Excerpts from journals

of travellers on the

Prairies

Dear DiaryToday I woke up in a Sioux tepee. Last night I slept here after I was invited to sleep with the people of this tribe, in their camp by the chief. These people are very kind and were quite happy to let me stay with them for the night after my long journey over the Appalachian Mountains. The tepee smelled a little strange but it had been very warm and so too was the food that they

By Helen

very warm and so too was the food that they gave me. I believe it contained bison meat.I find these tepees amazing. The tribe’s people build strong structures. I have been extremely lucky today and have been able to see some of the making of new covers for two of the tepees. The covers are made by just a few women in the tribe and they were part way through when I joined them. They told me that they had done all the removing of the hair and fat material.

They said that for one of the tepee covers was already tanned and ready to be stitched together. They allowed me to watch them while they applied a paste to the other group of bison hides that would make up the second tepee cover. I didn’t like the smell and so I didn’t ask what it was made of!Today I also was able to make other observations of daily life. The fact that observations of daily life. The fact that although they all live primitively they are all very healthy and seem perfectly happy just the way they are, was the most obvious. I spoke to most of the tribe and they all say that they like things just the way that they are today. I have been invited to stay another night which I have accepted. I am learning so much from these people that I do not want to leave!

By EnriqueDear dairy, we just met some Sioux and they are very good. They treated us like guests and gave us food. They lived in: “cone shaped” houses called: “tipi”. The thing that really impressed me is how they lived in harmony; I mean people now cloud only kill a mean people now cloud only kill a shark for his tail to make a shark tail soup. But if they killed an animal they would use the meat from inside of the animal, they would use the skin for clothes ect… And that is all for today

Diary Entry July 22ndI have become very impressed today with the Sioux people and their amazing ability to be so resourceful with what little they have around them.Take for example their use of the Bison, they follow them around from place to place and hunt them, they seem to have a use for almost

By Lewis

hunt them, they seem to have a use for almost every single part of the animal!Warmer and often to make clothing. They use the muscle and the sinew as bowstring threads. They use the Bison hair as rope to use in day to day life. They have even thought of a way as using the dung as fuel!Once again I am left impressed by the resilient nature of this tribe.

Today I came across a Sioux village where they invited me in and allowed me to watch them going about there daily business, but the aspect I want to talk about is their Tipis (houses) and how they build them.The tipis are made of bison hides and big flexible sticks.

Dear diary, Tuesday the 5th of March 1785By Matthew

flexible sticks.Inside the tipis there are hides to sleep on and to cover you up.There is a fire inside to keep you warm and for light and there are flaps for air and to let the smoke out.Also each tipi has a different pattern on there outer sides. These are a status symbol and show what the people that live there are like. People cook ,eat, and entertain in their tipis.

Dear diaryThe original Lakota/Dakota homelands were in what is now Wisconsin, Minnesota, and North and South Dakota. The Sioux travelled freely, however, and there was also significant Sioux presence in the modern states of Iowa, Nebraska, Montana, and northern Illinois, and in south-central Canada. Today, most Sioux people live in the Dakotas, Minnesota, Nebraska, and Saskatchewan.The Dakota and Lakota people lived in large

By Paul

The Dakota and Lakota people lived in large buffalo-hide tents called tipis (or teepees). Tipis were carefully designed to set up and break down quickly. An entire Sioux village could be packed up and ready to move within an hour. Originally tipis were only about 12 feet high, but after the Sioux acquired horses, they began building them twice that size. Here are some pictures of tipis and other Indian houses. Today, Native Americans only put up a tepee for fun or to connect with their heritage. Most Sioux families live in modern houses and apartment buildings, just like you.

Inside the tipiInside the tipiInside the tipiInside the tipiIt was the morning it was sunny and hot. I went inside the Tipi I had a girl greet me into the Tipi. The Tipi was where the Plains Native Americans Slept, Cooked , Ate and did Entertainment. The beds were around the outside and also acted as

By Nadiya

were around the outside and also acted as couches . On the walls were where the people had Pictures, Store their Weapons and Food , I had to go around the beds as the women was cooking me some meat . It was served by hand and I had to eat it by hand . The women was wearing a dress with , Beads, Bison Skin and Traditional Shoes.

The young girl was wearing the same . The man was wearing A Shirt , Leggings , and Traditional Shoes . The fire was in middle and it was toasty warm . I was eating on the couch . The couch was done very beautiful , although the bed was a couch but is was soft . As I went outside I saw women doing the Tipis, all the women were doing the Tipis Tipis, all the women were doing the Tipis and the women were teaching their daughters how to do It also . The men were protecting ,feeding , and nurturing there horses as they were so important . The man in the Tipi was stroking his horse , as it was coming up for sun down I had to leave .The man was getting me a horse and he took me back all the way home .

