The video shows the dress of the Indians clearly, when they are performing a raid they wear paint on there faces and body and wore buffalo skin. The buffalo skin worn was scrapped to remove the fur and then cut to the desired length and decorated with circles as this is an Indian custom. The men would wear feathers to indicated the number of people they have killed.
The had a lot of customs and most of which people from the European world may see as savage and inhuman. One of the customs the video showed which I found very disturbing is ‘scalping’ this is the act of killing someone and then cutting around his hair line and removing the scalp, it is believed that by doing this the Indian did not go to the ‘happy hunting ground’ which is the place that Indians go death but if another Indian has your scalp he has your sole therefore you cannot go to the happy hunting ground. They also would mutilate other Indians so if they do get to the happy hunting ground they cannot see as they have no eyes or they cannot walk because the backs of there lags have been mutilated. Therefore Indians would only go to war for 3 things; horses as they provide power not only in the tribe but hunting against the buffalo therefore horses meant survival to them. Another thing the Indians would go to war for is women as they make life and do everything in the village (e.g. build the tepees ect). And the last thing that they would go to war for is the hunting grounds as the buffalo provide not only food for them but clothes, homes and weapons so if other Indian were killing the buffalo that you are you have a decreased chance of survival.
If a mothers son is killed in battle she cuts off her finger and if this results in her having no provider ( e.g. husband, son or somebody else who can supply her with food she gives away all her possessions and leaves the tribe to die when winter arrives. This is not compulsory the woman chooses to do this she is not ordered or even told.
The currency used in America by the Indians was possessions and the most important thing they brought was their wife but the woman has the right to have the overall decision if she shall marry her buyer or not and if the buyer disagrees with her choice or argues against it he is considered weak. The video shows this when his wife is brought by the 2nd chief .
The Indians lived in tepees and these were perfectly suited to their lifestyle , firstly they were made from buffalo skin and wood which were easy to find and relatively light which was also good as the Indians lived a nomadic lifestyle so the tepees had to be semi-permanent. The women made the tepees by firstly joining the wood together to make a cone shape then they would cover it with pieces of buffalo skin like a patchwork quilt then would join them together using glue and stitching. They would then be decorated with paint so the joins were invisible and then circles and other pictures would be painted on to make it unique. The buffalo skin provided enough heat in winter but kept cool in the summer.
The tepees were situated in the valley along with the rest of the village which was ruled by the chief and there would also be a 2nd chief who would be next in line. The warriors would be underneath the chiefs in the hierarchy and they would hunt the buffalo. The women did everything else they skinned and prepared the buffalo, they made the tepees and did every other chore in the village. The village also required guards they were known as dog soldiers and would alert any incoming attack to the warriors.
The Indians did not use any advance weaponry in combat just spears and hammers and other ‘stone age’ weapons made from flint and wood as they were the easiest to find on the plains. The best weapon the Indians had was the horse and it was an honour to own one they were used to the best of their ability in combat and provided a higher position but they did not have any advanced weaponry unlike the white European who had guns and knives.
Another difference between the Indians and white Europeans was their religion. The Indians were very religious and worshipped the sun god ‘Wakantanka’ they believed that the sun meant everything not just life and death but success and disappointment therefore constantly worshipped it, they did this by singing, dancing and playing drums during religious ceremonies. The main religious ceremony shown in the video was when an Indian became a warier. This was achieved in a painful and slow way firstly all of the warriors go into the circular lodge (circles represent the sun) followed by the chief and then the person (in this case horse) has eagle claws put though his chest (eagles fly closest to the sun) then the warriors play drums and chant as he is pulled up by Indians on top of the lodge and then the person faints and is dropped, the chief judges their courage and accepts them into the tribe. Then the Indian is able to marry this happens by the women has to sweat for a day and get ritually clean and then they are pronounced to be married.
In conclusion ‘A man called horse’ is a very good piece of secondary evidence and provides a lot of detail about the American Indians and as it is a true story it is believable.
