Native American Encyclopedia Ross, John To Thanksgiving

Native American Encyclopedia Ross, John To Thanksgiving — page 2 — Rugs made by different tribes provided not only a warm comfortable floor covering but developed into an art Many tribes used animal furs as rugs and bedding especially in cold weather Tribes that grew cotton spun it into yarn colored it with plant dyes and wove it into patterned rugs Tribes that raised sheep especially in the Southwest spun the wool into yarn for weaving The Navajo in particular raised this practical skill to an art form Traditionally they used wild carrot roots to make a gold dye Other plants such as sunflowers goldenrod nuts and green leaves made other colors Tribes in different areas had their own traditional patterns and color combinations Marilou Schultz a Navajo weaver and schoolteacher uses traditional methods to create art rugs She comes from five generations of weavers and museums collect her work Sac 5 Running Eagle birth and death dates uncertain in the mid-1800s became the only female war chief of the Blackfeet people She went on her first raid at age 20 She proved her bravery by stealing the enemy’s horses and returning safely She participated in many more raids later becoming a war chief She died in battle Rush Spring flowed at a site on Rush Creek in Oklahoma where in 1858 the Battle of Wichita Village took place The U S Cavalry followed a band of Comanche north from Texas to their camp outside a Wichita village They destroyed the village in the attack Remaining Wichita fled to Fort Arbuckle Sac or Sauk from Asakiwaki meaning yellow earth people lived in today’s Wisconsin in the 1600s In the late 1700s they moved into Illinois They lived near both prairie and forest In summer they built oval wigwams covered with reeds and farmed the river valleys In winter they hunted bison moving their camps as needed to follow the herds Settlers pressured them to leave U S troops forced a fight against the Sac led by Black Hawk After the Black Hawk War remaining Sac moved west and today are part of the Sac and Fox Nation with reservations in Iowa Kansas Nebraska and Oklahoma

Native American Encyclopedia Ross, John To Thanksgiving — page 3 — 6 Sacajawea Meet Sacajawea Sacajawea about 1788-1812 also known as Sacagawea meaning Bird Woman helped the Lewis and Clark expedition succeed Hidatsa raiders stole young Sacajawea from her Shoshone tribe They sold her to a French fur trader who took her as a wife Lewis and Clark hired her husband as an interpreter He spoke Hidatsa and French while Sacajawea spoke Hidatsa and Shoshone A member of the expedition spoke French and English so among the three of them they could translate discussions into English for the rest of the group During that winter Sacajawea gave birth to her first child She brought her baby along too Sacajawea’s presence eased the fears of the native peoples they met Tribes did not believe a war party would include a woman and baby When they reached the Shoshone in eastern Idaho she learned that her brother had become chief Through her the expedition bought horses from the tribe She acted as a guide here too After her death Clark adopted her children No records tell of her daughter’s life but her son became a guide trapper and interpreter 1804 Meets Lewis and Clark at Hidatsa Mandan villages August 1805 Reunites with the Shoshone January 1806 Sees Pacific Ocean for first time 1806 Leaves expedition at Mandan villages Sachem or tribal chief served as the leader of a band or village When tribes allied themselves with other tribes to form a confederacy they sometimes selected a grand sachem The grand sachem could simply help bring unity to meetings between the tribal chiefs or could rule as a powerful king might The Powhatan an Algonquian tribe had a grand sachem that acted like a king Sacred sites carry historical or spiritual meaning to the native peoples of North America They may be naturally occurring or man-made They include burial sites of ancestors places where a vision battle or treaty took place places that figure into native legends or ancient ceremonial sites These places continue to hold importance to tribes or bands over centuries

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