THE FIRST AMERICANS

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THE FIRST AMERICANS  

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A long time ago, North America was very different
from the way it is today. There were no cars,
highways, or cities. There were no restaurants,
movie theaters, malls, or even grocery stores.
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However, people still lived in communities.
(Remember, a community is where a group of people
work, live, and have fun together.) A long, long
time ago, the people in the communities made
their own homes, food, and clothing from the
plants and animals they found around them.
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These first Americans descended, or came, from
Asia. These were the first people to live in
North America. That is why we call them Native
Americans. These people have lived in North
America for thousands of years, and there are
still Indian communities today.
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In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe
to find an easier route to Asia. He sailed west
across the Atlantic Ocean hoping to find India.
However, there was land in his way that he and
other European explorers did not know existed.
He and his crew had landed in the Bahamas.
However, Columbus was convinced that he had
landed in India and referred to the people he met
as Indians. These people were not Indians.
They were Americans. They were the Native or
original Americans. Because Columbus had told
so many people about the Indians, the Native
Americans are often called Indians even to this
day.
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Many different Native American groups lived in
North America. Each group had its own language
and customs. A custom is the special way a group
of people does something.
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• Several groups of Native Americans often shared
  the same CULTURE. A culture is the way of life of
  a group of people. Every group of people,
  including yours, has a culture. The language you
  speak, the clothes you wear, the food you eat,
  and the religion you believe in are all part of
  your culture.

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According to this map, there are 5 different
cultures of Native Americans Northwest Coast,
California-Intermountain, Southwest, Plains, and
Eastern Woodlands. We will discuss the Plains
and Eastern Woodlands Indian cultures.
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The Plains Tribes
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The Plains tribes lived in the area of our
country known as the Great Plains. The Plains
Natives included tribes such as the Sioux,
Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfeet, Comanche, and Pawnee.
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The Great Plains region was made up of
grasslands, valleys, streams, and hills. There
were very few trees found in the Great Plains
area.  The photo shown below is an example of the
land within the Great Plains region.
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The buffalo was the most important natural
resource of the Plains tribes. These Natives were
hunters. They hunted many kinds of animals, but
it was the buffalo which provided them with all
of their basic needs food, clothing, and
shelter.
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There were several ways to hunt the buffalo. One
way was for the Natives to ride on horseback
into the herd- and use bows and arrows to kill
the buffalo. Another way was for a large group of
Natives on horseback to chase the buffalo off a
cliff. An unusual way some tribes hunted the
buffalo was to sneak up on the buffalo with wolf
skins covering their bodies, then killing them
with bows and arrows. As soon as the hunt was
over, the women and children would join the
warriors to cut up the buffalo to bring back to
camp. At this time it was considered a real treat
to eat the heart, liver, kidneys, and brain while
they were still warm.
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The skin of the buffalo was used for clothing and
shelter. Before the skin or hide of the buffalo
could be used, it had to be treated. The hide was
then used as the outer covering of the tepee. It
was also decorated with beads, porcupine quills,
and feathers to be worn as clothing by the Plains
people.
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No part of the buffalo went to waste. The horns
were used as spoons, cups, and toys. The bones
were used as tools and weapons. The tail was used
as a fly brush or whip. The stomach and
intestines were cleaned and then used to carry
water. Plains tribes ONLY killed what was needed
to survive, never more.
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PLAINS HOUSING
The Plains Natives were Nomads, people who wander
or migrate. The natives had to migrate to follow
the buffalo. Therefore these tribes needed
shelter that was easy to pack up and put
together. Plains Natives lived in teepees made of
buffalo hides held up by wooden poles.  These
teepees were warm in the winter and cool in the
summer. The door to the teepee was a round
opening which faced east toward the rising sun. 
In the middle of the teepee, a small fire was
built for cooking and warmth.  Plains Indians
usually slept on buffalo robes on the teepee's
floor.
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Clothing
Plains Natives made all of their own clothes. 
Most all of their clothes were made from animal
skins.  Antelope and deer were the most often
used.  The women were responsible for making
clothes for their entire tribe. Men typically
wore animal skin leggings, a loin cloth, and a
belt.  They rarely wore shirts, instead they
wrapped buffalo furs over their shoulders.  These
were known as buffalo robes. 
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A distinguished man, who was known for his
bravery, often wore a grizzly bear claw
necklace.  A man who was considered to be a
distinguished warrior often wore an eagle feather
war bonnet.  The number of feathers on the war
bonnet related to the number of brave acts
performed by each man.
