The Plains Indians by Ginger Simpson
While reading historical literature about my favorite topic, American Indians, I was amazed to learn how many Plains tribes existed. The "Plains," as defined in the 19th century, included land ranging from northern Alberta, Canada into Texas in the south, cutting swaths through North and South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas and Oklahoma. The names of those tribes are, but not limited to: Sarcee, Plains Cree, Blackfoot, Ojibwa, Assiniboin, Gros Ventre, Hidatsa, Mandan, Crow, Arikara, Ponca, Cheyenne, Dakota, Omaha, Iowa, Pawnee, Araphaho, Oto, Kansa, Wichita, Kiowa, Osage, Kiowa-Apache, Comanche, and Caddo.
Amazingly enough, though many tribes lived and co-existed on
the Plains, the language spoken consisted of only nine different ones: Siouan,
Kowan, Caddoan, Algonquian, Shoshoean, and Athabascan. It’s not surprising that sign language
became a means of communication for those who didn’t speak the same dialect.
A shared interest by
all tribes was the buffalo. Indian survival greatly depended upon
the animal, and once I learned the importance of the huge shaggy beast, I
suddenly understood why tribal tempers flared when white men began slaughtering
the animals for the pure sport of it, shooting through the windows of moving trains and leaving the
carcasses to rot.
For centuries and centuries, Indians have depended upon the
buffalo as their mainstay. In
fact, before horses were introduced as a means of transportation, nomadic bands
hunted on foot. Of course, you can
safely assume that the lifespan of these hunters was relatively short because
of the danger involved. Have you seen the size of a buffalo?
Usually, twice-yearly hunts were organized and different
methods were used to fall the huge beasts.
Before the advantage of riding among the herd on horseback,
hunters found ways to cause stampedes and then drove the animals off a cliff. Warriors dressed in buffalo skins and
wandered among the herds, gaining a vantage point of leadership in which the
bulls followed and were stunned to a fearful run by other tribe mates who
stamped their feet and yelled. Now, that's what I call bravery.
Saying, “depended upon” is not an understatement. Not only did the buffalo provide essential
food for the tribe,
nothing was
wasted from a kill. Clothing,
blankets, lodge coverings, utensils, dishes, and even bowstrings were fashioned
from the animal’s remains. The
meat was divided equally among the tribe, often dried with berries to create a dish called pemmican to sustain the people through the winter. Even the needles and thread used to tack on the colorful beading that decorated the clothing of the tribe came from the blessed kill. Take
a minute and try to picture having to manufacture everything you use from a buffalo--from the food on your table to the very pot you cooked it in. That doesn't count all the work that goes into scraping and drying the hides. I don’t know about
you, but the supermarket is looking pretty darn good to me. You?
Have a Nice Day, or as a Lakota woman would say: Aŋpétu wašté yuhá pe.
Ginger, Thank you for sharing the information that I enjoyed reading.
ReplyDeletePlease let us know when Yellow Moon will be published. I am looking forward to reading it.
Thanks for stopping by Rosemary. Yellow Moon is already published, and my newest, The Well is also available. Hope you'll try them. I'm glad you found my article interesting. You know how much I love American Indian history.
ReplyDeleteOne of the very first recorded illness epidemics in the reputation of the United states Western took place when Anglo-European residents shifting westward during the 1830s and '40s introduced illnesses to the Local United states cultural categories (tribes) of the Great Plains. Great Plains Indians
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