the plains indians “war on the plains” "when we indians kill meat, we eat it all up. when...
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THE PLAINS INDIANS“WAR ON THE PLAINS”
"When we Indians kill meat, we eat it all up. When we dig roots, we make little holes. When we build houses, we make little holes. When we burn grass for grasshoppers, we don't ruin things. We shake down acorns and pine nuts. We don't chop down the trees. We only use dead wood. But the white people plow up the ground, pull down the trees, kill everything. ... the White people pay no attention. ...How can the spirit of the earth like the White man? ... everywhere the White man has touched it, it is sore."
“Treat the earth well: it was not given to you by your parents, it was loaned to you by your children. We do not inherit the Earth from our Ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”
“One does not sell the land people walk on…”
“How smooth must be the language of the whites, when they can make right look wrong and wrong look right”
“This war did not spring up on our land, this war was brought upon us by the children of the Great Father (USA) who came to take our land without a price, and who, in our land, do a great many evil things…This war has come from robbery, from stealing of our land.”
HOME OF THE PLAIN INDIANS
Major tribes: Sioux, Cheyenne, Crow, Arapaho, Comanche, Blackfeet, Pawnee, Flathead, Shoshone, Osage, Apache…
LIFE ON THE PLAINS…
FOOD: BUFFALO
The bison was very important to the Plains Indians. They used every part of the animal.
meat - roasted on the campfire, boiled, for pemmican and jerky, sausages hides with the hair left on - winter clothing, gloves, blankets, robes, costumes for ceremonies or for hunting. hides - ropes, blankets, shields, clothing, bags, tipi covers, bull boats, sweat lodge covers, containers, drums sinew (muscles) - bowstrings, thread for sewing, webbing for snowshoes bones - for making hoes, shovels, runners for sleds, pointy tools, knives, pipes, scrapers, arrowheads horns - spoons, cups, bowls, containers to carry tobacco, medicine or gunpowder, headdresses, arrow points, toys
LIFE ON THE PLAINS…
FOOD: BUFFALO
The bison was very important to the Plains Indians. They used every part of the animal.
hair - rope, pillow stuffing, yarn, shields, medicine balls beard - decoration on clothes and weapons tail - fly swatter, whip, tipi decoration brain - used for tanning the hides (to soften the skin) hoofs - rattles, boiled to make glue fat - paint base, hair grease, for making candles and soap dung (manure chips) - fuel for campfires and smoke signals teeth - for decorating, necklaces stomach - containers for water and for cooking bladder - medicine bag, water container, pouches skull – ceremonies and prayer
HUNTING THE BUFFALO:METHODS:
Thousands of years before the guns, horses and the white man arrived in North America the Plains Indians hunted the bison on foot.
The BUFFALO POUND methodThe bison were lured into a coulee (ravine) by a hunter who dressed in buffalo robes. Then the other hunters, who were lined along the coulee, stampeded the animals into a log corral (closed-in place). They killed the bison with spears.
The BUFFALO JUMP method"Chasers" or "runners" would lead the animals towards a cliff where others waited behind rocks and trees. People waved blankets and shouted forcing the animals over the edge of the cliff. Others waited at the bottom of the cliff to kill the crippled animals.
Sometimes men covered in buffalo robes or wolf skins followed the animals waiting for the best time to kill them.
The CHASE method (after the White Man arrived)This method was sometimes used if the hunters had horses. A hunting party would charge the herd and get as close as they could to a bison, then shoot it with a bow and arrow or gun.
LIFE ON THE PLAINS:SHELTER:
THE TEPEE
The floor = the EarthThe sides = the SkyRoundness = the sacred cycle of lifeAlter = for prayers
The tepee was the woman’s castle… She took it down and set it up.
LIFE ON THE PLAINS:The Pipe…
The pipe is a very sacred object:
A Native American peace pipe is often used in a spiritual ceremony. During the ceremony, Native Americans will smoke from the peace pipe and say a prayer to the four directions. The peace pipe is not restricted to being used only by Native Americans, but what it symbolizes must be respected by everyone attending the ceremony. It was believed that the smoke from the Native American peace pipe carried prayers up to the heavens.
LIFE ON THE PLAINSTeaching the
youth:BOYS: Lots of different games…purpose to teach the boys to be quick, how to hunt, and to prepare to be great warriors.
