The Iroquois Tribe

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In today’s post we are going to write about The Iroquois Tribe. This people are Native American Indians who lived in the Eastern Woodlands, around New York. The Iroquois called themselves Kanonsionni, meaning people of the Longhouse, but today they are known by the name Haudenosaunee.

The Iroquois were not really a tribe but a confederacy of five tribes. Moreover, in 1722, a sixth tribe joined to the Iroquois nation and finally they became known as the Six Nations, and each nation had their own language:

·        Cayuga

·        Mohawk

·        Oneida

·        Onondaga

·        Tuscarona

·        Seneca

The Longhouse was a home to many members of an Iroquois family. This building extended more than the length of a football field. Their society was matrilineal, when a marriage transpired, the family moved into the longhouse of the mother, and the family lineage was traced from her.

The Iroquois tribe were hunters, gatherers, farmers and fishermen but they were best  known as farmers. They harvested corn, beans and squash as well as tobacco for smoking. Their crops were grown and harvested by the women of the tribe, around their crops they danced four anual ceremonies.
Women of the tribe gathered wild berries, roots, greens, barks and nuts for both cooking and medicine. However, men were gone during the winter months for hunting deer, elk and fowl, and other Woodland animals. They also caught several types of fish like salmon, trouta and bass.

Stone axes, various size of arrowheads, wooden hoes and knives were the main tools used for hunting and farming, the spears were also used in fishing.

They were united and could be a strong enemy or friend. In the French and Indian War, the Iroquois Confederacy were important allies for the English colonists. Because the Iroquois helped the English to defeat the French in a war that ended up giving to the English the land east of the Mississippi River.

Benjamin Franklin admired the Iroquois tribe because each tribe ran its own affairs, nevertheless they met together to settle arguments between tribes and to fight against any enemy; and their way to organized their meetings were totally democratic so anyone was allowed to speak.

They used two important instruments: drums and flutes for making music. The drums were often filled with water to give them a distinctive sound, different from the drums of other tribes. The Iroquois music was very rhythmic and consisted of drumming and lively singing.  

The image shows a traditional Iroquois Indian flute bag made of fringed deerskin.

Bibliography:

http://native-american-indian-facts.com/Northeast-American-Indian-Facts/Iroquois-Indian-Facts.shtml

http://www.ushistory.org/us/1d.asp

http://lajhsslab.com/Native_Americans/6-iroquois.htm

http://www.bigorrin.org/iroquois_kids.htm

The Sioux Tribe

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In today´s post we are going to talk about The Sioux Tribe. The word Sioux means “the enemies”. However, this nation is also called Dakota or Lakota, which means “the allies”. 

The Sioux nation is a large group of Native American tribes that traditionally lived in the Great Plains. There are three major divisions of Sioux: Eastern Dakota, Western Dakota, and the Lakota. The Sioux Indians actually came to North America from the continent of Asia about 30,000 years ago.

  



  

Generally, the Sioux Indians were nomadic, meaning that they never really stayed in one place for a very long amount of time. Typically they followed the pattern of the buffalo, assuring them that there would be food and clothing wherever they traveled. The Spanish introduced horses to the Sioux in the 1500’s. Once they began to use horses as a means of carrying articles and transportation, life became much easier, particularly since they were living a nomadic lifestyle. The tribe had chiefs designated for various aspects of life, including war, civil rules, and of course, medicine men. The men of the tribe could become chiefs eventually if they demonstrated strong warrior skills.

They lived in teepees made from long wooden poles and covered with bison hides. The poles would be tied together at the top and spread wide at the bottom to make the shape of an upside down cone. Teepees could be taken down and set up quickly. This enabled entire villages to move on a regular basis.

Nearly all Lakota and Dakota people speak English, but about 15,000 Sioux Indians are bilingual in their native Lakota or Dakota language. Despite pronunciation differences, Lakota and Dakota speakers can understand each other easily, just like people who speak American English and Canadian English can.

Regarding their food, some Sioux grew crops like corn, squash, and beans, however the majority of the Sioux gained most of their food from hunting. Their primary food source was meat from bison, but they also hunted deer and elk. They would dry the bison meat into a tough jerky that could be stored and lasted for over a year.

Sioux women are known for their quillwork and beadwork, and the men are known for their elaborate buffalo-hide paintings. Sioux artists also make pottery, parfleche, and ceremonial calumets (pipes carved from catlinite.)

