Woodland Tribes Move to the Plains

1. Woodland Tribes Move to the Plains Chapter 3, Section 2

2. The Crow • The Crow people arrived in Montana after decades of migration. • They are relatives of the Hidatsa (North Dakota.) • The Crow’s ancestors lived in the woodlands near the Great Lakes.

3. The Crow • In the early 1600’s a band of about 500 Crow broke away from the Hidatsa and moved to Wyoming and Montana. • They were called the Apsaalooke (ab-SAH-lah-gah) which means, “children of the large-beaked bird.

4. The Blackfeet • The Blackfeet people share language roots with Algonquian people of the east coast. • In the early 1700’s, three bands came to live permanently in northern Montana:

5. The 3 Bands of the Blackfeet • The Northern Blackfeet are called the Siksika (sik-sik-AH.) • The Blood (Kainah) • The Piegan (Pikuni) • The Blackfeet call themselves the Niitsitape (nee-it-see-TAH-peh) which means, “the real people.”

6. Gros Ventre • The Gros Ventre are descended from a band that broke away from the Arapaho to settle in central and eastern Montana. • There they allied themselves with their neighbors, the Blackfeet.

7. Gros Ventre • The Gros Ventre call themselves A’aninin (ah-ha-NEE-nin), which means “white clay people” or “upright people.”

8. The Assiniboine • The name Assiniboine (ahs-nee-PWAN) means “stone cookers,” which refers to their method of cooking food on hot stones. • They call themselves the Nakoda, meaning “generous people.” • This tribe was also from the east, but gradually moved into Montana.

9. The Métis • As French and Scottish trappers moved through the woodlands in search of furs, they sometimes had children with Native American women. • The part-Indian, part-European (usually French) people were called Métis. • The Métis mostly stayed in groups, forming communities from the Great Lakes to Montana.

10. The Cree and Chippewa • The Cree and Chippewa people also occasionally hunted through our area before finally settling in South-East Montana.

11. Tribal Lifestyles • By 1700, many tribes shared ways of living to adapt to Montana’s environment. • Groups that moved from Montana may have previously grown crops or relied on fishing, but when they moved to the dry northern plains, all tribes became hunter-gatherers. • They harvested plants, berries and roots, and hunted. They lived in tipis that they could move easily.

12. The Seasonal Round • People gathered food and medicine according to an annual cycle called the seasonal round. • The seasonal round is the pattern of harvesting various foods according to the season.

13. The Seasonal Round • The Salish began to dig roots in the spring – bitterroot and camas. • Strawberries, huckleberries and chokecherries followed in the summer.

14. The Seasonal Round • Winter was a time for the elders to tell stories, passing down wisdom and history to the young. • In the winter men trapped and fished. • Pemmican, a traditional food made of dried meat, fat, and berries, was an important food for all Plains people.

15. The Seasonal Round • During the winter months, tribes of the Montana plains often moved west into valleys. • Here they were protected from the wind and close to water and fire wood. • Bison often wintered in the valleys, and hunting continued in the early winter.

16. Cultural Differences • Though many Montana tribes had cultural similarities, each tribe had its own identity and language. • Each favored its own clothing and tipi designs and each had its own hairstyles and decorations. • All Plains Indians wore moccasins, but each had its own recognizable design.

17. Cultural Differences • Tribes also structured their societies differently. • A tribe is made of Native people with a shared ancestry. • Hunter-gatherer tribes were organized into smaller bands led by proven male leaders. • The band was flexible – people or families could leave and join another band if they wished to.

18. Cultural Differences • Sedentary tribes (that did not move around) were divided into family-based clans. • In some clans, women owned all property, selected leaders and decided important issues. • Almost all tribes also had small societies, ranging from military societies, police societies, and youth societies. Each society had its own dress, dances and songs. A member of the Omaha tribe’s warrior society performs a grass dance

19. Trade Networks • Indians of this region have traded widely for centuries. • Bitterroot and camas are collected from the mountains; Obsidian and chert from the Yellowstone region; Meat, hides and sweetgrass from the plains. • Sweetgrass is a plant used for ceremonies.

20. Cultural Differences • All of these goods were exchanged with far-away tribes for things like shells from the coast, pipestone from Minnesota, native copper from the Great lakes and Knife River flint from North Dakota. • The Blackfeet sold pemmican to villages nearly 1,000 miles away and every tribe traded for tobacco. All of this was carried on foot! • New products like European knives, hatchets, pots and beads moved quickly. Some reached Montana 200 years before white men did.

21. Cultural Differences • Trade networks also strengthened relationships between tribes. • To build a healthy trade system tribes had to be able communicate well, have a solid relationship, and be able to prove their trustworthiness. • In this way, many trading partners became close allies.

22. Trade Networks • Even tribes living very near to each other could not speak each others’ languages, but all tribes used similar sign language to communicate and trade. • In this way a Hidatsa trader could communicate with any tribe within thousands of miles.