native americans
TRANSCRIPT
Native Americans
Eastern
The Native Americans on the East coast were fishermen and farmers. They were the first to
encounter many of the Europeans who came to settle
in the new world.
Plains
Tribes in the plains, the middle of North America,
largely hunted bison. They were famous for their
encounters with pioneers in the 1800’s sparking many
long wars.
Northwestern
The peoples of the Pacific Northwest were fishermen.
They lived in longhouses designed to keep them dry from the rain. Totem Poles
were a traditional art practiced.
ArcticAlaskan Natives made their clothes and homes to battle the cold temperatures. Ice fishing and snowshoeing
were common in the winter.
Southwestern
Southwestern Native Americans made their homes
and pots out of clay. They are also famous for making colorful jewelry.
Houses
•Different tribes had different houses
•Some tribes lived in houses made of wood
•Other tribes lived in houses made of buffalo skin so they could move when they needed to hunt
•Others made houses made of mud bricks
Adobe Mud Houses
Teepee
Wigwam
Beliefs and Values•Strong connection to nature - using resources from Mother Earth in moderation
•Respect for elders
•Code of Ethics
•Land is not property to be owned by one, but a resource to be shared with all.
All things share the same breath - the beast, the tree, the man, the air shares its spirit with all the life it supports.
Chief Seattle
Totem Poles
Traditional rain dance
Dream Catchers
•Dream catchers catch bad dreams in the web, and let good dreams pass through the center
Fun FactsNative Americans invented lacrosse, a sport now
played internationally.
Another invention was the toboggan which is a favorite winter pastime.
The U.S. one dollar coin features Sacagawea, a
famous native american woman.
Native American Reservations
•Now, there are areas of the United States that are reserved only for Native Americans
•They make their own laws and govern themselves.
•Native Americans are citizens of the US and many live in the general population.
Native American Native American Conflict Conflict
& Assimilation& Assimilation
North America was not just a vast empty plain before Europeans arrived, there were native tribes from coast to
coast.
Native tribes of the plains depended on buffalo hunting
for most of their needs
During the great Western migration, thousands of settlers set out across the plains
At first, some people tried to negotiate a way to peacefully share the West.
First lady Mary Todd Lincoln (at
Right) welcoming Native Americans
at the White House
But others were hostile to Native Americans and efforts were made to systematically kill off the buffalo, the
source of their livelihood.
Piles of buffalo hides killed by white settlers
The government
began forcing Native
Americans off of their land and
selling it to white
settlers.
Native Americans retaliated,
and encounters with settlers often ended in violence.
The U.S. Calvary wages a
campaign against
the Native American
s all across the
West.
George Armstrong Custer
commanded the 7th Calvary in the Battle of Little
Bighorn, the worst U.S. Army defeat
against Native Americans.
The battle is also called Custer’s Last Stand
Sitting Bull led the Native
American forces to victory at
Little Bighorn.
There were 2,000-3,000
Lakota, Northern Cheyenne
and Arapaho warriors
compared to Custer’s 700
soldiers.
Native Americans fight
back
But eventually it came to an
end…
The Battle of Wounded Knee marked the end
of Native
American
resistance. With it, they were
forced to
accept defeat.
At Wounded Knee, U.S.
forces massacred
300 unarmed Native
Americans with deadly Gatlin guns (left). This included
women and children.
Burying the Native American dead in a mass grave at Wounded Knee
After they were forced to accept defeat, the U.S. policy for Native
Americans was “assimilation.” This
meant that they would have to give up their way of life and adopt
American culture.
Young boy before attending
assimilation school.
After assimilation school
Students were taught how to exist in white society, like job skills.
They were taught
Christianity…
The Bible translated to Algonquin
…and how to meet white society’s social expectations.
Native American children were sent by the hundreds to assimilation boarding schools that
taught them to reject their native cultures.
Today’s Struggles