To give some more information, once the 1860’s came around, the fight over land got quite intense. The Sioux Indians battled the white man in order to keep their land. Eventually, the United States government signed a treaty allowing them to keep a portion of the land, otherwise known as a reservation. Once the gold rush took place, rumors abounded that there was gold located on Sioux land. Again, a battle ensued and the Sioux joined up with the Cheyenne tribe. The battle was led by the legendary Sitting Bull. Over the next couple of decades, the Sioux Indians traveled to the Dakotas. They took place in the famous battle known as Custer’s Last Stand, and ended up killing all of the soldiers that attempted to attack them. Unfortunately in 1891 the Battle of Wounded Knee occurred, and the Sioux lost the battle, losing many people in the fray. Today, there are about 30,000 Sioux Indians living in South Dakota, and still other in Nebraska, Montana, and Canada.

Aŋpétu wašté yuhá po (have a nice day in Lakota Lenguage)

Bibliography:

http://indians.org/articles/sioux-indians.html

http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/lakota.php

http://www.bigorrin.org/sioux_kids.htm

http://www.ducksters.com/history/native_american_sioux_nation.php





The Comanche Tribe

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The Comanches are one of the most famous tribes and they were people who lived in the Southern Plains of the United States, also called Comancheria, and it was located from Nebraska to the north of Texas and New Mexico but it is said that they were nomadic all over the Great Planes, hunting bison and buffalo.
They were warlike and, usually, they fought wars with other tribes but Comanches were also good traders or, at least, that is what the Spaniards said when they arrived there. 
They also had their own language called Central Numic but, nowadays, they speak English.

In this tribe horses were very important and dogs as well. They were used for pulling travois. Comanche tribe also supplied Americans with mules for the southern cotton plantations and horses used to reach California during the 1849 gold rush so they were very important for the rest of states.

They had their own government and laws but they also had to obey American laws.

Comanche's clothes were similar between men and women but they were of different materials. For example, women used to wear long dresses made of deerskin and men used to wear war shirts and leggins made of buckskin. On their feet, it was very tycipal the moccasins. During winter, they wore long buffalo-hide tunica. As headresses, they sometimes wore a cap with eagle feathers and ermine tails trailing behind it.

Regarding religion, it was very basic. The important thing was the individual acquisition of "puha" or power, which could be obtained from the spirit world and could be shared with others. The two kind of powers were: protection in war and curing through a vision quest, but there was no formal ritual for this. There was a general belief in a Supreme Creator, spirits, and a life after death. Religion was an important part of their lives. 

If you are interested, you can find out much information in this web like, for example, their rituals, games, jewelry or some historical events such as trading with colonists or buffalo hunting. Have a look! 

Nahnu teasu u punitui (I'll see you again!)

http://www.bigorrin.org/comanche_kids.htm
http://www.tolatsga.org/ComancheOne.html
http://www.texasindians.com/comanche.htm
http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/Comanche.html

The Delaware Tribe

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The Delaware Tribe is also known as the Lenape Tribe or Lenni Lenape Tribe which means ''the true people''. The Delaware nation was the first to sign a treaty with the new United States.

The Delaware Indians lived in the zones of New Jersey, Delaware, New York and Pennsylvania and were relocated by the English to Oklahoma. This people were farmers, hunters and fishmen.

This tribe is organized in two federally recognized Lenape Tribe in Oklahoma:

• The Delaware Tribe of Indians 
• The Delaware Tribe of Western Oklahoma

Each tribe has its own government and laws but of course they are American citizens.

The Lenape language is known as Unami. There are beautiful words in this language like wanishi (''thank you'') or mpi ("water").

In the past, the Lenape Tribe didn't live in teepes, they lived in villages of round houses called wigwams, some villages were palisaded too. 

The people of this tribe painted their faces with different colours and designs for different occasions, and the men often wore tattoos in animal design. The women wore their hair in long braids and the men wore a mohak hairstyle. 

The art of this tribe is the beadwork and baskery. They are well-known for the wampum out of white and purple shell beads. The design and pictures of this type of art often told a story or represented a person's family. 

Nowadays there are different events about the Delaware Indians's history, language, culture...like this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qAnmfjzSiE

In addittion if you want to know more about this tribe they also have a web site: http://delawaretribe.org/

Lapich knewel! (I will see you soon! in Lenape language)

Bibliography: 

http://www.bigorrin.org/lenape_kids.htm

http://delawaretribe.org/

http://www.talk-lenape.org/index.php

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lenape