Indians of America

THE APACHES

The Apaches migrated to Texas from way up in Canada. They arrived in the Texas panhandle region sometime around 1528.
The word Apache is probably Zuni and in Zuni means enemy.
At first the Apaches farmed on the south plains.
They probably were semi-sedentary.
This means they would farm and stay in one place part of the year.

Before horses, hunting buffalo on foot was hard to do.
One way they would hunt buffalo on foot was to stampede them over a cliff. But when the horse arrived with the Spanish all this changed.

Indian hunters on fast horses could zoom in on the buffalo and chase them.
The Mescalero Apaches became famous for fighting on and resisting the Comanche, Spanish and Americans who tried to take their lands.

THE SIOUX

The name "Sioux" means "treacherous snakes."
The Sioux were first noted historically in the Jesuit Relation of 1640, when they were living in what is now Minnesota.
In the mid-18th century, having driven the Cheyenne and Kiowa out of the Black Hills, the Sioux inhabited the Northern Great Plains and the western prairies-mainly in Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, North and South Dakota, and up into the bordering provinces of Canada.They dominated this region for the next century.
Today they constitute one of the largest Native American groups, living mainly on reservations in Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Montana; the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota is the second largest in the United States.

THE PAWNEES

The name is probably derived from parika, a horn, a term used to designate the peculiar manner of dressing the scalp-lock, by which the hair was stiffened with paint and fat, and made to stand erect and curved like a horn.
Their migration was not in a compact body, but in groups, whose slow progress covered long periods of time.

The Pawnee tribes finally established themselves in the valley of Platte river.
When the Pawnee territory, through the Louisiana Purchase, passed under the control of the U. S., the Indians came in close touch with the trading center at St Louis.
In 1702 the Pawnee were estimated by Iberville at 2,000 families.
The opening of a principal emigrant trail directly through the country in the 40's introduced disease and dissipation, and left the people less able to defend themselves against the continuous attacks of their enemies, the Sioux.
In 1902 they were only 649 survivors.

THE IROQUOIS

The Iroquois Indians lived in what is now New York State along the St. Lawrence River.
The people of the Six Nations, call themselves "the Hau de no sau nee" meaning People Building a Long House.
They did not live in teepees, instead they lived in longhouses.
The longhouses were made from elm bark which was stripped from the trees in large sections.
Because the Iroquois people were farmers, they didn't have to move from place to place like the Plains Indians.
Instead, they lived in villages near their fields.

THE CHEYENNES

The Cheyenne tribe originally lived in the upper Mississippi River valley but early in the 18th century they migrated to the Great Plains.

Once the Cheyenne tribe obtained good supplies of horses they became expert buffalo hunters.
In the 19th century the Cheyenne tribe split into two sections :
One group moved south onto the Central Plains whereas the other group remained in Montana, Wyoming and South Dakota.
Those in the North became involved in wars with the Sioux.
The Cheyenne group in the South came into conflict with the Apache, Comanche and Kiowa.
During these wars Cheyenne warriors developed a reputation for bravery.
In 1878 Cheyennes left their reservation in Oklahoma and headed north to their former tribal homeland.

They were pursued by the army and a large number were killed.
The rest were captured and imprisoned at Fort Robinson, Nebraska.

THE COMANCHES

The Comanches are one of the most historically important Indian cultures from Texas.
The Comanches were fierce warriors who lived on the Southern Plains. The Southern Plains extend down from the state of Nebraska into the north part of Texas.
The Comanches were organized as bands.
By the early 1700s they showed up in the Texas panhandle and in New Mexico.
There were about 12 bands of Comanches, but this number probably changed. The most famous band was the Penatekas.
In 1846 Buffalo signed a treaty with the US government at Council Springs.
He led the Comanches to the Brazos river reservation in 1856.
In 1859 he led the Comanches to the Oklahoma reservation at Ft. Cobb.