Prärie Indian-Wikipedia

The spread of the horse in the habitat of the bison as a prerequisite for the development of the prairie and plains cultures (drive with the mouse over the red-bordered stem esterons in light yellow to see the- linked- names of the peoples))

Horse and bison formed the livelihood of the prairie Indians for a little more than 100 years

The designation Prairie Indian (also Plains Indian ) is mainly used for the riding cultures of nomadic bison hunters who lived in tipis on the western (short-grass) prairies of North America (Great Plains). In ethnology they are summarized into a cultural area “Prärie and Plains”. These included (from north to south) the Blackfoot, Plains Cree, Absarokee, Lakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, Comanche and parts of the Apaches (Further see as a tooltip on the card shown) .

On the large prairie lines and on the eastern long grass prairie, however, some semi -sedentary ethnic groups also settled, such as the Mandan, Hidatsa, Pawnee or Arikaree.

The riding cultures owe their creation to the introduction of the house horse. In the middle of the 16th century, the Spanish conquistadors and a few settlers and missionaries brought the horse to southern North America. In the first half of the 17th century, mainly suffered animals of the Spaniards were captured by the Indians. In the southwest, horse theft remained the most important source of supply for the southern prairie Indians until the 19th century. Above all, however, the over-heated animals-the overbids used to heat and drought, which have spread since the revolt of the Pueblo tribes in 1680-found ideal living conditions in the steppes and found the overgrown breed of the Mustangs. From the beginning, the Indians of the levels recognized the use of the horse as riding and transport animals.

Around 1720, with the spread of the Mustangs – starting with comants – a considerable cultural change in the prairie residents and the horses made possible by the horse began to settle the dry short -grass steppes. This process reached the upper Missouri as early as 1730 and the Canadian steppes before 1750. Around 1800 there were about two million wild horses in the prairies of North America. In every conceivable way, these Indians tried to bring themselves into the possession of horses who gave them significantly enlarged mobility (with advantages in food procurement, transport and on war features). ^[first] The decisive factor was the possible adaptation to the seasonal hikes of the bison: The horse allowed differently than the dog, which was previously used as the only pack animal, the rapid laying of settlements and also the settlement of rooms, the apart of the large rivers, which were Allow crop cultivation. Many Indian nations left their earth houses and now lived in tents made of buffalo skin in the open prairie. ^[2] This resulted in a nomadic lifestyle, which is sometimes attributed by the keeping of horse heroes of the natural pasture economy. Controlled horse breeding has only been partially developed; As a rule, the horses on the northern and middle prairies came mainly from wild catch. Over time, the horse-which was often referred to as a “holy dog” or “big dog”-played an increasingly important role in the culture of the Plains Indians: as a gift, payment, bridal price, to reduce disputes and as a mythical object religious Venue.

When the East of the United States was increasingly populated by European immigrants and their descendants, there were migrations among the prairie indians. Former peoples of the East, such as the Sioux or Cheyenne, were driven out westwards in the “Wild West”, where they founded the bison hunter cultures in the middle to the end of the 18th century. Until 1760, the comants developed into a dreaded riding nation and military power, which controlled access to about seven million bisons and displaced other tribes, although they hardly comprised more than 30,000 people. Her raids in the north of Mexico were notorious. At the same time, the inner Indian conflicts escalated. The language of the comants, which also operates an extensive trade network, became the Lingua Franca of the southern Plains. ^[3]

The new riding peoples remained undisturbed there for almost a century; The grass levels were viewed by the Americans as an anti -life desert. When gold finds became known in various parts of the West in the 1840s, more and more new settlers moved through the plains. This brought new sources of income to the prairie peoples through trade and robberies, but also new illnesses and considerable unrest, fear of war and uncertainty.

Around the middle of the 19th century, the Indian wars against the riders’ maden began. The horse made them serious military opponents who made considerable resistance. However, with the construction of the first railway lines from east to west, the targeted decimation of the buffalo herds by professional hunters, the development of cattle breeding on the southern Plains (ranching) and finally the planned settlement and its rectification by Farmer, the livelihood and the habitat increased more and more, so that there was an irrevocable downfall of the young bison hunter cultures until 1890.

Many descendants of the prairie Indians live on reservations today, in which there is often a much lower standard of living than in the rest of North America. The cultures of these people have shaped the need of the 19th century, but also the impressions of free riding life. The traditions are cultivated, especially for the Powwows. There has been a return with some tribes since the end of the 20th century: Instead of buffalo hunt, buffalo is bred and horse breeding brings good income for some tribes.

• Uli Otto, Till Otto: In the footsteps of the sons of the great bear. Investigation of the historical and cultural-historical background of the youth books The sons of the great bear by Liselotte Welskopf-Henrich. Kern, Regensburg 2001 ISBN 3-934983-03-0
• Signe sails: Indian . Tessloff, 1969 ISBN 978-3-7886-0282-6, p. 9, 11 ( limited online version in the Google book search)
• Werner Arens, Hans-Martin Braun: The Indians of North America: History, Culture, Religion . C. H. Beck 2004 ISBN 978-3-406-50830-1 S. 12–12, 22, 29–30, 106ff ( limited online version in the Google book search)
• Jürgen Döring: Culture change among the North American Plains Indians. Marburg studies on international history, 4th Reimer, Berlin 1984 ISBN 3-496-00769-9
• James W. Daschuk: Clearing the Plains: Disease, Politics of Starvation, and the Loss of Aboriginal Life. University of Regina Press, Regina 2013; TB 2014 ^[4]
  • French: The destruction of Plains Indians . Trans. Catherine ego. Presses Université Laval, 2015; TB 2017 ^[5]

1. ↑ Alfred Hendricks (ed.): Prairie and Plains Indian. Change and tradition. Siegbert Linnemann Verlag, 1st edition 1996, ISBN 3-89523-080-4, pp. 24, 26.
2. ↑ Aram Mattioli: Lost worlds. A story of the Indians of North America. Stuttgart 2017, S. 222 ff.
3. ↑ Mattioli, EBD.
4. ↑ Table of contents, first pages in the online book trade visible
5. ↑ Table of contents and first pages via publisher or by search engine as a PDF