MIGRATION The lands of the Indians of the Great Plains are the great plains of North America, located between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains, which extend from Texas to the Canadian provinces over an area of about 1,600,000 square kilometers A land consists of steep cliffs on the board, ravines, plain tops, valleys, rich forests and streams, terraces and staircases grazing land. In the western prevails short grass and hard, the so-called Bison Grass which is of course becoming dry winter fodder that feeds the herds of bison. In the more humid eastern valleys are the Grasslands by Rich Manto that stretch as far as the eye thanks to the absence of natural barriers. Persistent winds plague the area and the movement of the grass, the air and water has always made the natives think that everything was moving and related component and a one indivisible and inseparable. Movement, harmony and unity were originated from the Holy Powers and the environment had physical meaning and matafisico closely related. The nomadic life of the Plains Indians was closely linked to the characteristics of the environment. The largest river is the Missouri also called Big Muddy because of the dull color of its waters, flowing and curving wildly down from the pastures north until it joins the Mississippi, where he continued his journey of 3000 km from the source of Montana to the Gulf of Mexico. The territory of Missouri is a land full of contrasts: rugged mountains and flat valleys, lush pastures and semi-desert areas desolate and silent, but elsewhere along its banks grow thick forests filled with birds singing moose and wolves. A part of its course flows between sandstone formations eroded by wind to which they were assigned evocative names such as The Citadel and Rock Walls of Stone. Another part intertwined paths winding around hills that lap the shores; There are also isolated strips of colored clay or white limestone where storm water and have undermined the turf as signs always remember the power of nature. There are also places where grazing lush and delicate flowers stand out, where every small animal finds its natural setting, a sign that pointed to the Plains Indians that they could live in their own happiness and the power to make you happy. Stand out even small circular depressions separated by a darker color, these rings often concentrated in large numbers revealed the presence of herds of bison. The entire economy was based on nomadic bison which provided food, clothing, shelter, and it was for this reason that only its presence on a large scale could allow the people of the prairie spopravvivere, prosper and expand. Herds of considerable size could be found on these salty soils, but the most spectacular that you could see were those during the mating season in the autumn. The bison can reach a weight of 750 kg, and has small eyes sunken and are incredibly hairy. His eyesight is very poor, but it is offset by an incredible sense of smell and a fierce and angry character, is a stubborn animal and only men dared to face him, in nature no animal dared to challenge him. The Indians of the plains faced with only a bow and arrow or with a spear and had developed an incredible skill and efficiency in the hunt. Every part of the animal was used for the basic necessities for their survival. Also hunted elk, deer and antelope, but their use could not be compared with the use of bison and when whites began to exterminate them for fun and to trade their fur was missing the main sustenance of life of the Plains Indians. The Bison had a particular role in the mythology and ritual of the Indians and their migrations were were closely related to the migration of bison. The people passed through the high grass of the prairie, following the beaten track from the packs, avoiding intrigued undergrowth and an herb called Lasso Phantom growing climbing on blades of grass and the men who grabbed her ankles to make them stumble unexpectedly. Also often followed rivers and streams where they knew they could meet the bison. The winters they spent in the camps located near the valleys where herds also sought shelter during the spring and summer led a nomadic life following the movements of the herds. In the height of summer the Indians gathered to dedicate himself to a tribal hunting and to make the most important ceremonies. The rivers marked the boundaries of the hunting of the various tribes, each of them had favorite places so precise that each year hunters they found themselves without delay. The valleys of the rivers met other basic necessities such as wood and water, rich variety of game and plant foods. The valleys of the southern offered many fruit trees in the undergrowth were wild grapes, gooseberries, figs, wild turnips, latex plants, sunflowers, herbs and roots. The aspen groves by the Indians called trees rustling, for the characteristic noise emitted from the leaves, and provided shelter from the wind during the winter months and you could rip them cortex which then served as a supplementary feed for horses when the snow covered the whole how much. In addition to creture woods such as beavers, moose, baribal, cougars, bobcats, otters, mink, raccoons, cranes, kingfishers, jays, woodpeckers and magpies, there were also migratory animals such as antelope, foxes and coyotes, wolves, grouse cocks and squirrels. For the Plains Indians the metaphysical forces were expressed in these animals as if they were their brokers .. The bear such was respected for his spiritual influence and for his physical strength, the eagle was sacred as a symbol of complete independence .. The climate, however, was not always favorable, in fact, there were considerable variations in temperature and drought that lasted from a few weeks to months and even years and often ended with terrible storms accompanied by winds and floods. The storms could last for days then the sky lit up and the landscape was changing into vapors raising a sultry heat that was dried herbs and running the risk of fire. The real persecutor of the winter was the North Wind that brought cold, storms, disease, death. The Indians adapted to adverse environmental watched as the natural forces and considered themselves protectors and allies, and then to accommodate not to oppose it with all their might. The largest contributions and migrations were in South and Southeast Asia, but the most significant were those coming from the forests of the east coast. Before then rarely more often hunters Forests crossed the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and streams and followed. Their influence was felt in regard to the merger of hunting and agriculture and led to a semi-permanent way of life. Their economy was equally divided between farming and hunting; all spent a considerable part of the year in pursuit of the herds of bison living in tepees covered with skins and adopting patterns of nomadic life. To the north there was the confederation of Feet Blacks, their traditions refer the migrazini from east to south. Their eastern borders were Ojibway, Cree and Assiniboine, from the forests. Further south there were the Arrapaho, who were soon joined by the Cheyenne along the Sheyenne River in North Dakota and then in the Black Hills, while the movements of the Cheyenne tribe came from the several forests, generically called Sioux. The Santee Dakota and were placed at the fork of the Missouri and the Mississippi, but the majority gave the nomads and formed a confederation called the Fires of the Seven Councils, or Teton or Lakota. The area occupied by them bordered on the south by the Platte River and the east by the Missouri and Yellowstone and to the north with the west with the chain of Teton. To the west were done on the move. Both history and prehistory attest movements and constant change, the concept of motion is implicit in the mythology of the plains across the term migration suggests that changes of any kind. The movement also had the peculiar characteristic of the environment that caused the phenomenon of nomadism in the plains, whose typical expression is detectable at Cheyenne tribe which, Feet Blacks, Teton Sioux, Crow, and Arapaho.
Posted on: Fri, 18 Jul 2014 10:01:58 +0000
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