Native Americans

Eastern

The Native Americans on the East coast were fishermen and farmers. They were the first to

encounter many of the Europeans who came to settle

in the new world.

Plains

Tribes in the plains, the middle of North America,

largely hunted bison. They were famous for their

encounters with pioneers in the 1800’s sparking many

long wars.

Northwestern

The peoples of the Pacific Northwest were fishermen.

They lived in longhouses designed to keep them dry from the rain. Totem Poles

were a traditional art practiced.

ArcticAlaskan Natives made their clothes and homes to battle the cold temperatures. Ice fishing and snowshoeing

were common in the winter.

Southwestern

Southwestern Native Americans made their homes

and pots out of clay. They are also famous for making colorful jewelry.

Houses

•Different tribes had different houses

•Some tribes lived in houses made of wood

•Other tribes lived in houses made of buffalo skin so they could move when they needed to hunt

•Others made houses made of mud bricks

Adobe Mud Houses

Teepee

Wigwam

Beliefs and Values•Strong connection to nature - using resources from Mother Earth in moderation

•Respect for elders

•Code of Ethics

•Land is not property to be owned by one, but a resource to be shared with all.

All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.

Chief Seattle

Totem Poles

Traditional rain dance

Dream Catchers

•Dream catchers catch bad dreams in the web, and let good dreams pass through the center

Fun FactsNative Americans invented lacrosse, a sport now

played internationally.

Another invention was the toboggan which is a favorite winter pastime.

The U.S. one dollar coin features Sacagawea, a

famous native american woman.

Native American Reservations

•Now, there are areas of the United States that are reserved only for Native Americans

•They make their own laws and govern themselves.

•Native Americans are citizens of the US and many live in the general population.

Native American Native American Conflict Conflict

& Assimilation& Assimilation

North America was not just a vast empty plain before Europeans arrived, there were native tribes from coast to

coast.

Native tribes of the plains depended on buffalo hunting

for most of their needs

During the great Western migration, thousands of settlers set out across the plains

At first, some people tried to negotiate a way to peacefully share the West.

First lady Mary Todd Lincoln (at

Right) welcoming Native Americans

at the White House

But others were hostile to Native Americans and efforts were made to systematically kill off the buffalo, the

source of their livelihood.

Piles of buffalo hides killed by white settlers

The government

began forcing Native

Americans off of their land and

selling it to white

settlers.

Native Americans retaliated,

and encounters with settlers often ended in violence.

The U.S. Calvary wages a

campaign against

the Native American

s all across the

West.

George Armstrong Custer

commanded the 7th Calvary in the Battle of Little

Bighorn, the worst U.S. Army defeat

against Native Americans.

The battle is also called Custer’s Last Stand

Sitting Bull led the Native

American forces to victory at

Little Bighorn.

There were 2,000-3,000

Lakota, Northern Cheyenne

and Arapaho warriors

compared to Custer’s 700

soldiers.

Native Americans fight

back

But eventually it came to an

end…

The Battle of Wounded Knee marked the end

of Native

American

resistance. With it, they were

forced to

accept defeat.

At Wounded Knee, U.S.

forces massacred

300 unarmed Native

Americans with deadly Gatlin guns (left). This included

women and children.

Burying the Native American dead in a mass grave at Wounded Knee

After they were forced to accept defeat, the U.S. policy for Native

Americans was “assimilation.” This

meant that they would have to give up their way of life and adopt

American culture.

Young boy before attending

assimilation school.

After assimilation school

Students were taught how to exist in white society, like job skills.

They were taught

Christianity…

The Bible translated to Algonquin

…and how to meet white society’s social expectations.

Native American children were sent by the hundreds to assimilation boarding schools that

taught them to reject their native cultures.

Today’s Struggles