Life in the Great Plains

Chapter 5

Changes on the Western Union

The culture of the Plains Indians declines as white settlers transform the Great Plain.

Cultures Clash on the Prairie

The cattle industry booms in the late 1800s, as the culture of the Plains Indians decline.

The Culture of the Plains Indians

Life on the Plains

Great Plains – grasslands in west-central portion of the U.S.

East: hunting, farming villages; West: nomadic hunting, gathering

The Horse and the Buffalo

Horses, guns lead most Plains tribes to nomadic life by mid-1700s

Trespassing others’ hunting lands causes war; count coup for status

Buffalo provides many basics needs:

-hides used for teepees, clothes, blankets

-meat used for jerky, pemmican

Family Life

Form family groups with ties to other bands that speak the same language

Men are hunters, warriors; women butcher meat, prepare hides

Believe in powerful spirits that control natural world –men or women can become shamans

Children learn through myths, stories, games, example

Communal life; leaders rule by counsel

Settlers Push Westward

Clash of Cultures

Native Americans: land cannot be owned; settlers: want to own land

Settlers think natives forfeited land because did not improve it

Since consider land unsettled, migrants go west to claim it

The Lure of Silver and Gold

1858 discovery of gold in Colorado draws tens of thousands

Mining camps, tiny towns have filthy, ramshackle dwellings

Fortune seekers of different cultures, races; mostly men

The Government Restricts Native Americans

Railroads Influence Government Policy

1834, government designates Great Plains as one huge reservation

1850s, treaties define specific boundaries for each tribe

Massacre at Sand Creek

Troops kill over 150 Cheyenne, Arapaho at Sand Creek winter camp

Death on the Bozeman Trail

Bozeman Trail crosses Sioux hunting grounds

-Red Cloud asks for end of settlements; Crazy Horse ambushes troops

Treaty of Fort Laramie – U.S. closes trail; Sioux to...