Childrens Illustrated Encyclopedia

Tepees

The sioux and other tribes on

the Great plains lived in tepees.

Tepees were made of bison hides

stretched over a wooden frame

and were easy to put up. Flaps

at the top of the tepee could

be opened to allow smoke

from the fire to escape.

371

Door flap

Lodge pins made

from bone held

the hides together.

Paintings that told

a story decorated

the hides.

A fire was lit inside

the tepee for cooking

and warmth.

NaTive americaNs, or americaN iNdiaNs,

were the first people to live in North america,

having arrived from asia more than 20,000 years

ago. They wandered over the Bering strait,

which was a land bridge at the time and now

separates asia and North america, following

animals they were hunting. Gradually, these

early people settled into different tribes. over the

centuries, the tribes developed organized societies.

during the 1500s, europeans arrived in North

america for the first time. They thought they were

in the “indies,” or asia, so they called the natives

“a merican indians.” The europeans wanted land

and threatened the existence of native North

americans. The natives fought many wars with

the new settlers. during the 1800s, the tribes

resisted when the Us government tried to

make them leave their homelands. after

a bitter struggle, the Native americans

were moved onto reservations—areas

of land set aside for them—where

many still live today.

TriBes

The native peoples of North america belonged

to numerous tribes. most of them hunted,

fished, and farmed. among the best-known tribes

are the cheyenne, comanche, and sioux, who

lived on the Great plains; the apache, Navajo, and

pueblo, who lived in the southwest; and the iroquois,

Huron, and cherokee, who lived in the east.

WomeN

Women played an important part in the

life of a tribe. They provided the food,

made the clothes, and raised the children.

The women of the Hopi indians of the

southwest also owned the houses

and organized the village.

Bison hide

was used

to make

the tepee

cover.

GeroNimo

one of the most successful native chiefs in leading

resistance to the “white man” was Geronimo (1829-1909),

of the chiricahua apache indians. Geronimo led raids

across the southwestern states and into mexico. in 1886,

he was captured and exiled to Florida. Later, he was

released and became a national celebrity.

Sign Language

each tribe of the natives spoke

its own language. But people

from different tribes were able

to communicate with each other

using a special sign language

they all understood.

Smoke flap open

for ventilation

Buffalo Keep

Pawnee

(tribe)

Horse

Straight poles

are bound

together at the

top to form a

cone shape.

371- Native Americans

US_371_Native_Americans_1.indd 371 12/02/16 5:40 pm