Zusammenfassung der Ressource
American West:
The Plains Indians
- Buffalo
- How the 'Indians' learnt to
survive on the plains
- Hunted the Buffalo around the plains,
moved along with them.
- Started using basic weapons,
bows and arrows etc.
- Used horses when introduced by
the Spanish (16th century)
- Food from meat
- Shelter (tipi) from hide
- Tools & Weapons from bones
- Clothing from furs
- The Plains
- Vast Landscape
- No landmarks,
easy to get lost
- Wild Animals
- Buffalo
- Sparse Landscape
- No water or lumber
for long distances
- Bad Weather
- Dry, extremely hot summer
- Freezing, unforgiving winter
- Arid & Unfarmable
- Europeans were
traditionally farmers
- Beliefs
- Everything has a spirit
- Animals
- Plants
- Streams
- Rocks
- Only take from nature what
you need, always leave
enough for tomorrow
- The Circle is important
- Human beings came from the
earth, and would return after death
- The Great Spirit gives life to everything
- Contact the spirit world through visions
- Family Life
- Originally from Asia, went to America
by a land bridge that no longer exists.
- Housing
- Tipis from Buffalo hide
- Had to be able to move quickly
- Could be made into a
Travois for travelling
- Travelled in small groups
(10 to 50 families)
- Men
- Looked after horses
- Defended Camp
- Hunted Buffalo
- Women
- Looked after children
and the tipi
- Collected Water
- Made clothing
- Children
- Taught what they needed
to know to be adult Indians
- Elderly & Sick
- Gave advice, trusted for wisdom
- Looked after
- Left behind if too ill
- Fighting
- The Great Spirit owns the land, so
they did not fight to control it
- Whites believed they could
own the land, and so fought.
- Indians decorated their weapons
- Whites designed weapons just to kill
- Individual men were important
- A single US man was not important,
there were hundreds of thousands
- Against other Indian tribes,
battles had strict rules
- White men fought to win, they had no rules.
They killed women and children.
- An individuals skill on a horse
was highly respected
- Whites depended on military
technology such as rifles and cannons.
- Took the scalps of their
enemies to improve spirit
- Whites had no interest in
bodies of the enemy.
- They found it disgusting, and
believed Indians were savages.