PAWNEE INDIANS ARE IN NEBRASKA

THE PAWNEE ARE A CADDOAN SPEAKING GROUP THAT HAS HISTORICALLY LIVED ON THE MISSOURI RIVER, KANSAS, AND NEBRASKA. THEY WERE ONE OF THE DOMINANT TRIBES OF THE GREAT PLAINS AND FOLLOWED A WAY OF LIFE SINCE 1250 A.D. IN 1830'S THEY STILL HAD 12,000 FOLKS, AND SOME ESCAPED EXPOSURE TO EUROPEAN DISEASES.

THEY HAVE A RITUAL CALLED TRAIL OF TEARS FROM NEBRASKA TO OKLAHOMA WHERE THEY WERE EXILED. BY 1859 THEIR POPULATION WAS ONLY 3400 AS THEY HAD A RESERVATION IN NEBRASKA. THEY WERE PRESSURED FROM LAKOTA AND EUROPEANS SO THEY MOVED TO OKLAHOMA RESERVATION BY LATE 1800'S. TODAY THEIR TRIBE IS FEDERALLY RECOGNIZED. THEIR NAME MEANS "MEN OF MEN". THEY ARE HEADQUARTERED IN PAWNEE , OKLAHOMA.

THEY HAD TWO LARGE GROUPINGS. THE NORTH BAND WAS MOST POPULOUS WHILE THE SOUTH BAND WAS POLITICAL. BOTH ARE AUTONOMOUS. BECAUSE OF OUTSIDE PRESSURES THE PAWNEE DREW CLOSER. THEY HAD OVER 10 VILLAGES IN THE NORTH BAND, AND 5 VILLAGES IN THE SOUTH BAND. IN 1870'S THEY BUILT LODGES NEAR GENOA, NEBRASKA. THEY HAD A SEDENTARY LIFESTYLE WITH SEASONAL HUNTING AND HAD BEEN ESTABLISHED HERE VERY LONG. ARCHAEOLOGISTS DATE SITES FOR NEARLY 700 YEARS. THEY SETTLED CLOSE TO RIVERS AND PLACED THEIR EARTH LODGES IN A RECTANGULAR AND LATER CIRCULAR SHAPE. THE FRAME OF 15 POSTS WAS THE CENTRAL ROOM OF THE LODGE. THEY PAINTED FOUR POLES TO REPRESENT THE FOUR DIRECTIONS AND FOUR STAR GODS. THE SECOND OUTER RING OF POLES OUTLINED THE LODGE. HORIZONTAL BEAMS LINKED THE POSTS TOGETHER. THEN IT WAS COVERED WITH THATCH THEN EARTH, THE DOOR WAS FACING EAST AND THEY PUT A HOLE IN THE CENTER OF THE ROOF FOR A CHIMNEY. THEY USED A BUFFALO SKIN DOOR ON THE INTERIOR ROOM. A BUFFALO SKULL WITH HORNS WAS DISPLAYED INSIDE. THIS WAS GREAT MEDICINE. MATS WERE HUNG WHICH DIVIDED SMALL ROOMS. IT WAS SEMI SUBTERRANEAN. CHILDREN PLAYED ON TOP OF THEM.

THIRTY TO FIFTY PEOPLE MIGHT LIVE IN THE LODGE (RELATED FAMILIES). ONE VILLAGE MAY HAVE 300 TO 500 PEOPLE AND 10 HOUSEHOLDS. EACH LODGE HAD TWO HEADS. EACH OF THE SECTIONS WAS DIVIDED INTO THREE DUPLICATE AREAS, RELATED TO THE PEOPLE WHO LIVED HERE. THE TRIBE WENT ON BUFFALO HUNTS IN SUMMER AND WINTER. MEN WERE MORE TRANSIENT THAN WOMEN. THEY HAD OBLIGATIONS OF SUPPORT FOR THE WOMEN, BUT COULD GO BACK TO THEIR MOMS OR SISTER'S FOR A NIGHT OR TWO.

THEY ARE MATRILINEAL. A COUPLE MOVED IN WITH THE BRIDE'S PARENTS LODGING. THEY WORKED COLLABORATIVELY WITH INDEPENDENCE AND COOPERATION.

