Daily Life in Olden
Times
The
Sioux Nation
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What could boys do when they reached their 10th birthday? What engagement present did the family of the bride receive? Why weren't kids given names when they were born? What did star quilts represent? What was the Seven Council Fires? Find out here. Welcome to The Sioux Nation in Olden Times.
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The Sioux Nation |
The Sioux Nation: A nation is a group of people. These people have a similar language, similar customs, and a similar or shared government. The Sioux Nation was huge. Seven large tribes made up the Sioux Nation - Wdewakanton, Sisseton, Teton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton, Yankton, and Yanktonai.
Plains People: In olden days, the Sioux lived on the Great Plains. Buffalo were plentiful. Like all Plains People, the Sioux depended heavily on the buffalo for everything - food, clothing, shelter, and goods.
Horses: Like all Plains People, the Sioux rode horses for hunting and traveling.
Boats: When the Sioux ran into a river or a stream, they built a boat. They used hides, sewn onto round frames made of willow. Once made, they might take a boat with them for a while, dragged along with other goods. When the willow frames wore out, they removed the buffalo skins, and burned the wood.
Travois: The Plains People did not use wheeled vehicles. Instead, they used a travois. A travois was a buffalo skin spread over two long poles. Goods were piled on the buffalo skin. Horses pulled the travois. The travois was usually nothing more than parts of their tipi. Instead of dragging tipis, they set the tipis to work carrying goods.
Food: The Sioux were hunters and gatherers. They hunted buffalo, deer, and other animals. They gathered fruits and vegetables. Some of the Sioux people also grew crops. The Three Sisters were the most important crops - maize, squash, and beans. They also grew pumpkins. Food was often traded between the various tribes.
Buffalo: In the Sioux culture, a boy could hunt his first buffalo at age 10. To a young boy, a single buffalo stands six feet tall, and weighs about as much as 10 people. Buffalo do not see well, but they run really fast. Can you imagine how a boy might feel, getting ready for his first kill? He would be riding a pony. All around him, men would be yelling to get the buffalo to run. Each would have picked out one buffalo to kill. With his boy and arrow, in the midst of all this racket and danger, a ten year old boy was expected to attempt a kill. There was no dishonor attached if he was not successful, but he had to try. No part of the buffalo was wasted.
Jerky: Sioux woman made jerky by drying buffalo meat. First, they pounded the meat into a powder. Then they added animal fat, and let the mix dry. If jerky was made correctly, it remained safe to eat for two years. The Sioux stored jerky, knowing it would be safe to eat for a very long time. Jerky was portable. It allowed hunters to take food with them.
Like all Plains People, the Sioux used all the parts of the animals they killed. Nothing was wasted. Hunters brought back deer, elk, moose, sheep, beavers, mountain lions, coyotes, and rabbits to name a few. Animals provided food, clothing, and bags to hold arrows, medicines, and other goods. Even the tinest scraps were kept and used over and over. If they could not find a useful purpose for something, they used it decoratively.
Women: The women wore dresses made from soft deerskin. They used the soft fur from rabbits to decorate their clothing.
Men: The men wore leggings and gloves. They rarely wore shirts.
Moccasins: Leftover scraps of deer and elk skin were used to make moccasins. Scraps from other animal skins were used to added decorative fringes to clothes and to moccasins.
Buffalo Robes: The men wrapped buffalo furs over their shoulders. They could not be buttoned or fastened. These fur garments were called buffalo robes.
Jewelry: Both women and men wore a lot of jewelry made of sea shells, metal, and beads. The men wore necklaces and sometimes arm bands. The women wore earrings and bracelets. Men had to earn the right to wear a grizzly bear claw necklace through an act of bravery.
Seven large tribes made up the Sioux Nation - Wdewakanton, Sisseton, Teton, Wahpekute, Wahpeton, Yankton, and Yanktonai.
Village Councils: Each village had a village council. Each village council selected a chief. A chief served for life. In olden times, women had no say in government.
All the adult men in a village were members of the Village Council.
The Village Council was divided into parts. Within the Council, men broke up into smaller groups. Each group had a job to do. One group might be in charge of law and order. Another might be in charge of village festivals.
The Council elected a chief.
Once a chief was elected, the chief assigned each group a responsibility. One year, the chief might assign one group the job of making sure people obeyed the laws of the tribe. The next year, the chief would assign that job to a different group. This made sure that no one group became more powerful than another.
Tribal Councils: Tribes were made up of several villages. Each tribe had a tribal council. Each tribe had a chief. Again, jobs were assigned to smaller groups within the council. This made sure that no one group took dominance in the decisions of the tribal council.
