier on horseback
Every part of the buffalo was used for clothing, food and equipment except for the heart
The Indians believed that the buffalos heart gave new life to a herd
Women and children cut up the buffalos meat, eaten raw or cooked, stored for winter (known as Jerky)
Horses were used in war
Indians could not live on the Plains without horses because they wouldn't survive
Horses carried the Indians and their belongings on their journey to find a buffalo
Wealth and status was measured by how many horses an Indian or tribe had
Some Plain Indians were Nomads. They ate wild fruit and plants but did not settle long enough to grow crops
Nomadic lifestyle
Most Plains Indians followed the buffalo migration through summer and autumn
They had a nomadic lifestyle in these months
-Tipis- made of wooden poles and covered in Buffalo hide were ideal for Plains life: Their cone shaped helped them against strong winds, flaps provided ventilation in summer heat, could be packed in minute
-In winter the band moved to sheltered valleys where they lived in wooden lodges, insulated with thick layers of soil
Bands and survival
Bands were designed for survival on the Plains. They changed size depending on the amount of food available, when food became scarce bands would split up and spread out so that there was more chance of everyone getting enough to eat
Plains Indians: Beliefs
Plains Indians beliefs about nature and property, and their attitudes to war had significant consequences for the relationship between Indians and white American
Beliefs about nature
Plains Indians believed that:
-Everything in nature had a spirit and that these spirits could help humans or harm them
-Humans were a part of nature and should work with the spirits of nature, rather than try to tame and control nature
-They could contact the spirit world through visions and special ritual dances
Beliefs about land and property
-Plains Indians tribes had sacred areas. For Lakota Sioux: The Black Hills, Paha Sapa were sacred because this was where the Lakota believed their tribe originally came from
-Indian families sometimes had their own garden plots, but generally no one owned land. For Plains Indians land was not anyone's property, and not something that one person could buy and keep just for him or herself
Consequences
White settlers had very different views about property from Plains Indians, which led to tension and conflict
Attitudes to war
-Plains Indians Society was full of conflict, but Indians had developed ways to avoid too much killing because young men were essential to each tribe's survival
-The highest respect and prestige was given to warriors, usually young men, for counting coup: landing a blow on an enemy and getting away without being injured
-Indian war parties would also run away if a fight turned against them
Consequences
The US army found it difficult to fight an enemy that ran away rather than fought to the last man. They had to develop new techniques against Indian welfare
US government policy and the Plains Indians
-The US government was keen to expand the USA westwards
-Believed it had to keep Indians and White Americans separate to avoid conflict
Key Events
1830-
Indian Removal Act forces Indians in eastern states to move west of the Mississippi River
1834-
Indian Trade and Intercourse Act sets out the frontier between the USA and Indian Territory
1848-
The US victory in the Mexican-American war
1851-
Indian Appropriation Act: Money allocated for setting up Indian reservations in modern day Oklahoma
Indian Removal Act
-The US government forced 46000 eastern Indians to give up their land in return for new lands west of the Mississippi River.
-Whites then thought this land was worthless- -The Great American Desert'
Mexican-American war
-A permanent Indian frontier divided Indian Territory from the eastern states.
-Forts guarded the frontier to stop whites crossing over to settle in Indian Territory
-The situation changed when the USA gained new territories in the West.
-Instead of being on the western edge, Indian Territory was now squashed in the middle of the USA
Government support for western expansion
-The government needed US citizens to go and live in its new territories in the West
-This meant that people needed to be able to travel (on trails) across Indian lands
-The US Army forced Indians to move away from trails in case Indians attacked travellers migrating east to west
Consequences
US policy started to change. The 'permanent' Indian frontier still marked the boundary with Indian lands, but now whites were allowed to cross the frontiers
The Indian Appropriation Act(1851)
-1850s white Americans wanted to use parts of the lands in the West that had been given to Indians
-Reservations was the solution
-The gov paid Indians to give up lands that whites wanted and to move into smaller areas
-The Act paid for moving Indians in Indian Territory onto reservations
-The gov hoped that the reservations would help Indians learn how to farm and live like white Americans
-On reservations white people could teach Indians new ways of living
-Reservations could become a way of controlling where Indians went and what they did