MATURE WOMEN DID MOST OF THE LABOR. SINGLE WOMEN LEARNED THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES, AND OLDER WOMEN LOOKED AFTER CHILDREN. POLITICAL DESIGNATIONS FOR MEN ARE - WARRIOR CHIEF CLIQUE, AND HUNTING CLIQUE. WOMEN MADE TRADE AND MADE SOCIAL DECISIONS. MEN DECIDED REGARDING HUNTING JOURNEYS, WAR, AND SPIRITUAL ISSUES. MEN MOVED BETWEEN LODGES AND TOOK MULTIPLE SEX PARTNERS IN SERIAL MARRIAGES.

WOMEN WERE SKILLED HORTICULTURALISTS AND COOKS, CULTIVATED AND PROCESSED 10 TYPES OF CORN, PUMPKINS, SQUASH AND BEANS. THEIR CROPS WERE ALONG THE FERTILE RIVER BOTTOMS. WOMEN PLANTED HOLY CORN FOR SACRED BUNDLES. SEEDS WERE COLLECTED FOR SACRED BUNDLES FOR SPRING PLANTING. THE CYCLE OF THE CORN DETERMINED THE ANNUAL AGRICULTURAL CYCLE WITH SPRING PLANTING RITUALS AND FALL HARVEST RITUALS. THEY CLASSIFIED CORN INTO BLACK, SPOTTED, WHITE AND YELLOW AND RED RELATED TO THE FOUR CARDINAL DIRECTIONS. WOMEN KEPT THE STRAINS PURE IN CULTIVATION. SQUASH AND BEANS DID NOT HAVE THE SAME SPIRITUAL CONNECTION.

AFTER THE LATE 1600'S THEY GOT HORSES AND EXPANDED THEIR BUFFALO HUNTING SEASON AND RANGE. THEY COULD TRAVEL OVER 500 MILES. TO HUNT A BUFFALO THE MEDICINE MEN DECIDED WHEN THEY WOULD APPROACH A BUFFALO. THE WARRIORS HAD TO GIVE A SIGNAL ONE ARROW IN THE RIGHT SPOT WOULD BY THE HEART COULD KILL A BUFFALO. SOME TIMES THEY SHOT 5 AT A TIME. THEY KILLED YOUNG BULLS AND COWS AS THEY TASTED BETTER.

THEY CUT UP THE MEAT AND SKINNED THE BUFFALO AND THE WOMEN AT THE VILLAGE PROCESSED THE MEAT INTO STRIP AND DRIED IT ON POLES OVER COALS. IT WAS USABLE FOR SEVERAL YEARS. THEY HUNTED OTHER GAME AS WELL.

THEIR RELIGION WAS NATURE BASED. MEDICINE MEN CREATED SACRED BUNDLES OF CORN. THE CEREMONIES WERE CONDUCTED TO MAINTAIN A BALANCE WITH NATURE AND THE SPIRITS. THE PAWNEE WERE PARTICIPANTS IN THE GHOST DANCE IN THE 1890'S. THEY BELIEVED THE FIRST WOMAN WAS BORN FROM MORNING AND EVENING STAR. THE FIRST MAN WAS BORN FROM MOON AND SUN WHEN THEY UNITED. COSMOLOGY PLAYED AN INTEGRAL ROLE IN DAILY AND SPIRITUAL LIFE. THEY USED THE STARS FOR THEIR CALENDAR AND SACRIFICIAL MAIZE.

THEY BELIEVED THAT THEY NEEDED TO SACRIFICE A CHILD FOR ENSURING FERTILITY UNTIL 1830'S. THEY CAPTURED A GIRL FROM ANOTHER TRIBE. THEY HAD PRESSURE NOT TO SACRIFICE CHILDREN ANYMORE FROM SETTLERS SO THEY ENDED IT. THE PAWNEE WERE MASTERS AT UNITY AND MADE TREATIES WITH THE ENGLISH, FRENCH, AND SPANISH.

BY 1975 MOST MEMBERS MOVED TO INDIAN TERRITORY BY 1875 IN OKLAHOMA. THE WARRIORS RESISTED THE LOSS OF CULTURE ONCE THEY MOVED TO A RESERVATION.

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