Ojibwe/Chippewa: The Great Northern Tribe

Image Via: Crystalinks

In this picture an Ojibwe family canoes down one of the numerous rivers that flows through the Midwest and Southern Canadian region. Nature was essential to the Ojibwe because they relied on it to support their lifestyle which is why parts of their religion was based off of nature. They relied on nature to provide animals for food and rivers for transportation. The Ojibwe need nature because of the resources it produced  for them to build tools and houses. The Ojibwe even fought other tribes such as the Dakota for the lands in northern Minnesota because of the potential it showed for making a good place to settle. Nature was a large part of the Ojibew's relgion as well as their lifestyle. The Ojibwe believed that they should not tamper with nature or change it but rather live with it because it gave so much to them. The Ojibwe also believed that they were no more important than a rock so they treated the land with great respect. Land on which the Ojibwe lived and also being in harmony with the land was so important to the Ojibwe that without their devotion to it the Ojibwe would of never had the success they achieved in the Midwest.

Crow: Following the Bison

Image via Edward Curtis Website

In this image, three members of the Crow tribe are seen offering a piece of bison meat to the Guardian Spirit, who was a supernatural teacher, frequently depicted in animal form. The Guardian Spirit would guide the people of the Crow tribe through every important event in their life. This symbolic image demonstrates how everything in Crow culture stemmed from the bison and just how important the bison was to the Crow, this can be concluded from this image as it shows that the bison was important enough to the crow to be sacrificed to the Guardian spirit, who was their guide in life. Bison was one of the main sources of food for the Crow which made it extremely valuable to the people of the Crow tribe. The Crows were a nomadic tribe, and they would follow herds of bison. Wherever the herds would go, the Crow would follow. This once again demonstrates the impact the bison had on the lives of the Crow. 

Apache: The Family Clan

This picture depicts a normal family living in an Apache tribe. This depiction shows two toddlers, a young child, mother, father, and the rest are older sons and daughters. Families most of the time would come together to make important decisions that would affect themselves.

Makah Tribe: The Cape People

Image via The Official Makah Site

The image above is of Makah tribe members rowing a canoe modeled after a traditional model in Neah Bay.  The image demonstrates the large importance of the sea in Makah culture.  The artifacts linked to each article are from Ozette and show the importance of craftsmanship in the Makah culture. The woven baskets show the precision and detail in the women’s work and the mask is an example of one of the masks used for the four day wolf ritual which was a very important ceremony for the Makah people.  The embellished whale fin was important to confirming and understanding how big of an influence the sea and whaling had on the Makah culture pre-contact.   The fishhook was also an amazing discovery because it shows the innovation of the Makah people through their fishing techniques.  The Whaling and fishing were a large part of Makah traditions due to their involvement in multiple rituals that were very important to the tribe and made them unique from many other tribes in pre-contact America.  There is a recent debate about whether traditional whaling on the Makah’s land should be a lawful act, due to the uprising of animal rights activists and the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972.  The Makah people signed the Treaty of Neah Bay in 1855, preserving their right to kill whales and seals in their usual fishing grounds, but when the Pacific gray whale was added to the endangered species list (due to the mass non-tribal, commercial whaling), the Makah people respectfully stopped their traditions.  When the animal was taken off the list in 1994, the tribespeople pushed for their rights to resume whaling to restore their religious and dietary culture.  Although many may believe whaling to be cruel, it is part of Makah culture and they have not abused their privileges.  In 2015, an environmental study was released, allowing the Makah to hunt 24 whales over a 6 year period.  The agreement is a good solution to the dramatic controversy that has unfolded over the past 20 years.  Whaling is an important part of Makah culture that should not be lost, although restrictions are necessary.

Casey, James. "Makah Whale Hunting Permit Effort, a Long-Fought Controversy,

    Would See Debate Resume." Peninsula Daily News (North Olympic Peninsula,

    Washington, USA), March 7, 2015. Accessed September 8, 2015. http://www.peninsuladailynews.com/article/20150308/NEWS/303089928.  

Shoshone Indians: Living in The Great Basin

http://americanindianshistory.blogspot.com/2011/10/shoshonean-indian-tribes-and-language.html

I picked this image of the women and children of the Shoshone tribe because it shows the style housing the Shoshones had due to harsh climates not accommodating to a more permanent way of living. The Shoshone were nomadic people who moved from place to place around the Great Basin area on either sides of the Rocky Mountains which affected the Shoshone later on with trade with Europeans, and also benefited the Shoshone because they came in contact with Europeans much later because of the region they were living in. I chose my primary source because it talked about the Rocky Mountains and the harsh climates which connected with the Shoshone indians because movement from area to area were common. I picked my topics as clothing, history of the Shoshone indians, food/hunting and patterns of movement. I chose those topics and my specific sources because I felt extremely interested in the clothing the Shoshone wore, the resources they found as well as the animals they hunted while on horses. These topics and sources dive deeper into who the Shoshone really were with their styles of migration to find new resources, and how they continuously were adapting to unfamiliar places.

Navajo: Land and Religion

Photo from NPR Newscast

This image displays a Navajo family in the desert-like environment of the Southwest. The Navajos, also known as the Dine, have been living in the Four Corners region of the American Southwest for hundreds of years. They believe that their homeland is geographically and spiritually located in an area that is bound by four major sacred mountains. Navajo land has significant importance to their culture along with the knowledge of story telling. Luci Tapahonso, a Navajo woman and storyteller, says "a person's worth is determined by the stories and songs she or he knows, because it is by this knowledge that an individual is directly linked to the history of the entire group." This connection between the land and the history of the Navajo tribe made them resistant and unified from the European settlers when they intruded the Southwest and their home. The sources chosen were mostly from a book called Native Heritage: Personal Accounts by American Indians 1790 to the Present. These stories of the past recall the thoughts and experiences of Navajo ancestors even before encounters with the Spanish.

Bibliography

Apache: The People of Devotion

Image via Historum

This image displays a few members of the Apache Tribe moments after a fight. This photo really embodies who the Apache people were. On the outside, and to their enemies, they were seen as a very warlike tribe who had no fear, and felt nothing for those they hurt because they believed they were doing it for the better. The Apache were very strong fighters, and the skill of fighting, raiding, and killing was taught to all infants from a very young age. However, within their tribe they had deep traditions rooted in honesty, care, and friendship. The Apache people had a language of their own that was used and passed down for generations. They also valued family, as much as or even more than, war. The Apache's daily life revolved mainly around their families and the other families around them. They valued truth among their families, and especially within their close relationships. Further, they valued religion very highly as well. All of actions of the Apache people were guided by their religion and they would seek guidance every day from their Gods on how to live that day, and what they could do to be their best self. Ultimately, the Apache people were more than just a war-like tribe, and although they were vicious against their enemies, they were loving towards one another, which is something that is often forgotten. The main source for this project was a book I found in the Blake Upper School Library that had 20+ pages written about the Apache tribe pre-contact. It had everything from what the Apache looked like physically, to how they fought and what they used to fight. The other sources I used were from databases that helped back up and further what the book had written. The primary source I used was a letter written in 1541 by a Spaniard visiting the Apache tribe, and in this letter the language/communication among the Apache was described.

Link to bibliography: https://docs.google.com/a/blakeschool.org/document/d/1nVd7_I0-0Y5_vjRWtr24rP8DvBivC64r0ojowNVaC_w/edit?usp=sharing