User:Dillon Douglas/sandbox

Brady Knight and Dillon Douglas

Wiki Outline

Topic- Native Americans and the use of horses

Obtaining the Horse

Many great things came to those who were able to obtain the horse. Native American Tribes were always trying to get the horse, and obtain the biggest amount of the herd, but there were also the Spaniards, Mexicans, and Anglo - Americans. Many huge advantages came with obtaining the horse. Native American tribes were very precise in which horses they would steal from their enemies. Specifically, horses from the Spaniards and Mexicans had much value, the favorite horses were normally laden with high priced saddles, blankets, bridles and saddlebags. These pieces of equipment made for a better opportunity to trade and have the necessary equipment each tribe needed. Horses were obtained through trading, raids, and war (Clark, 1963).

(Further Discussion on the impact that each method of obtaining the horse had on Native American Lives and others.)

Abundance and Distribution

(We will further discuss the vast and sometimes underestimated abundance of plains horses.)

Negative Impacts

Horses helped native Americans in a vast number of ways. Hunting techniques, moving, trading, and warfare were all ways that the acquisition of the horse helped Native Americans. However, equestrian life also brought many negative side effects. They disrupted grassland and bison ecology, created social inequalities within and outside of tribes, and increased resource competition (Hamalainen, 2003). Because the horse quickly became a useful tool, tribes sought to acquire as many horses as possible. The tribes that had horses very quickly became powerhouse tribes and this created inequalities among tribes.

(We will further discuss the social problems that the horse caused)

Environmental impacts

With the acquisition of the horse, bison hunting became simpler. Native tribes no longer relied on the gamble of a bison herd passing through. The horse provided means for scouting and longer-range hunts. Rather than following bison herds, Blackfoot tribes learned behavioral patterns in order to predict bison movements. The Blackfoot people could set up hunting camps adjacent to bison herds and organize very successful hunts (Bethke, 2017). With an increase of horses, the northwestern plains suffered a decrease in bison numbers. Horses also have a higher forage demand than bison. With an increase in hunting and less forage to go around the bison population suffered. In the year 1500 an estimated 40 million bison on the North American continent. Due to fur demand and an overabundance of bison they were hunted heavily with no concerns of extinction. In the year 1892, there were only an estimated 500 bison left in the wild. Most of this hunting was done on the backs of horses.

(Further discuss Decrease of bison population, horse management factors, water and forage demand)

Horse Petroglyphs

To many tribes the horse was much more than a useful tool. The Blackfoot tribe believes that horses were a gift from sky spirits. The importance of horses is depicted within their art. Horse figures appear in their art second only to human figures (Faris, 2001). It is very clear that horses were very important to not only their physical way of life, but also a centerpiece of their beliefs. In later petroglyphs horses are often portrayed with a rider.

(we will expand on the abundance and meaning of horse petroglyphs)

Separation of tribes caused by horses

Semi nomadic vs Sedentary tribes

Two types of plains tribes developed, heavily influenced by the horse.

Primary uses of horses

The horse known as the four-legged soldier as described by many people, was super effective in the gaining of property, ground and movement of the people who possessed the horse. The horse was a huge advantage in warfare to be able to do all those things. Those who had the horse controlled the land. (Jones, 2017). Horses were used very successfully in hunting traditions, and the ways of Native Americans. Horses were used to be swift, and fast to place the Native American tribe people in the positions they wanted to overtake the prized possession of the prairie, the buffalo. Instead of running on foot the Native Americans now were able to use horses to chase and be in better positions to kill. Horses were also masked by the Native American tribes to appear as the animal they hunted at the time, known species they would appear as are bison, red deer, and antelope. (Jones, 2017). Horses made it very possible for Native American Tribes to become much more mobile. moving to more fertile areas, where herds would move, and also going to places better for their tribes.