Plains Indians

Plains Indians

Beliefs
1. Belief in spirits
  1. Waken tanka
    1. The Great spirit
      1. Created the world
      2. Created all that lived
  2. Everything had a spirit
  3. Contacted through visions
    1. Interpreted by Shaman
    2. How they got their adult names
  4. Contact through dances and ceremonies
    1. Sundance
    2. Buffalo Dance
    3. Scalp dance
2. Circle of Nature
  1. Circle of their councils
  2. Circle of their tipis
  3. Circle of the sun
3. Sacred Land
  1. Came from the earth
    1. Returned to the earth when died
    2. Part of the land
  2. Land was their mother
  3. High places- close to the spirit world
    1. The Black Hills
      1. Where they were saved from the great flood
      2. Where they took dead for burial
  4. Prepared to fight for it
Daily life
1. Home
  1. Tipi
    1. Could be packed up and transported
    2. Suitable for all weather conditions
2. Family Life
  1. Men
    1. Hunting
    2. Protect horses
    3. Protection
    4. Polygamy
      1. More than one wife
      2. Made sure all women were taken care of
        If husbands died
      3. Arranged marraiges
  2. Women
    1. Tipi
    2. Food
    3. Water
    4. Making clothing
  3. Children
    1. Future
    2. Learnt skills
      1. Boys- bows and arrows
      2. Girls- Maintain a home
      3. How to ride
    3. Learnt how to survive
  4. Old people
    1. Gave advise
    2. Bring up the children
    3. When too old and weak they were left behind
3. Organisation
  1. (Sioux) Nation
    1. Not led by an individual
    2. Consists of many tribes
      1. Tribes consist of many bands
        Bands
        Influenced by warrior society
        Advised by a council
        Led by a chief
        Wise
        Warrior
        Spirtitual
Buffalo
1. Hunting
  1. Creep up on them and shoot arrows
    1. Disguise in wolf skins
  2. Stampede
    1. Trap them in valleys
    2. Driven off cliffs
  3. Used horses when discovered
2. Uses
  1. Hide
    1. Tipi covers
    2. Clothes
    3. Carpets
    4. Mocassins
  2. Sinews
    1. Bow strings
  3. Brain
    1. Used for tanning
  4. Tongue
    1. Eaten
    2. Hair brush
  5. Horns
    1. Headresses
  6. Teeth
    1. Necklaces
  7. Skull
    1. Religious ceremonies
Warfare
1. Why fight?
  1. Protect their way of life
  2. Stealing horses
  3. Impress
    1. Women
    2. Older warriors
  4. Increase standing in tribe
  5. Seek revenge
  6. Destroy enemies
2. Uniform
  1. War shirt
  2. Shield
  3. Feathers
    1. They were marked in various ways to show success in warfare
  4. Body painting
  5. Amulet
    1. Spiritual
  6. Scalps decoration
  7. Lance
3. Weapons
  1. Horse
  2. Bow and arrow
  3. Coup stick
  4. Rifle
    1. Reached Sioux due to trading
  5. Shield
  6. Tomahawk
4. Low casualities
  1. Counting Coup
    1. If touched with coup stick: disgrace
  2. Did not believe in killing being brave
    1. Braver to touch enemy with a coup stick
  3. More men lost through hunting accidents than war
    1. Less than 4 lost a year
5. Scalping
  1. Took scalps as evidence of their success
  2. Dried and hung outside tipis
    1. Trophies
  3. Believed if warrior lost his scalp, he could not go into afterlife
    1. So your enemy would not be there to fight you in the afterlife
  4. Mutilation could also occur
    1. Leave enemies disabled in the afterlife
6. Horses
  1. Enabled warriors to raid over farther distances
  2. Wealth counted by no. of horses
  3. New reason for warfare
  4. Horsemanship became important in society
7. Enemies of Sioux
  1. White men
  2. Crows
  3. Pawnee

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	Created by ELeanor Turner about 8 years ago