The Arapaho Tribe by Austin

                There are many types of Native American tribes, but the Arapaho were one of the fiercest  ones.   The Arapaho lived in the northern part of the U.S. The Arapaho ate some good food and bad ones.  Like most tribes, they hunted and had ceremonies. Their life was based on bison.   They also eat weird things, like roots.  

                The Arapaho needed  buffalo to survive.  The women skinned them for teepees.  They used every part of the buffalo.  The bison bones were good for tools, such as a hammer.  Many tribes, such as the Pawnee, called them the “Bison path people."  They lived in teepees so they could follow the bison.

Arapaho Teepee

                Next, the Arapaho lived in Minnesota, North Dakota, Michigan, and Canada.  They traveled across the Great Plains behind the bison.  The Arapaho split in two groups in 1835.  The Southern Arapaho lived in Oklahoma.  The northern lived in Wyoming.

                The Arapaho ate many different types of food.  They made buffalo jerky from the bison meat.  They also made stew such as deer and bison stew.  They grew many crops such as corn, beans and potatoes.  They gathered  berries from bushes.  The Arapaho were very good hunters.  They hunted deer, elk and bison.  Horses helped them hunt.  Before they had horses, they used dogs.

Lastly, the Arapaho had many traditions.  Once a year, they had a Sun Dance.  The Sun Dance is a four day ceremony with no food or sleep.  They pray to the creator (man above) who created the Arapaho.  They prayed for good health and happiness.  They believed that when they got sick, they had shown disrespect to the creator.  The Sun Dance spread around the Great Plains.  Before the dance, they had piercing ceremonies and hunted for the feast.  They believed in four stages of life: childhood, youth, adulthood, and old age.  Before the Sun Dance, the women painted red lines down their faces and old women had red spots.

                In conclusion, the Arapaho was a little different.  They had two dances, the Sun and Ghost dance.  They had to hunt to stay alive. The Arapaho was a very fascinating tribe.  They moved from place to place and live on reservations today.

Works Cited

“Arapaho” America the Beautiful 2008 Grolier Online 29 October 2005. 

Bial, Raymond, The Arapaho New York Benchmark books 2004.

Ditchfied, Christian, The Arapaho Danbury Connecticut Children’s Press 2005. 

Gibson, Karen Arapaho Mankato Minnesota 2003 

Waldman, Carl.  “The Arapaho” Encyclopedia of Native Americans third Edition.  New York facts

     online file Inc. 2006 American Indian History online. Facts on file Inc http..// www.fot

     web .com/ activelink 2 asp.

The Arapaho Tribe by Michael

                Have you heard of ‘’bison- path people?" Who are these people? These bison people were known as the Arapaho. Before the Arapaho had horses, they used dogs to transport their goods. They also ate roots. They had one major ceremonial event called the Sun Dance.

                The Arapaho were known for their food. The Arapaho had dried food such as buffalo meat, roots, and berries. They also handpicked wild fruit, nuts, chokecherries, wild plums, silver buffalo berries, wild potatoes, corn, and beans. The Arapaho also had one special drink called tea. Pemmican is made of buffalo meat, fat, and berries. Pemmican can last all winter. The prairie turnips were eaten raw, roasted, boiled, or dried.

Jerky

                The Arapaho were known for their buffalo skin. Buffalo was exchanged for food or weapons. Buffalo skin was used for tipi and robes. Buffalo hides were used for clothing, tip covers, and containers. Cured buffalo hides were used for shelter, weapons, and tools. Dung was used for charcoal dung was buffalo poop.

