Go West: First Contact with Native Nations

Go West: First Contact with Native Nations — page 3
Ways of Life Many different Native peoples lived in the West from the Blackfoot in the North to the Navajo in the Southwest Their lifestyles were shaped by their natural environment µ Versatile animal µ Herds are key to survival On the plains the buffalo was central to life According to the beliefs of some Plains nations the animal gave itself to the people The people held ceremonies to celebrate the way it sacrificed itself for them Every part of the buffalo was used including its meat for food and skins for making clothes Its bones were used to make tools and its sinews to make thread Left Native hunters use horses and bows and arrows to hunt buffalo µ Traditional territories µ US government imposes borders Native peoples had traditional territories Some groups shared hunting lands but others fought over territory In the 1800s the US government imposed borders on the West In 1834 it set up Indian Territory modern Oklahoma for Native peoples The nations already living there resented the arrival of new groups of Native peoples The new arrivals resented being moved there against their will 6 Right Piegan Blackfoot tipis next to a pond on the northern plains