beliefs

• what was a sacred piece of land for Lakota Sioux?

  black hills
• scalping was a method of violence for indigenous which involved cutting the scalp from a dead person and keeping it as a victory and warning to others
• indigenous peoples beliefs on nature

  • believed everything had a soul
  • they could contact the spirit world
  • beloved in the great spirit waken tanka
  • had respect for all things in nature
  • helped them live successfully on the plains as they didn't damage the land they lived on
• indigenous peoples beliefs on land and property

  • land was sacred and couldn't be bought and sold
  • farming or mining was seen as disrespectful to the land by some
  • white Americans viewed them as uncivilised as they wouldn't farm on the land
  • Sioux were willing to fight to the death over sacred land such as the black hills
• indigenous peoples beliefs on war

  • couldn't afford to lose warriors in a fight
  • shouldn't fight to kill each other
  • used 'counting coup' which was hitting each other with sticks to keep them away
  • minimising deaths among tribes
  • made white Americans believe they saw war as a game
  • took scalps as success in battle only in extreme cases as they believes you couldn't get into the afterlife without one
  • horrified white Americans who viewed them as savages
• what did the indigenous practice that white americans heavily disliked?

  polygamy