|
EIGHTH GRADE Part Two: Tribes and Clans  By the 1600s, there were four Native American tribes living within the boundaries of what we now call
Big differences Television and movies often give incorrect information about Native American cultures. Keep in mind that most of the time, Native Americans in movies are the ones who lived out west, not the ones who lived in this part of the country. If you want to have fun and learn firsthand about Native American culture, we've prepared a list of places and events you might check out. Click here to see it. Here a few of the more important things to remember about how Native Americans differed from the white settlers: 
A Cherokee re-enactor
* Native American tools and weapons were made of stone or wood -- not metal. (And as a general rule, youcan get a lot more work done with metal tools rather than ones made out of stone).
* Native Americans didn't believe in owning land. To a Cherokee or Creek person, you couldn't own land any more than you could own the air. * Prior to the invasion of white settlers, Native Americans didn't keep animals in pens or tied up for food. When they wanted to kill and animal for food, they went out hunting, and they didn't kill any more than they needed. * Native Americans wore clothing made of animal skin. They didn't grow cotton, for instance. * Native Americans had a different religion than the Christian religion brought across the ocean by the European explorers and settlers. * Prior to the invasion of white settlers, the Native Americans' main weapons were the bow and arrow, the blowgun and the tomahawk. European settlers introduced them to the gun, and began trading guns with them. However, even after they began having guns, Native Americans were dependent on white traders for gunpowder. 
Perhaps the biggest difference between Native American culture and white culture is that Native Americans didn’t have a written language. This became quite important as the years went by. Cherokee culture
Let’s talk a little bit about the Cherokee in particular. By the way, you can still learn about the Cherokee at places like the Sequoyah Birthplace Museum, Red Clay State Historic Park, and the Museum of the Cherokee Indian.
Before white settlers came to America, there were an estimated 30,000 Cherokee living in parts of what are now eight states:  Tennessee History for Kids has a video about Cherokee culture. In this video, called "Three Sisters and the Little Brother of War," a Cherokee couple explain a few things about their culture, including stickball, the blowgun, the dish known as Three Sisters, and a sport so dangerous it became known as the Little Brother of War. Click here to see it using Windows Media Player; here using quicktime.
A diorama of a Cherokee Village
The village The Cherokee lived in small villages next to rivers. Practically all of those villages are long gone and there is nothing left of them. For example, in what is now
What a Cherokee home would have looked like
Within the village, each family lived in a small house made of mud and logs (the Cherokees did not live in teepees). Each family also had a small structure covered with earth that they stayed in during cold winters. Cherokee villages didn’t have stores or school buildings or churches. Generally, the only structure other than houses that you found in Cherokee villages was the council house, shaped like a circle. The village gathered in these structures for meetings, while religious ceremonies were usually held in what was known as the square ground. In addition to being a member of a particular village, every member of the Cherokee tribe was a member of a particular clan within the tribe. There were seven such groups: Wolf, Bear, Deer, Bird, Wild Potato, Blue, and Longhair. Whenever there was a village meeting, you had to sit with the other members of your group. Other members of your clan – even the ones who lived in other Cherokee villages – were sort of like brothers and sisters. In fact it was illegal to marry someone from your clan. 
A Cherokee woman does pottery work
Childhood
So let’s talk about growing up Cherokee. The first thing you should know about Cherokee children is that they weren’t usually named by their parents. They were named by their maternal grandmother (their mother’s mother). If you were a boy or girl growing up in a Cherokee village, there was no television, no video games, and no comic books. You were expected to get up early every day and learn. If you were a boy, you were taught to do things like make a blow gun and darts, and use them to hunt wild game such as squirrels, rabbits, and birds. Cherokee boys were able to hit and kill an animal from 60 feet away using a blow gun.
Boys were also taught to make weapons and tools from flint and to carve things from wood. Whenever someone else in the village was building a cabin or carving a canoe out of poplar wood, the boys would be expected to help and learn how to do that as well. And whenever their father or other men in the village were going on a hunting trip, boys were expected to come. 
Basket weaving
If you were a girl in a Cherokee village, you had things to learn also. You learned to do things like weave baskets from pieces of wood, make jewelry, and cook. And you were also supposed to help look after your younger brothers and sisters. In Cherokee society, women basically ran the household, so girls had a lot to learn. So what’s for dinner? If we had to go back a few hundred years and eat at a Cherokee village we’d probably appreciate our modern-day diets. The Cherokees ate wild game (like deer, buffalo, and squirrel) and vegetables (corn, beans, and squash). And they didn’t have much in the way of spices. Also, whether you were a boy or a girl, Cherokee children were expected to respect their elders, listen to their parents, and pay close attention at tribal meetings and other events. Cherokee society was more communal than the one we live in today, which means that the Cherokee people were more dependent on each other than Americans are today. When they reached adulthood, boys and girls would be expected to play a part in it. QUIZ
1) (TRUE OR FALSE) When European settlers arrived in what is now Tennessee, Native Americans were building ceremonial mounds. 2) (TRUE OR FALSE) The Cherokees lived in teepees. 3) (TRUE OR FALSE) Cherokee villages were almost always located near rivers. 4) (TRUE OR FALSE) Women didn't have any say in Cherokee society. 5) Name the four Native American tribes who were living in what is now Tennessee in 1700. For quiz answers, click here.
|
All photographs taken by Bill Carey for THKF unless otherwise stated.