I have just recently arrived in America, I have been staying with a Sioux family who stay in a long cone shaped tent called a teepee. It’s very compact but cosy. They are made from 15ft tall poles which are very hard to find but they last very long. The outside of the teepee is made from skins

By Ore

hard to find but they last very long. The outside of the teepee is made from skins such as bison skin. The women are in charge of building the teepee as they have responsibility to put it up and take it down when they move at least thrice a year. The men draw symbols of their achievements during their life on the teepee to represent their home.

Inside the teepee there is a small fire in the centre of the tent used for cooking and warmth. There are beds around the edges which are also used as sofas. They also have flaps at the top of the tent so when cooking, the fumes can flow out. They have buffalo skins for carpet and blankets.Manners are very important to Sioux Manners are very important to Sioux people, it is considered very rude to walk between the fire and the bed, but I do not know why. Also when the entrance flap to the tent is closed nobody was allowed to come in, not even if you lived there. Another rule is when you have a guest it is important that they sit on the left, furthest away from the door flap. Everyone was supposed to know these rules.

Dear Diary I am in South Dakota with the Sioux people, most of them speak english so luckily I can understand them. The children here play outside a lot as well as go hunting and fishing with their fathers. The Sioux mothers are in charge of looking after the house, this includes cooking, cleaning and also moving it when they Sioux people move. When they do all this I usually help them, unless I go out to explore. The women wear

By Becky

help them, unless I go out to explore. The women wear dresses made out of deerskin or elkskin, and I am told that while I am here I have to wear one, so I wear a deerskin dress all the time. The men wear breech clothes, leggings and buckskin shirts, and of course because I am a girl I don’t have to wear that outfit. Sometimes in the evening all the Sioux people and I gather round a fire and tell stories, as this is a traditional thing for them. To get food they have farms and also the men go hunting. But even though they have farms most of their diet is meat, some of the meat they eat is buffalo, deer and elk.

This is how they get the right things to make the women’s dresses. I am staying in a tipi with the Borak family. The tipi is about 12 feet high, someone told me that after a while Sioux tipi’s tend to get bigger. At the bottom of this page, Diary, I have drawn a picture of the tipi I am staying in. Right now it is quite small but the Borak family told me that on their next move they are going to try and make it bigger. I said that I would help them if and make it bigger. I said that I would help them if I was still here by then. The Head Chief named Antinanco Ferro (right now I am being told that Antinanco means ‘Eagle of the Sun’) is in charge of the whole tribe, he wears a thing on his head with feathers on it. Well, Diary I have to go now and help clean with Chirico Borak (the mother in the Borak family)!Carys

Dear diary 23rd March I have seen a brown little man in the woods running. Intrigued, I followed him. He seemed to be running into a sort of hut, made out of skins, with some polls sticking out of the top. I took a peek inside. The place had: three beds, a small fire in the middle, an animal fur carpet and a small curtain at one end. It was incredibly small. Fascinated I took down notes and drew a

By Nic

small. Fascinated I took down notes and drew a sketch. Dear diary 24th March I watched the house and observed a man with a spear running out. He headed towards a great open plain, there were 40 or so animals with strong looking legs, horns the size of my arm and looked a bit like bulls. Madly screaming, the man ran and threw the spear.

It was a stampede, every where the animals were galloping like horses, only faster, about 55 miles an hour or so. One of the animals turned around and charged at the man. He crashed into him and knocked him over like a skittle. Seeing he was badly wounded, my intension was of course to save him and I would have at that moment. Unfortunately the animal was still there and I was afraid he would charge at still there and I was afraid he would charge at me, if he saw me. Eventually the animal ran off. I ran and helped the man to his knees and put him on my back. But when I reached the boat in whence I came in to this place….the man was dead. I realized that this was a very dangerous business and decided to go on this expedition with guns, and so, I took ship and intended to go to England and become famous.

Today I went with the Sioux to see how they hunt. They killed around 5 buffalos in different ways. They are the main animal to hunt, but Sioux also hunt elk, rabbits, deer, foxes and coyotes. The buffalo have sharp smell and hearing, so hunting is hard. One way of hunting: Sioux hunters would chase or lead the buffalo towards a cliff

By Serena

chase or lead the buffalo towards a cliff or steep hill. Along the way, other men would hide behind rocks, ready to spook the buffalo if they tried to run away. When some of the buffalo reached the cliff they would most likely trip and fall, but others would be smart enough and run away. At the bottom of the cliff, the hunters would jump on the buffalo and quickly kill them. They used bows and arrows, but also lances. It was really interesting.

The End