GIRLS: Brought up to be good wives and workers A lot jobs for the woman Chastity very important Marriages arranged… Girls young Sometimes polygamy was accepted Sometimes couples would elope…for love??? Expected to have children Menstrual cycle looked at with fear and awe
LIFE ON THE PLAINSBeing a Warrior…
War to the Native Americans was a path to wealth, prestige, and high rank…Hate went from generation to generation…
Battles had a strong element of gamesmanship…
The greater the risk…The more honor!!!
The outcome not as important as the showing of courage…
Courage was done by counting “COUP”…
Counting coup refers to the winning of prestige in battle.
Warriors won prestige by acts of bravery in the face of the enemy, and these acts could be recorded in various ways and retold as stories.
Any blow struck against the enemy counted as a coup, but the most prestigious acts included touching an enemy warrior with the hand, bow, or with a coup stick then escaping unharmed.
Touching the first enemy to die in battle or touching the enemy's defensive works also counted coup.
Counting coup could also involve stealing an enemy's weapons or horses tied up to his lodge in camp.
Risk of injury or death was required to count coup.
Escaping unharmed while counting coup was considered a higher honor than being wounded in the attempt.
A warrior who won coup was permitted to wear an eagle feather in his hair. If he had been wounded in the attempt, however, he was required to paint the feather red to indicate this.
After a battle or exploit, the people of a tribe would gather together to recount their acts of bravery and "count coup." Coups were recorded by putting notches in a coup stick.
LIFE ON THE PLAINSWAR…
Very rare for ALL out war…
To endanger a tribe very rare
Losing a warrior a very serious matter
Most battles were small raiding parties
No standing army or officers or commanders…Dreams or visions organized raids
Fighting another tribe was for survival… No political agenda
THE COMING OF THE WHITEMAN…
The glory days of the Native Americans will end with coming of the Whites
Mid 1700’s…French and British fur traders
1804 – 06: Lewis and Clark…Create a new interest in moving westEarly 1800’s: “Mountain Men”… Lived with and worked with Native Americans…Brought them the White Civilization: guns, knives, blankets, kettles…Also diseases and alcohol…
1840’s: No more beaver…BUT gold in California & great farmland in Oregon. 1,000’s cut across the Great Plains, some stop and want to start a new life!!! Manifest Destiny!!
1850’s: Railroads, broken treaties, and the slaughter of the buffalo…
AND SO THE WARS AND BLOODSHED BEGINS…
September of 1851…Tom Fitzpatrick calls for a meeting (powwow) at
Fort Laramie (Wyoming) to stop a major blood bath…
10,000 Native Americans show up, representing 8 Tribes…The no-shows: Pawnee, Kiowa, Comanche…
PURPOSE: To put Native Americans on territories or reservations!!
PROBLEMS: 1. Treaties mean nothing to Indians (couldn’t understand) 2. Indians had no government structure
3. No means for Chiefs to make Tribe obey 4. Problems still between different Indian Tribes
Indian Agent Thomas Fitzpatrick said: “talks are premature, UNTIL Indians have been whipped and made to feel the power of the United States will they understand”
1ST MAJOR CONFLICT… 1854
CAUSE: A stray cow will be picked up & killed by a hungry Sioux
WHAT HAPPENS: Sioux told he has to pay $25 for cow… He offers $10.Owner wants Sioux to face Whiteman’s justice and reports him to the Army. RESULTS: Lt. John L. Grattan, who was looking for a reason to fight the Indians and who said: “He could clear the Plains of all the Indians with a handful of soldiers…”
Takes and army of 30 men into the Sioux camp and demand they give up the man who took the cow… The Sioux refuse.
Lt. Grattan opens fire on the Sioux… the Sioux attack and within minutes all the soldiers are dead
THIS BEGINS 3 DECADES OF BLOODSHED ON THE PLAINS
AUGUST 17, 1862…MINNESOTA
4 young Santee Sioux (frustrated & hungry)Kill 5 white settlersIn council, Dakota Indians give ok for killings
Little Crow will lead them in to battle…
It becomes a very bloody uprising
After 1 week: 800 whites are killed…
USA army will gather at Ft. Ridgeley, Minnesota and STOP the Indian advance…
Colonel Henry Sibley will be sent to stop IndiansVery successful…
All captured whites returned.2,000 Sioux surrender303 sentenced to be hanged
Lincoln only allows 38 to be hanged…Little Crow will be shot and killed on July 3, 1863 By a white, because of a bounty on Indians
CONFLICT BETWEEN SIOUX & WHITES CONTINUE
SAND CREEK MASSACRE: NOVEMBER 29, 1864
Black Kettle (Cheyenne) thought his people had accepted a treaty
However: John Evans & John Chivington had different idea….
