Plains Indian Life & SocietyMoving West….

APUSH BELL WORK• Bell Work: Analyze the two views regarding the Great Plains• “How could existence go on… If life is to thrive and endure, it must

at least have something to hide behind.”• “I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free and there

was nothing to break the light of the sun.”• Which of these two views on the Great Plains has a positive

outlook regarding the area? Which one is negative? What evidence is there to support your answers?

• Both authors identify a certain aspect of the plains- but both have a different view toward the item. What item are they examining?

• Which one of the authors would most likely endorse manifest destiny? Why?

• Based upon your background info, try to guess who each of the authors might be. Be sure to support your answer with evidence.

Results…• “How could existence go on… If life is to thrive and endure, it

must at least have something to hide behind.”• -Beret: a Norwegian immigrant in O.E. Rolvaag’s novel Giants

in the Earth• “I was born upon the prairie, where the wind blew free and

there was nothing to break the light of the sun.”• -Chief Ten Bears: a Comanche from Texas, speaking to a group

of government commissioners

Main Ideas of Native American Culture

• Native American Society- 8 to 9 million pre Columbian: by 1860- 350,000

• History of destruction: settlement, disesase, King Philip’s War, Tecmuseh, Trail of Tears, now Gilded Age

• Organization- male dominate, chiefdom etc. • Rights of Passage- earning of stripes• Religion- polytheistic- shamanism • The Horse- nomadic and warlike• Displacements: These lands once belonged to the Kiowas and

Crows, but we whipped those nations out of them and in this we did what white men do when they want the lands of the Indians

Cultural ClashesUSA Culture (W.A.S.P) Native Culture

The west is an untapped resource that must be settled-wilderness is an obstacle that must be conquered and industrialized Fencing Destruction of Buffalo

The land was a divine gift. People should use the land but also live with it. Partnership Use every piece of buffalo

West could be used to create farms- Republican policy Settlement- stay in the same

place (farming)

Follow the herds Nomadic lifestyle Women are more important

Life and time seen as linear. Progress = going forward,

advancing

Life and time seen as cyclical No sense of progress, rather

seek balance and harmony

United States are one and indivisible with central government One centralized government

Indian cultures were separate with different several tribes. Not organized together, no

authority outside immediate family

Lack of space led to war

Nomadic Tribes• The Horse• The Buffalo• Hunting Bands• Slaughter of the Buffalo• Herds & White Hunters

Land & Treaties• One Big Reservation- the Plains• Intertribal Warfare• Horse raids & hunting grounds

Tribal Life• Child Care• Learning• Stories and fables• Games• Youth & Adolescence• Horse training• Adult Social Roles• Men & Women

Tribal Hierarchy• Chiefs• War- warrior• Peace- orator• Medicine man

Religion• Sun Dance• Vision Quest• Great Spirit