Class 2 C Interview with an Indian Family

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THEY CAME FROM ASIA. THEY CROSSED A LAND BRIDGE: THE BERING STRAIT. THEY SPREAD ALL OVER AMERICA WHERE DID YOUR ANCESTORS COME FROM?

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WHERE DID YOU LIVE? WE WERE NOMADS AND WE LIVED IN TENTS CALLED TEPEES. BUT SOME TRIBES IN THE SOUTHWEST BUILT HOUSES AND BECAME FARMERS LIKE: NAVAHOS AND HOPI.

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WHAT DID YOU EAT? WE ATE MEAT OF HUNTED ANIMALS, BERRIES, ROOTS, WILD FRUIT AND FISH.

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WHAT DID MEN DO? AND WHAT ABOUT WOMEN? MEN WERE HUNTERS AND WARRIORS. WOMEN WORKED A LOT. THEY COOKED THE FOOD, TANNED HIDES, MADE CLOTHING AND COVERS FOR THE TEPEES. THEY COOKED A FOOD CALLED “PEMMICAN”. IT WAS NOURISHING AND COULD BE KEPT A LONG TIME. PLAINS INDIAN WOMEN WERE GOOD IN EMBROIDERY AND DECORATIVE PAINTING.

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WHO DID YOU BELIEVE IN? WE BELIEVED IN THE SPIRITS OF NATURE AND IN THE SUN. THE NATCHEZ OF MISSISSIPPI BELIEVED IN THE SUN AND THEIR CHIEF WAS CALLED THE GREAT SUN. AMONG THE IROQUOIS SOME TRIBES BELIEVED IN UGLY HEADS WITHOUT BODIES THAT COULD CAUSE DISEASES. THEY COULD BE CURED BY UGLIER HEADS. HEADS WERE MASKS CUT FROM A TREE TRUNK AND PAINTED.

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DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL? NO, WE DIDN'T. CHILDREN HELPED IN THE HOUSE. WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY ALPHABETS. BUT A CHEROKEE INDIAN CALLED SEQOAYAH WORKED FOR MANY YEARS AND HE COMPLETED AN ALPHABET SO CHEROKEE INDIANS COULD READ AND WRITE.

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WHAT GAMES DID YOU PLAY? DID YOU HAVE ANY TOYS? WE DIDN'T HAVE MANY TOYS. FOR BOYS THERE WERE SMALL BOWS AND ARROWS BECAUSE THEY HAD TO BECOME GOOD HUNTERS AND WARRIORS. EVERY BOY DREAMED TO BE A BISON HUNTERS AND A BRAVE WARRIOR. THE GIRLS HAD WOODEN OR STUFFED SMALL DOLLS. I REMEMBER A TEAM GAME: LACROSSE. IT WAS POPULAR WITH THE IROQUOIS AND TRIBES EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI. DIFFERENT TRIBES HAD DIFFERENT KINDS OF RACKETS. THE BALL WAS MADE OF STUFFED DEERSKIN. A WHOLE VILLAGE OFTEN PLAYED AGAINST ONE ANOTHER. IT'S ALSO A MODERN GAME. IN CANADA PEOPLE PLAY LA CROSSE. THERE ARE TEAMS OF WOMEN (12 IN A TEAM) AND MEN (10 IN A TEAM). THE AIM IS TO SCORE GOALS BY PROPELLING THE BALL INTO THE OPPONENTS' GOAL NET.

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DID YOU HAVE ANY DOCTORS WHEN YOU WERE ILL? WE DIDN'T HAVE ANY DOCTORS. WE HAD SOME MEDICINE MEN. THEY HELPED SICK PEOPLE WITH MEDICAL HERBS AND MAGICAL DANCE. THE SACRED SAND PAINTING OF THE NAVAHO WAS CONSIDERED A POWERFUL MEDICINE. WHEN A PERSON WAS SICK, THE MEDICINE MEN CAME AND MADE A PAINTING ON THE FLOOR.IT WAS A DRY PAINTING, MADE OF COLOURED SAND, MINERALS CHARCOL. THE MEDICINE MAN PRAYED AND PAINTED. HE STARTED PAINTING EARLY IN THE MORNING AND DESTROYED IT BEFORE SUNSET. WHEN HE DESTROYED IT, THE ILLNESS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DRIVEN OUT OF THE SICK PERSON.

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WHAT CHANGED IN YOUR LIVES WHEN THE EUROPEAN SETTLERS ARRIVED? WHEN THE FIRST SETTLERS ARRIVED WE HELPED THEM. WE TAUGHT THEM HOW TO MAKE FISH TRAPS, HOW TO USE FISH FOR FERTILIZER AND TO GROW MAIZE, PUMPKINS AND POTATOES. WE SHOWED THEM HOW TO MAKE MAPLE SIRUP AND HOW TO MAKE SNOWSHOES AND MOCESINS. WHEN EUROPEANS GREW IN NUMBER WE HAD TO FIGHT TO DEFEND OUR LAND BUT THEY WERE TO MANY AND WELL EQUIPPED AND WE WERE DEFEATED. THEIR WEAPONS WERE MORE MODERN THAN OURS.

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DO YOU REMEMBER ANY LEADERS? I REMEMBER MANY BRAVE WARRIORS. SOME OF THEM WERE: RED JACKET A SENECA CHIEF IN THE IROQUOIS CONFEDERACY. HE WAS A GOOD ORATOR AND PERSUADED A WHITE JURY TO FREE AN INDIAN ACCUSED OF MURDER. OSCEOLA, HE WAS A SEMINOLE CHIEF. HE REFUSED TO SIGN THE TREATY WITH THE WHITE PEOPLE BECAUSE HE BELIEVED IT WAS UNFAIR TO THE SEMINOLES. HE THRUST HIS KINIFE THROUGH THE TREATY INSTEAD OF SIGNING IT. WHEN HE FINALLY AGREED TO MEET WITH THE ARMY GENERAL UNDER A FLAG OF TRUCE HE WAS TAKEN PRISONER. SITTING BULL HE WAS A GREAT DAKOTA WARRIOR. HIS WARRIORS DEFEATED AND KILLED GENERAL CUSTER AND HIS TROOP AT THE BATTLE OF THE LITTLE BIG HORN. GERONIMO HE WAS A FAMOUS APACHE CHIEF. HE AND SOME WARRIORS, WITH THEIR FAMILIES, LEFT THE RESERVATION WHERE THE GOVERNAMENT HAD PUT THEM. THEY ROAMED OVER THE SOUTHWEST FOR OVER 20 YEARS RAIDING AND KILLING, DEFYING THE ARMY TROOPS. ONLY AN APACHE SCOUT COULD TRACK DOWN GERONIMO AND HIS BAND. CHIEF JOSEPH WAS NEZ PERCÈ. HE FOUGHT AND DEFEATED THE ARMY TROOPS. THEN HE AND HIS TRIBE, STARTED TO RETREAT TO CANADA. THEIR RETREATS WAS HELD UP BECAUSE CHIEF JOSEPH HAD WITH HIM BESIDES WARRIORS, MORE THAN 350 WOMEN, CHILDREN, SICK PEOPLE AND OLD PEOPLE. THE SOLDIERS DID NOT CATCH THEM FOR A THOUSAND MILES