Lifestyles and Customs

The Lifestyle of a Native American would be mostly the women cooking and taking care of the children. The men would do the hunting. The people in the tribe who make the decision in a tribe would be the council of elders. In some clans, the whole tribe takes care of the newborns. 

Battle/Massacre Wounded knee 

On November 29, 1864, a peaceful band of Southern Cheyenne and Arapahoe Native Americans are massacred by Colonel John Chivington’s Colorado volunteers at Sand Creek, Colorado.  Nine of Chivington’s men were killed; 148 of Black Kettle’s followers were slaughtered, more than half of them women and children. The Colorado volunteers returned and killed the wounded, disfigured the bodies, and set fire to the village.

Sitting Bull was born in 1831.  At the age of 10 sitting bull killed his first buffalo. He was named Tatanka-Iyotanka, which means buffalo bull sitting on its haunches. He became known for legendary acts of bravery in battle. Sitting Bull was also widely recognized as a man of great insight and vision. Considered both a holy man and a brave warrior, he became the head chief of the entire Lakota Sioux nation around 1868. Sitting bull was arrested and killed on 1890

Sitting Bull

The lifestyle of American settlers/American Cowboys and Vaqueros

The cowboys were similar to vaqueros because they wore spurs and straps to control the horse. The reason settlers moved west was that there was gold so most American settlers were mining. It was hard to live in the west because they struggled to make crops and harsh weather conditions. Cowboy's life was full of hard work and low pay and little sleep. It seemed as if everyone struggled in the west but mostly the people doing hard labor working on the railroads. 

Problems with railroads

There was hard labor to make the railroads and the people hired for that job were mostly Chinese, African, and Mexican. Employees often worked 10, 12, and even 16 hours a day. Sometimes they didn't receive extra pay for extra hours. Conditions on the job were often very dangerous. Many workers died due to the dangerous working conditions. They also had to work through different weather conditions. It took 2 and half years to finish.