Basic Characteristics
Most complex culture
Food- Acorn
Krober- know California Indians well, wrote ethnography
Myths
Earth Diver-
Earth or Duck
Coyote-
Common figure- created human beings
Dual personality (good and bad, creator and destroyer)
Trickster figure
Lizard
Competes with wolf for paws or fingers
Lizard won
Wolf and Coyote
Wolf is coyote's older brother
5 zones of California Indians
1. Northern Coastal Area
2. Rivers
3. Central Valley
4. Southern California
5. Southeastern California
Disease
Influenza, Measles, and Smallpox
Malaria- spread from Washington and Oregon
Decreased population greatly
Gold Rush and Spanish killed off Indian population
European influence- Spanish, Russian, British, American
Missions of California
Bishop Junipero Serra (1713-1784)
He was hated by the Indians
Introduced cattle, sheep, grains, fruit, & diseases
Indians were baptized (called Neophites), locked up away from families
Resistance-
1. Passive
pretended not to understand Spanish
2. Active
Run Away, painted on churches, attacked, infanticide
3. Overt
Raids
British and the Miwok Indians
Indians thought they were the dead returning
Women beat their chests
Ishi
Last Yahi Indian and the last speaker of Yana
Waterman and Krober brought him to UC Berkley and gave him a job (custodian
Taught a lot about Yahi culture
Dr. Pope- taught Ishi a lot about the body
Ishi had bad taboos about "stealing your soul" with dissection and anesthesia
Major Tribes
Yahi, Pomo, Miwok
II. PLATEAU CULTURE AREA
Basic Characteristics
Myths
Transformers
Monster Slayer- social control
Fennel formed the Root Child (creation myth of man)
Blue Jay- Creation myth
Coyote- only in south
Food
Salmon, roots, and berries
50% Salmon, 40% plants
10% animals
Things to KNOW:
Kinnewick man came from this area
Horses are very important
Prophetic Indian Religion
Riverine type people
Leadership comes through consensus of the group
Language
Salish
Homes-
Spring, fall, summer
mat house
temporary
Time of fishing
Winter
pit houses
Time of Leisure
Social Control
Gossip, myth, public whipping, sorcery, kill
Lifecycle
Birth taboos (strict diet and schedule)
Naming of the Child
They become humans when they are named at birth
Therefore, there is no infanticide
Menstration
Dangerous
Puberty
Boys have vision quests
Shaman gets powers from dreams and vision quests
Marriage
Wives live in separate houses
Death
Don't reuse a name of the dead
Strict widow taboos
Kinship- bilateral
Major Tribes
Sanpoil-Nespelem
Earth Lodge
Semi-subterranean- Mat Lodge
If person dies in mat house, it is burned immediately
Food
Salmon
"Salmon Chief"
Hunters went in to sweat lodges before hunting + no sex (animals can smell)
Women were kept aware from snares & traps
Root gathering by women
Pemmican
Kinship
Patrilineality, patrilocal residence
Shaman
"Rattlesnake Shaman"
Male or female- Chief chose
COLUMBIA INDIAN CONFEDERACY
1. Chelan
2. Wenatchee
3. Entiat
4. Columbia
Shooktalkoosum (leader)
Head man of Columbia Indian Confederacy
Very successful in leading bison hunts in Plains area
Blackfoot put a spell on him to kill him
Moses (younger brother)
Brilliant and very education
Mistranslated to help Indians get land and they didn't have to move to a reservation
Nez Perce
Great horse breeders
Chief Joseph (elder)
Indian Shaker Church- Religious Movement
John Slocum- founder
Started church after a near death experience and receiving a vision
Based on Christianity and replaced traditional doctrine
Slocum died, wife shakes him after they call a healer (contrary to his belief), he awakes healed-hence "shaker church"
Other leaders- Big Bill, Mud Bay Louis
2 Divisions
Traditional Shakers
Direct revelation from God
Do not read the bible
Independent
Use the bible
Characteristics
Strong in to dancing, dialogue with God, connection to subconscious
Outside Reading
Nez Perce- means "pierced nose" in French
Call themselves Nimipu- "our people"
Basic Characteristics
Plateau Culture Area
Horses changed their life after early 1700's introduction
Political structure
Head man
Large issues decided by tribal council including elders, shaman, headman, and war chiefs
Enemies
Shoshone
Northern Paiute
Bannock
Myth- "Turtle Out Swims White Bull"
Coyote starts a race- Turtle cheats, wins, and bull sacrifices his life
Now, Turtle meat is good because it is really bull's
"Wyakin"- guardian spirit for both men and women
often carry medicine bundles that represent their Wyakins
Subsistence
Hunting/Gathering, nomadic
Contact
1805- Lewis and Clark Expedition with Sacajawea
Helped them survive starvation, gave boats, and guided them to the Pacific Coast
French & Canadian- fur trade
1860- Gold Rush
Events
Thief Treaty of 1863