Seven Fires Council: The Seven Fires Council was the top governing group. This Council made decisions for the entire Sioux Nation. The Seven Fires Council was composed of all seven tribal chiefs, one from each of the seven tribes. Chiefs brought helpers with them, but the actual "seat" at the council was reserved for chiefs only.
Today: Today, the Sioux live on reservations. They have reservation governments. Each reservation has its own Tribal Council. The council chairperson has a similar job as did the Sioux chiefs in olden times. Like the Sioux tribal chiefs did once, the chairperson - he or she - helps make decisions for all the Sioux people.
The Sioux was a huge nation made up of seven strong tribes. The tribes were close. They traded with each other. They supported each other. They worked together. They obeyed the decisions of the Seven Council Fires. And they were peaceful. No one wanted the Sioux as an enemy. They were fierce fighters. And there were a lot of them.
Sioux Warriors: Warriors were men. They were well trained. They did not attack close to home. Their children and wives and the other men of the tribe were tucked far away from the battle. Warriors stayed on the move. They attacked quickly, and then drew back. If a battle turned against them, they left. They felt no need to brave it out and die. They preferred to return another day and fight again. Sioux warriors rode horses into battle. They used spears and bows and arrows. When they could trade for them, they used guns.
Sioux Men: Not all Sioux men were warriors. One man might be a great hunter. Another might be a great storyteller, who told tales of Iktomi, the trickster who got what he wanted by using mischief. Yet another might be good at telling funny stories to cheer people up, like a camp comedian. Yet another might be a recorder whose job was to paint pictures on buffalo hides that told a story, usually a story about a great battle or a great victory. The Sioux believed that people should do the job they did best. All Sioux, men and women, were trained to defend themselves. But the Sioux recognized that life was not about fighting with your neighbor. There were many things in life that added to its riches.
Sioux Women: The women were in charge of the camp and the kids. They cooked, and gathered food and firewood. They made clothes. They made baskets. They worked with porcupine quills and beads to decorate the deerskin clothes the tribe wore. One of their major jobs was to make buffalo jerky. Jerky was a form of dried food made from meat. It was not easy to make. It took a great deal of pounding and drying and mixing. But it was an important food because it could be stored for two years without spoiling.
The Marrying Season: Some men preferred to have only one wife. Others had several wives. During the Sioux marrying season, a man might ask five or six women to marry him. Two or three might say yes. To seal the bargain, the groom had to give each bride's family a horse as a gift. When couples married, they made a new home. The men would kill a buffalo and bring the hide to the women. The women would sew a new tipi. If a man had several wives, the women worked together, sharing the chores.
Sioux Kids:
Nicknames: When a baby was born, it was a very big deal. The birth celebration might last for four days. Sioux children were not given names when they were born. They were given nicknames. Additional nicknames would be added all their lives. As they grew older, some children won names by doing a brave act. Others won names by showing a special talent such as being a wonderful hunter, a marvelous beader, or a great storyteller.
Punishment: Sioux children were never spanked or hit. It was punishment enough to be given a stern look. If they were really bad, they might be scolded in front of the whole village, but those were very rare cases. The children were rarely bad. It was embarrassing to be bad. Your bad actions would most probably be rewarded with a nickname that could embarrass you forever.
Education: Boys were taught by their fathers. Girls were taught by their mothers. Everyone in the village looked after the children. The children were the future, and they were protected.
The Sioux made beautiful star quilts. Star quilts were patchwork quilts. Each piece represented a person - not any particular person - just a person. Every piece of the quilt was different. Every piece was necessary to a make a whole quilt. To the Sioux, star quilts represented a community of individuals who must work together to make a whole. Friendship was the thread that held the quilt together. The Sioux were very proud of their beautiful quilts. They used them as blankets and gave them as gifts on special occasions.
Religion was part of everyday life for the Sioux. They believed everything had a spirit. There were underwater spirits who controlled all animals and plants. High in the sky, they believed there were spirits called Thunderbirds. The Thunderbirds were the most powerful spirits except for the Great Spirit who was the most powerful of all.
The Great Spirit was the Sioux God. Another spirit, The White Buffalo Woman, gave each tribe a sacred pipe. They called these pipes Medicine Pipes. When lit, smokers might be able to have a vision. Visions were powerful things. They believed that dreams and visions were ways to talk to the spirits.
They held religious ceremonies all year long. There was usually only one medicine man per tribe. The medicine man performed ceremonies. Each ceremony usually honored one spirit.
Sioux Stories
Camping with the Sioux - Sioux Tales
Myths and Legends of the Sioux
Links for Kids
Free Presentations in PowerPoint format
Return to the Plains Indians Index or the Native American Index
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