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Women and girls of the tribes wore dresses made
of deerskins.  Women often wore jewelry, such as
earrings and bracelets, made of sea shells,
metal, or beads.
All Plains Indians wore moccasins on their feet. 
Women were in charge of making the moccasins for
their tribe.  Moccasins were usually made with
animal hides and buckskin.  They were decorated
with beads and quill work.
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Food Plains Natives got their food by either
hunting it, growing it, or gathering it.  Some
tribes grew crops such as maize, beans, and
pumpkins.  Others gathered wild fruits and
vegetables.  Food was often traded between the
different tribes.
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Plains Art The Plains people were naturally
gifted artists.  Most of their artwork was done
in the form of painting.  Painting was done on
objects such as their teepees, clothes, and on
religious objects.
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The Plains Natives also carved pipes made of
either wood or stone.  Some of them were
decorated with beautiful designs. The
rock-carving, painting, and pipe making were
mostly done by the men of the tribes. .
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The women were skilled at doing beadwork, quill
work, needle work, and clothing design QUILLWORK
(a form of embroidery) Quills were used to
decorate clothing, moccasins, bags, and baskets.
Only certain women were trained to collect and
decorate with quills. They got the quills by
throwing a blanket over a porcupine and then
picked the quills out of the blanket. Different
sizes of quills were used for different types of
embroidery. The quills were dyed different
colors. The quills were flattened then sewn to
make designs.
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PLAINS RELIGION
The Plains Natives believed in many gods. They
believed the gods showed themselves in the form
of the sun, moon, stars, and anything that was
strong or strange, such as an animal, person, or
even an odd-shaped stone.
The Plains tribes believed in underwater spirits
who controlled all animals and plants.  Above the
sky, they believed their was an upper world ruled
by the Thunderbirds.  The Thunderbirds were the
most powerful of the spirits.
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Plains Natives believed that particular men were
chosen to see the power of the gods through
visions. To receive a vision the man had to go to
a lonely place. He would stay there for several
days without food or water. During this time the
vision was "seen" by the man. Men who became
known for receiving many visions became known as
medicine men. These men were said to be able to
see the future and cure diseases.
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Powwows were one of the Plains ceremonies. A
powwow was a celebration or prayer to the Great
Spirit. An important Plains ceremony was called
the Sun Dance. The Sun Dance took place in the
summer months. It was a ceremony of celebration.
The Sun Dance lasted around four days. During
this time dancers performed the same exact
movements and had nothing to eat or drink. They
lifted their eyes to the sun for as long as they
could endure it.
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Another important dance was the Ghost Dance. This
was a dance performed nightly in which the
Indians believed that they could speak to the
gods and their ancestors. They also believed that
this dance would help get their land back.
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Sitting Bull was one of the most famous Chiefs of
the Plains Culture. He was a Sioux leader in the
area that is now known as South Dakota. He lived
from l83l-l890. During this time gold was
discovered on the land that Sitting Bull's tribe
lived on. The government tried to force the Sioux
Indians to move off their land. Sitting Bull and
his tribe would not peacefully move. In June,
l876, a major battle occurred between Sitting
Bull and U.S. soldiers led by George Custer. This
became known as the Battle of Little Bighorn.
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What did you learn?
1.  The Plains Natives lived in the area of our
country known as the _________________. 2. 
What was the most important natural resource of
the Plains tribes?   3.  What type of housing
did the Plains tribes use?  4.  What was the
clothing of the Plains tribes made from? 5. 
What did the Plains people eat?6.  What type of
art or craft did the tribes create?  7. What
type of ceremony did the Plains tribes
practice? 8.  Who was one of the most famous
Chiefs of the Plains Tribes? Why?
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Eastern Woodland Natives
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The Eastern Woodland tribes lived in the area
that is green. This is East of the Great Plains.
The tribes included the Chickasaw, Cherokee,
Wampanoag, and Iroquois.
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The woodlands of the northeast part of the United
States is a land of rivers, streams, lakes, and,
most of all, trees and plants. The weather isn't
too harsh. The summers are hot and humid, and
winters are cold and snowy. There is a lot of
rain so plants grow well. Where there are many
plants, there are many animals. The Woodland
Indians did not have any trouble finding and
growing food.
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The Woodland people depended upon the forest and
land around them as the natural resources to use
for shelter, clothing, and food.
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Woodland Housing The Woodland tribes lived in
villages of wigwams and longhouses near a lake or
stream. Wigwams were made by bending young trees
to form the round shape of the home. Over this
shape pieces of tree bark were overlapped to
protect the Indians from bad weather. Over the
bark a layer of thatch, or dried grass, was
added. A small hole from the top allowed smoke
from the fires to escape. Beds were matting
covered with animal skin.