Gov. Stevens steals 7 million acres from the Nez Perce by having non-legitimate representatives sign
Passive noncompliance led by Chief Joseph (elder)
Leads to the war of 1877
Nez Perce War of 1877
Young rebels in the tribe attack white settlers
Chief Joseph (younger) flees and leads his people on a 1600 miles trek to Canada, away from General Howard
Were stopped in the Bear Paw Mountains
Looking Glass was shot by Colonel Nelson Miles
100 people made it led by White Bird made it to Canada, assisted by Sitting Bull (page 360)
III. GREAT BASIN
Major Tribes:
Shoshone, Pauite, Ute, Washoe, Bannock
Sacajawea- helped Lewis & Clark, member of the Shoshone Tribe
Basic Characteristics
"seed eater" Indians- eat anything to survive
Language
Numic (uto-aztecan family)
All but Washoe speak this
Myth
Coyote
Created light, fire, and pinenuts
Creation myths
Put sand on waters and formed earth
Poured seeds in a jar which grew in to people
Marries a woman, uses a stick to have sex with the woman and her tooth vagina; holds it open and babies come out and populated the earth
Wolf- created fire with Coyote
Contact
John C. Freemont- gave a detailed account of the people in this area
Spanish-
Utes were the first group they came in contact with
Introduced the horse
1. Extended food base, hunt more broadly
2. Able to raid (expanding raiding skills)
Santa Fe and Overland Trail
Mormons- 1847
Church of Latter Day Saints in Utah
Formed own state of "Deseret"
Advertised $ for slaves and then later raided the slave traders (gave slaves their freedom)
Gold Rush- 1849
Sutter's Mill - got name "digger Indians"
Mark Twain- calls the Gosuite Indians the "Go Shoot" Indians
Assimilation
Southern Ute lost 90% of their 8 million acres to European settlers
End of 1800's to early 1900's- Indian boarding schools established
Subsistence
Trade
Shifted from Hunting and gathering to wage labor after contact
Ex: mining, ranch hands, domestic servants
Pinenuts- key food, grind up to make other food
Grasshopper is the favorite insect
Kinship
bilateral
Arranged marriage
Sororal Polygyny- simultaneous marriage of two or more sisters to one husband
Lifecycle
Pregnant woman
Taboos- no sex before birth to 1 year after
No dancing at rituals
Older woman helps with birthing process
No males except for a Shaman
Couvade
Ritual male goes through while wife goes through pregnancy
Husband also goes to birthing hut
Supposed to be in pain and uncomfortable in isolation for 30 days
If rules are violated, consequences for the health of the child
½ Couvade
came about with wage labor
put stick in place of body
Point: Males can identify with birth
Puberty
Girls
Dangerous to hunters, warriors, and gamblers
Can't eat fish or meat, isolation
Boys
Kills 1st animal and smear blood on boys face
Animal determines what boy will be in life
Death
Quick burial and mourning period
Kin replace and wear old clothes
Bands
Great Basin families were loosely grouped into bands named after their principal local food resource
Consisted of inhabitants of a territory who shared its resources
Not a political body, with the exception of a "Band Leader" that coordinated trade of harvests and conflict resolution
Families could change bands- expected to ask if they could share the resources if they moved in to a new area
Dreams
Got powers from dreams
Ex: power to capture rabbits, "Rabbit Boss" sent out message when it is prime time to catch rabbits
The Washow were the Basket Makers
Shoshonee (page 350)
Indians in Yellowstone Park were called the "sheep eaters"
Considered the lowest of the low
No horses, lived in caves and trees
Did Sun Dances (page 347)
Done during times of diseases
Dancing + expectation that some participants would fall and receive visions (similar to Ghost Dances)
To increase visions and power, and for all to congregate in prayer, usually for successful hunts
IV. PLAINS INDIANS
Basic Characteristics
Myth
Earth Diver- creation
Old Man/Old Coyote-
Buffalo- blocks a flood, looses 1 hair each year, when he loses all hair-world will flood again
Crow
Food
Bison
Most important animal
Summer vs winter bison
Used all parts of buffalo
Almost extinct by 1890- postcontact
Effected social life in the villages
Louis Henry Morgan- noted huge pacts of bison that moved for 3 days straight, couldn't see to the other side
Bison Hunting Styles:
Before- hunted by drives or bison jump
With horses- surround and shoot
Boy proved he was a man by hunting an eagle
Eagle feathers were important
Tools Quarries
Alibates Flint Quarries
Panhandle of TX
Catlinite
Source for red clay stone for pipes in Minnesota
Salt- traded furs for salt with the Caddo
Major Rivers
