Indian Heritage

Ciara Gold is normally slated to appear today, but I'm going to step in for her as she's a busy lady, and preparing for a trip to Italy.  I don't mind at all, because I'm a big fan of America's Indian heritage and love to blog about it.  Since I love writing western historical, readers shouldn't be surprised to see an Indian hero pop up now and then in one of my novels .  I'm fascinated by the lore and legends of the various tribes.  Today, I'm going to share with you perhaps some facts you might not know or have forgotten since H.S. History.  *smile*

Tribes were generally sorted into one of three categories, based on where and how they lived:
1.  Hunting and gathering
2.  Agriculture
3.  Fishing



According to my main research book, America's Fascinating Indian Heritage, during the turn of the sixteenth century, most of the tribes living in the east, midwest, and part of the southwest settled there and became, primarily, farmers who raised a wide variety of crops.

Along the northwest coast and the coastal areas of the southeast, Indians lived mainly in settled villages and depended upon food from the rivers, streams and oceans. Of course they're methods depended upon their tribal affiliations, netting, spearing, canoes.  You get the idea.

The majority of North American Indians were considered hunter/gatherers who were nomadic in nature and charted their travels to coincide with the movement of game or the harvesting pattern of crops planted by Mother Nature.

As weather patterns changed, different areas of North America became more settled, and "area" dominated the manner in which the tribes were classified.  For example, the Plains Indians were broken into Language groups as they migrated from places where droughts and other life-altering events made living impossible:


Siouan
Kowan
Caddoan
Algonquian
Shoshean
Athabascan

The tribes falling within these categories were primarily:  Sioux, Cheyennes, Kiowas, Blackfeet, Sarcee, Cree, Gros Venture, Assinboin, Hidatsa, Mandan, Arikara, Ponca, Iowa
Omaha, Quapaw, Caddo, Comanche, Oto, Kansa, Arapaho and Pawnee.

With the introduction of the horse in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, more of the tribes switched from the sedentary agricultural lifestyle to a nomadic one centered around the buffalo.  My favorite tribe, The Sioux (specifically the Dakota tribe) became one, and I've continued to be fascinated by how much this animal contributed to their survival.

So as not to overload your brain, I'm going to stop now with a promise to continue with more of the interesting history of our Native American Indians at another time.  Thanks to Ciara, for letting me fill in for her today, and thanks for visiting.  If you enjoyed my post, I'd love to know it.   Sending you "Cowboy Kisses."