Native American Indians

1. Native American Indians History, Culture, Life

2. When Christopher Columbus discovered America, he discovered people were already living here. These people are known as Native American Indians.

3. The first Thanksgiving was shared between the Pilgrims, who came to America from Europe, and the Indian tribes who helped them.

4. As settlements developed and more people came to America, European Americans and Native Americans began to fear each other…

5. Trail of Tears At the beginning of the 1830s, nearly 125,000 Native Americans lived on millions of acres of land in Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, North Carolina and Florida--land their ancestors had occupied and cultivated for generations. By the end of the decade, very few natives remained anywhere in the southeastern United States. Working on behalf of white settlers who wanted to grow cotton on the Indians’ land, the federal government forced them to leave their homelands and walk thousands of miles to a specially designated “Indian territory” across the Mississippi River. This difficult and sometimes deadly journey is known as the Trail of Tears.

6. Native American Indian Tribes were given special territories in Oklahoma.

7. Choctaw Indian Tribe • One of the largest Indian tribes is the Choctaw Tribe. • Choctaw descendants still live in Oklahoma today.

8. Choctaw Language • Some easy words to say in Choctaw are • “halito” (hah-lih-toh) which means Hello. • “yakoke” (yah-koh-keh) means Thank You. • Try using these words this month with your family and friends.

9. Children • Children’s hobbies include hunting and fishing. • Children often had many chores and less time to play. • A popular game is stickball or “kapuchatoli” which is similar to our modern day lacrosse.

10. Family • Mothers often carried their babies in cradleboards on their backs while they worked in the fields and cooked meals. • Fathers were in charge of hunting and protecting the family and tribe.

11. Clothing • Men wore breechcloths. • Women wore wrap-around skirts made of deerskin or woven fiber. • Choctaws also wore moccasins on their feet. • In cooler weather, everyone wore poncho style capes. • Many tribes often painted their faces and bodies bright colors during battles, lacrosse games, and festivals

12. Homes • Choctaw homes were made of plaster and rivercane walls, with thatched roofs. • If a Choctaw village was near the border of the Choctaw territory, it often had “palisades”(reinforced walls) surrounding it for protection.

13. Available at the Riverchase Library

14. Check this out at the Riverchase Library! • The Choctaw Nation by Lassier

15. Another book at the Riverchase Library • Tribes of Native America – Choctaw by Marla Ryan