Saskatchewan, Missouri, Platte, Arkansas
European influence:
1. Horse- from north & south
2. Trade Gun- from Hudson Bay and other trading companies from the NE (British guns were the best)
Two types of people:
1. Riverine Tribes
East side
Farmers- maize, beans, and squash
More stable & elaborate villages
2. Highland People - "grassland Indians"
West
H/G
Temporary villages
Traded with the Riverine People
Mandan
Riverine Group on the MO River
Trading Center
Houses (Earth Lodge)
40-100 feet and semi-subterranean
Dug ditch outside fence for protection
Had boat to cross the river
Food
Planting rituals to ensure success in crops
Kinship
Matrilineal
Matrilocal
Monogamy
Aged Society- age grading group (elders)
Ceremonies
Vision Quest
Okipa
World renewal ritual in summer
Called by clan
4 days of song and dance done in the Okipa lodge
"Foolish One" paints black and wipe and straps on wooden penis
Last day men dance the "Bull Dance"
Disease
Hit with two smallpox epidemics in 1781 & 1837
Winter Counts
Painted on hides each winter
Designs go in spirals and show events in human or natural events (very valuable for info)
Ex: Stars Falling From Heaven- matched meteorology from 1833
Ledger art- Trading posts had ledgers (books) and Indians would buy them to draw in and write spells
Highplains Indians
Major groups:
Kiowa, Apache, Crow, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Comanche, Sioux
Facts:
Hunted and Gathering
Traded
Plains Indian Religion
World Renewal Rituals
1. Sun Dance (Northern and Central Plains and Great Basin)
Pledger- person in Sun Dance who does self-mutilation
Kiowa- does not do self-mutilation, use Sun Dance doll
Comanche killed the doll keeper- bad voodoo
Cheyenne- (1st of 2 World Renewal Act) practice self torture
Guy who announces Sun Dance must go nude
2. Sacred Arrow
Cheyenne - (second world renewal ritual- they alternate)
Fertility Ritual- Erect Horns + daughter of the chief had sex and every where they walked green grass grew and world was better
Suitai- absorbed into the Cheyenne tribe, thus the ritual was adopted
Revitalization Movements: "A conscious, deliberate, organized effort on the part of some members of a society to create a more satisfying culture."
Ghost Dance- Great Basin and Plains
Wodziwob (Paiute)- Fish Lake Joe had a vision in 1869 about the white encursions and that something could be done about them
met with the ancestors, who said things can change if the people do the traditional dances and reject all things white
Do rituals in proper manner with proper respect
Helped by Tovibo (a weather Shaman)
Results:
Nothing happened, they were mad, Wodziwob apologized (movement died in 1872)
Wovoka- (Paiute): Jack Wilson was raised by ranchers
very knowledgeable- trained with Shamans, did magic trips with water in jars
Earth was shaking- he did a ritual and it stopped; people believed in his powers where he lit something on fire
He said to return to old world rituals and people followed him
Ghost Dance moved east in to the Plains
Shirts and dresses were supposedly bullet proof
Big Foot's Band
moved to a creek in the Dakota territory
Calvary surrounded them with the "Hodgekiss" gun
Military demanded their surrender, and then a shot was fired
Army cut loose killing men, women, and children
Thus, the MASSACRE OF WOUNDED KNEE (December 29, 1890)
It's felt that some of the remnants of Gen. Custer's 7th Calvary, that it was more for revenge of Little Big Horn
FILM: "Ghost Dance"
Lakota Police- a shot was fired
Sitting Bull was killed at his house by the authorities
Plains Indian Warfare
Scalping
Personal bravery
Wasn't about killing, the important thing was to take "trophies"
foot, hand, arm
Counting Coup
The point is how much damage you can do without killing someone (how good you are)
Get certain points for things you do
Ex: touching someone with your lance, but don't kill them; stealing horses
Yellowshirt- people counted coup against him more than 3 times, but since he was such a great warrior, they concluded that it would still count
Characteristics
poor development of command
short duration
smallness in scale
local community must provide supplies
poor development of logistics
Cheyenne Military Societies- not age-graded
Military Societies:
Fox
Elk (Hoof Rattle)
Shield
Bowstring
Dog (Dog Man)
Northern Crazy Dogs
Functions:
Social Club (rituals, songs, traditions)
Police Major Tribal Ceremonies
Police Tribal Buffalo Hunts
"Calling" game animals
Warfare and Raids
Blackfoot Indians
Feared and fierce, despised by the Shoshone
Went out for Coup Counting and horses
Successful raiders
Took special medicine from old warriors
Ex: Running Wolf- brass ornament that brought clouds at night