Chivington decides to attack Black Kettle and his village…The Army will surround the village…Black Kettle will raise a White Flag & American Flag
Chivington orders the attack… “No prisoners”
RESULTS: 200 Cheyenne killed… 2/3 woman & children Black Kettle escapes Indians will counter-attack all over the Plains
TOTAL WAR ON THE INDIAN NATIONS
BLACK KETTLE JOHN CHIVINGTON
SAND CREEK MASSACRE
John Bozeman opens a trail in the Northern Plains…
Cuts through Sioux lands… “Buffalo Area”Red Cloud (Sioux Leader) will begin to terrorize settlers
1866… a peace treaty is reached at Ft. Laramie
Col. Henry Carrington said he was sent to build forts to protect the “Bozeman Trail”…
Some Chiefs sign the treaty… Red Cloud refuses Sioux War Chief Crazy Horse will lead the uprising
Carrington will place Captain William Fetterman in charge of stopping Indian attacks at Fort Kearny
Fetterman brags how he can clear all the Plains of the Indians!!
DECEMBER 21, 1866
Crazy Horse will use an old Indian trick to trap Fetterman…
Fetterman with 80 men will fall for the “Decoy” Trick…
Crazy Horse will lure Fetterman into a valley where 2,000 Indians are waiting…
RESULTS: - All of the soldiers including Fetterman will be killed and mutilated…
- Indians will retreat to winter quarters - By 1867 Army has new weapons…Hold off
Indians - US Army give up protecting Bozeman Trail
2 NEW PEACE TREATIES WILL BE SIGNED
Medicine Lodge Creek (Kansas) in the fall of 1867
It establishes 2 large reservations for:1. Cheyenne's & Arapahoe’s 2. Kiowa's, Comanche's & Apache’s
Takes awhile to organize treaty… Fights break out…September 17, 1868 at Beecher’s Island in
ColoradoGeorge Forsyth against Dog Soldiers & Roman Nose
Dog Soldiers were Cheyenne warriors who were:- Aggressive and very skilled fighters- Refused to sign treaties- Refused to go to reservation- Crucial in resistance to American
expansion
Who was Roman Nose???
Considered the greatest and most influential Cheyenne warrior…
He was physically imposing
Considered invincible in battle
So fierce of a fighter the Whites thought he was Chief of all Cheyenne
He was never a Chief or held any position of high authority, except in battle…
Dies at the Battle of Beecher’s Island…
Results of the Battle of Beecher’s Island…
NOTHING….
The other Treaty: Ft. Laramie in the spring of 1868…
Ended Red Cloud’s war on his terms…
All forts along Bozeman Trail will be abandoned…
In both Treaties the Indians received:Clothing, Gifts, and supplies to become
farmers…
HOWEVER… The supplies were poor, land was no good AND
The fighting still continued… November 27, 1868… George A. Custer will attack and destroy the Indian village at Washita Valley… Black Kettle is killed and the Indians are forced to sign another treaty…
FIGHTING ON THE PLAINS WILL REACH A CLIMAX IN THE 1870’S
For the Indians:Buffalo are disappearingTribes are starvingHunting grounds are being taken & destroyed
Only key area left will be the Black Hills…Important Sioux area
In 1874…General George Custer will report that there is Gold in the Black Hills of South Dakota
White settlers start pouring in to the Black Hills…
Sioux warriors and other Indian tribes leave their reservation and start attacking white settlements…
In the spring of 1876…12,000 Sioux and Cheyenne leave the reservation & head to the Little Big Horn River…
They are lead by: Sitting Bull & Crazy Horse
2 Columns of soldiers are sent to drive the Indians back on their reservation… The US Calvary is lead by Alfred Terry (Custer) & John Terry
On June 25, 1876… The two forces meet at the
BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG HORNALSO CALLED CUSTER’S LAST STAND
The Battle of the Little Big Horn was the Indians greatest victory…