                The Arapaho were known for ceremonial events. The Arapaho had a major ceremonial event which is the Sun Dance. There was a pole in the middle of the camp. That is where the ceremonial events took place. It included piercing of the skin with skewers and sometimes dragging buffalo skulls attack to skewers. Men volunteered to dance three to four days and nights accompanied by drumming and singing. The others watched the rest of the tribe and were blessed by shamans. Everybody painted streaks on their faces and bodies for ceremonies. Men painted their face, chest, and arms. Women painted streaks on their face. Old women painted a spot on each cheek to symbolize peace. The Arapaho Indians painted their forehead and one spot between the eyes to signify a buffalo calf. A painted line from the mouth to the chin to is symbolizing’’ the path of the sun.’’ Red ochre is pigment made from naturally tinted clay. It has been used since prehistoric times. Chemically, it is hydrated iron oxide. Ochre is non-toxic and is used to make oil paint that dries quickly and covers surface thoroughly. Many people believed that what best comes from the area of Roussillon, France. To manufacture ground ochre, ochre clay is mined from the ground. It is then washed in order to separate sand from ochre, which can be done by hand made. The remaining ochre is then dried in the sun and some times burned to enhance the natural color.

                The Arapaho tribe was known for their weapons.  They had guns, knives, bows snf arrows, buffalo hide shields, and arrows with stone points.  The bows were made of cedar, and sinew,was strong rope. Buffalo bones-spears, scrapers, and needles were also made.

                Sitting Bull, Kileiewer J. Henry, Black Kettle, and Left Hand are all of the people of the Arapaho tribe. Sitting Bull was known as the captor. He died in 1932 in Carrolton, Oklahoma. He was born in 1854. Kliewer J. Henry attended public school in Harvey County in 1851. He was born 1871. He died in 1943. Black Kettle was known as Moktavato. He was Cheyenne chief during the Arapaho war. He was born 1803. He died in 1868. Left Hand was known as Nawat. At age ten, he learned to speak English. He was Southern Arapaho chief. He was born in 1823 and he died in 1864.

                In conclusion the Sun Dance was a major ceremonial event. A Ghost Dance was added later. The Arapaho had bows made of cedar and strong rope – sinew. They exchanged buffalo for food and weapons. Left Hand learned to speak English at age 10. However, the major thing the Arapaho tribe was known for was ceremonial events. 

References

Bial, Raymond. The Arapaho.  Tarrytown, New York: Benchmark Book 2004

Ditchfeild, Christian. The Arapaho.    Danbury, Connecticut: Children press 2005

Gibson, Karen. The Arapaho Hunters of the Greats plains. Mankato, Minnesota: Bridgestone books 2003

Hirschfelder, Arlene and Molin, Paulette. ‘’ Kliewer J. Henry.’’ Encyclopedia of Native American Religions Updated Edition New York: Facts on      file, Inc, 2000 American Indian History Online Facts on File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2asp?     ItemIDWE43&ipin=ind1648&singlerecord=True

 Hirschfelder, Arlene and Molin, Paulette. ‘’ Sitting Bull.’’ Encyclopedia of Native American Religions Updated Edition New York: Facts on file,      Inc, 2000 Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2asp?ItemIDWE43&ipin=ind244&singleRecord=True

Kassel, William B. and Wooster, Robert, eds. ‘’ Left Hand. ‘’ Encyclopedia of Native American Wars and Warfare. New York: Facts on file, Inc.,      2005 American Indian History Online. Facts on file, Inc.       <http://www.fofweb.com/activlink2asp? ItemID=WE43&ipin=FNAWO302&singlerecord=true>.  

Lassier, Allison. The Arapaho Tribe.  Mankato, Minnesota:  Bridgestone Books, 2002.

Waldman, Carl.  “Black Kettle.”  Biographical Dictionary of American Indian History to 1900, revised edition.  New York:  Facts on File, Inc.      2000.  American Indian History Online. Facts on File, Inc.  <http://www.fofweb.com/activlink2.asp?Item      ID=WE43&ipin=indbl95&singlerecord=true>.

Welfish, Gene.  “Sun Dance.”  Grolier Mulitmedia Encyclopedia, 2008.  Grolier online. 

     <http://gme.grolier.com/cgi-bin/article?    assetid=0015180-07>.

Last updated 12/10/08