The Shoshoni
by Gage
Invisible Arrow
     My tribe is at war.  They are ten miles away!  Dad was at home and he is not leaving because he doesn't want to get hurt.  My tribe is running away from the white people because there are more than us Shoshoni.  They are running to their shelters.  I was born and one of our arrows almost hit me.  It was 10 inches away from me.  So my Mom and Dad named me Invisible Arrow because an arrow almost hit me!
Land on the Plains
     One day a sheep and cattle were looking for tall grass to eat.  Next it started to rain on a warm summer morning and the willows started to shake!  The birds and squirrels were panicking and panicking!  Now the horses and antelope have to get warm because it is going to snow in the cold winters on the Plains.  The antelope said, "We need to find a shelter."  "There is one and it is abandoned," said horses.  Now the sheep, horses, antelope, cattle, birds and squirrels found a cave in the Rocky Mountains.  There are two mountains and one hill on the plains.  The one hill is called the Black Hills, and the two mountains are Big Horn and Absaroka Mountains.  There are four rivers, the Big Horn, the Snake, Powder, and Yellowstone Rivers and one lake, the Yellowstone Lake.  The climate is dry most of the year.  Now that I told you everything I can tell you about the land on the Plains, you should go there.
 
The Two Shelters
     Have you lived in two shelters in four seasons?  My tribe the Shoshoni does.  One is made of buffalo skin with fur and poles.  The poles are put in the ground in a circle.  At the top it is tied together with buffalo hides and that is a tipi.  The wigwams protect the tipi from rotting.  The earth lodges are made of frames and brush.  It looks like a cone with sticks.  The things inside are buffalo robes and beds, fire pit, back rest, food, and clothes.  If you want to live in two shelters in four seasons now you can.

Shosoni Clothing
     Do you paint your bodies with clay, juices, fruits, and berries?  Well the Shoshoni men and women did.  The women also wore breech clout made of buffalo hides and deer skin, robes in the winter, and an apron in the summer.  The men wore breech clouts, a leather belt and loin cloths.  They wore robes in winter and boots made out of buffalo hides.  They pierced their ears.  The boys wore nothing until age 10, then they wore breech clouts and a belt.  The girls wore loosely fitting, long sleeved dresses made with deerskin and decorated with fringe, beads, and small pieces of metal.  Have you ever had that many pieces of clothing made from buffalo hides and deer skins?

 
The Hunting Shoshoni

Two men and one boy left their village and started to walk when they saw wild sheep, antelope, squirrel, and elk.  It took one day to go down hill in a dog sled and they went up a mountain carrying the dog sled.  They killed a sheep, antelope, squirrel, elk, bird, and fish.  It took two days to get back to the village and the two men smoked a peace pipe.  The boy went to bed.  The Shoshoni also gather roots, seeds, berries, and grasshoppers to eat.  They roasted over a fire and dried meat in the sun and made it into jerky.  That is the hunting Shoshoni.

Sources

Book: Fradin, Dennis B.  The Shoshoni.  1988.

Online database: "Wyoming."  Britannica Elementary Encyclopedia. 2007. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition.  12/1/2006.

Web site: "Plains Indians."  http://www.mce.k12tn.net/indians/reports4/plains.htm.  12/20/2006.

Native Americans by Mrs. Hardt's Third Grade Class

Native American Index ~ Mrs. Hardt ~ CCS ~ MSAD 50