Native American Tribes

Introduction

A tribe is a group of individuals who share some common characteristics and dwell in one common community. The modern society as well as a kind of tribe. There were many native tribes that existed in America since the time immemorial. They included the Apache, Arapahos, Cherokees, Cheyenne and the Navajos among others. To begin with, the Apache were among the most well-known Native American tribes. Economically they were hunters and gatherers as well as nomads. They reared livestock that acted as the sources of food.

These people traditionally believed on the necessity of the extended family and therefore had been together in small abodes. In this case, they upheld the polygamous relationships where they married several women (Evans, 100) According to the children were assign of wealth. The more an elder has children and wives, the more famous he was likely to be in the given society.

However, the issues of polygamous was not allowed by then and therefore it was not practiced publicly. According to the tribe, the buffalo was known to be the best god that was being worshipped. This is due to the importance of the animal to the people of the community. During the pre-colonial times, they raided Spanish villages in order to acquire some vital goods. In addition to this, Arapahos, on the other hand, were hunters and gathers and kept animals for food similar to the Apache (Vinje, 440). Their form of shelters was known as the tipi. Men were supposed to work outside the homestead while women were supposed to take care of the household activities. Men acted as the protectors to the tribe. The buffalo was also special to this other community since it was used for transportation, food, and clothing. At the days of the summer, they performed the Sun Dance. They fought over politics with other communities such as the Shoshone and Pawnee hence resulting to conflicts among them. Most these people were the victims of the 1864 Sand Creek Massacre.

Furthermore, Cherokees focused on hunting and farming. As opposed to the other two mentioned tribes they were opposed to nomadism hence they depended on their clans for food. They made mud houses where some parts were covered with sugar cane. Similar to the other two tribes, the women were given the mandate to take care of the household. Women also participated in farming activities such as the production of squash, corn, beans as well as sunflowers. In comparison, the three tribesmen were the heads of the families and provided for food. The buffalo was essential to the Arapahos and Apache (Waldman, 77). Furthermore, the three tribes were hunters and gatherers. In the three tribes, men were the protectors of the tribe. They all dwell in simply made shelters.

Women in the three tribes were supposed to carry out household tasks. The father was the head of every family in the three tribes. However, Arapohas shelters were known as the tipi while therein information about the others. Apache was the only polygamous tribe. Shoshone and Pawnee were the political enemies of the Arapohas tribe. Most of them died as result of the Sand Creek Massacre. They performed the Sun Dance during the summer. Apart from using the buffalo for the provision of services they worshipped it. They participated in raiding the Spanish villages for vital materials. The Cherokees were the only tribe that participated in farming and did not rear animals. The Apache was the first tribe to interact with the Europeans followed by the others.

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