Family Life

Men huntedand faught while women stayed home, cared for the teepee, gathered water and cared for the children.
Marrage was usually out of love but could be arranged. Women could remarry and divorced was normal. Polygamy was also normal

Indian Society and Politics

At least one a year bands would meet as a nation
The council was made of Chiefs, who would not be elected
The Warrior Brotherhood was made up of warriors and had weapons such as bows and spears
Chiefs were made famous if they were successful at war

Survival on the Plains

Horses were brought to Mexico by the Spainish and Indians stole horses fom Mexico
The more horses you had the more power you had, like currency
In buffalo hunting all pieces of the buffalo were used or eaten

Hunting Buffalo

They used spears and personalised arrows to know which buffalo they killed so they could bring honnor to their families
Men kept horns of the buffalo they killed
So much meat was collected per buffalo, they only had to hunt around every three months
Buffalo Dance - dressed as buffalo they danced to please spirits and bring more buffalo

The Spirit World

Attitudes to War

War was either faught by large groups of men or small raid partied. The war continued untill either side won or a peace treaty was decided
Wars were faught to: test spiritual power, horses had been stolen, revenge or to prove bravery
Scalps were taken from dead eniemies so their spirit could not escape to heavan, these scalps would be put on their teepee.
Counting Coup - A ritual for men to prove themselves, to show domiance over other tribes ow the importance of their tribe.

	Created by Lucy Trigg over 6 years ago

All notes from the American West topic

American West notes