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Longhouses were long rectangular homes.
Longhouses were made by building a frame from
saplings, or young trees. They were then covered
with bark sewn together. There was a long hallway
with rooms on both sides. Sleeping platforms,
covered with deerskin, lined each wall. There
were also shelves for storing baskets, pots, and
pelts. Pelts are the skins of animals with the
fur attached. Several families would live in the
long house, but the families were related to each
other.
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Clothing
Some of the Woodland tribes used pelts of animals
for their clothing. In the winter, the men wore
shirts, leggings, and moccasins made of buckskin.
Buckskin is clothing made from the skins of
animals, mainly deer. The women wore skirts they
had woven from the wild grasses, covered with
furs, with leggings underneath.. In the summer,
the men wore a breechcloth, a short piece of
buckskin that hung from the front to the back of
the Indian. The women wore their grass dresses,
and the children wore nothing at all.
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In the Cherokee tribe, women wore skirts woven
from plants. The men wore breechcloths or
leggings. The men would paint their skin and
decorate it with tattoos. The women would sew
feathers into light capes made of netting.
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Food
Living in the woods meant there were plenty of
resources, including food. Woodland tribes were
hunters and gatherers. They hunted bear, moose
and bison, and were effective fishermen. They
also ate beavers, raccoons, rabbits, corn, beans
and berries. Woodland Indians grew squash,
pumpkins and melons. The Iroquois used a bow and
arrow to hunt. They would sometimes wear the skin
of a deer over their body to sneak up to the
deer. The Iroquois also used traps for small
animals. A canoe made from a hallowed out tree
was used to fish in the lakes and streams nearby.
Nets and traps were also used to catch fish.
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Woodland Indians
Woodland Religion
When someone in a Woodland tribe died, the tribe
would hold a cry ceremony. The chief sang and
danced around the fire. This ceremony lasted for
five days. The day before it started, five knots
were tied in a piece of milkweed. Every day of
the ceremony, they would untie a knot.
a knot.
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Face paint was a big deal to Woodland Indians.
They wore it to express feelings each color meant
something red life, black death or eternal
grief and purple royalty) and for special
occasions. Before going to war, they painted
themselves, performed magical rites and took
special medicines. Several of the tribes
performed many songs and rites. They used special
equipment that they thought helped them talk to
their gods. They also wore masks to cure
diseases. The scary masks were supposed to scare
the evil spirit out of the sick person.
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Woodland Art Very important to this culture was
wampum. Wampum belts and necklaces were made from
wampum beads. These beads were actually white and
purple shells. Wampum was used as money between
white man and Indians. Wampum belts were used as
a form of communication between Indian tribes.
Wampum belts would be made into pictures showing
the reason it was made. All Indian messengers
carried wampum belts when going to other tribes.
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The Cherokee were considered one of the most
"civilized" Indian tribes of North America. They
had their own government, laws, courts, and
schools. A Cherokee Indian named Sequoyah
invented a written language called "Talking
Leaves". It had 86 characters. Within a few years
all of the Cherokees could read and write it.
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Between 1790 and 1830 the white man began to push
westward into the Cherokee territory. The
Cherokee fought hard to keep their land. They
even took their fight against being removed from
their land to court. At first it seemed like they
might win. But they were forced to leave the land
they loved.
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IN ONE of the saddest stories in our history,
thousands of men, women, and children were forced
off of the land they loved and moved into crowded
forts with very little food. They were then
forced to walk over a thousand miles to what is
now Arkansas. It was an unusually cold winter.
Many of the Indians were barefoot with little
clothing. They were forced to walk through snow
and ice. They ate only what they could find along
the way. Many Indians died along the way,
especially older Indians and children. Their
bloody footprints left trails of blood in the
snow. They cried as they went because they were
leaving the land they loved, the land they had
called home for so many years. This horribly
long, sad journey of the Cherokee has become
known in history as "The Trail of Tears".
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What did you learn?
1.  Where did the Woodland tribes get their
nations name?_________________. 2.  What was
the most important natural resource of the
Woodland tribes?   3.  What type of housing did
the Woodland tribes use?  4.  What was the
clothing of the Woodland tribes made from? 5. 
What did the Woodland people eat? 6.  What type
of art or craft did the tribes create?  7. What
type of ceremony did the Woodland tribes
practice? 8.  Who was one of the most famous
Chiefs of the Plains Tribes? Why?