Buffalo Hunt

Word Knowledge Grade 5, Unit 5 - Lesson 2 Line 1: night knight plains planes tale tail Line 2: buffalo deer bison elk fish Line 3: stretch watch stitch notch match Line 4: disappear disagree displease mistreat mistook Sentence 1: Last night the brave knight told us a tale. Sentence 2: The Plains Indians depended on the buffalo for most of their needs. Sentence 3: The women would stretch and stitch the skins of bison to make clothing. Sentence 4 : It would displease our parents if they thought we would mistreat our little sister.

Background Information  Native Americans used buffalo hides (or skins) for clothing and for their homes. They used the fur for coats and blankets. They even used the bones to make needles!  The Plain Indians rely on the buffalo to fulfill their needs.  Native Americans fought with Americans because they did not want to leave their lands.  The U.S. government moved Native Americans to reservations to stop the fighting. PLAINS INDIANS

In olden times, it was said, buffalo used to eat Indians. They ate so many Indians that a legendary f f f figure called old Man had to put a stop to it. NNNNative American stories tell of legendary characters who could talk to animals.

Legendary   (N) A legend Told about in a legend or a story ADJECTIVE Pancho Villa Lewis and Clark Paul Bunyan and Babe

AAAAs recently as 150 years ago, countless millions of buffalo still roamed the prairies and plains. AAAAs the buffalo roamed the West, the Plains Native Americans followed he herds for their hides, meat, and horns.

Roamed Wandered (V) (V) To roam (N) A Roamer

 It was a woman’s job to skin and butcher the buffalo, to preserve the meat and tan the hides.  After a summer of good hunting, women of long ago would preserve the buffalo meat. This would allow their families to have meat all winter.

Preserve To prepare food so that it can be eaten in the future (V)Preserved/Preserving (N) A Preserve (Adj) Preservative VERB

AAAA typical tipi measured perhaps fifteen feet across at the base, allowing sufficient living space for the family and its possessions. OOOOne fat buffalo could supply meat sufficient f f f for one hundred people.

Sufficient (Adv) Sufficiently (V) Suffice Enough ADJECTIVE Sufficient Time Sufficient Food Protective clothing alone is not sufficient!

FFFFirst he smoked a ceremonial pipe with one of the band’s elders. Then he reported what he had seen. MMMMany Native American tribes have ceremonial clothing that they wear when performing important rituals.

Ceremonial  Describes something related to a ceremony or a formal celebration p. (414) Adjective Ceremony Ceremonies

AAAAlarmed by the large-scale slaughter of their herds, angry warriors from many tribes banded together. TTTThe buffalo slaughter continued for so many years that today there are almost no buffalo left.

SlaughterNOUN The killing of large numbers of animals (V) Slaughtered (V) Slaughtering (N) Slaughterer

Comprehension Questions 1. What senses are the buffalo’s best? 1. Hearing and smell are their best senses. 2. How do buffalo hunter disguise themselves in winter? 2. They use a buffalo robe to disguise themselves. 3. How did the Blackfoot legend begin? 3. The legend says that buffalo were born beneath a lake then came out of the water and walk around the shore. 4. How did the Native Americans hunt buffalo in the past? 4. They used to hunt buffalo on foot using arrows and spears. 5. How did horses get to North America? 5. The Spanish explorers brought the horses in the 1500s. 6. Why did the Plains Indians stop hunting and fishing? 6. So they could follow and hunt the buffalo instead. 7. What would several bands of Plains Indians gather? 7. They gathered to have a big religious ceremony, a tribal council, or a communal hunt. 8. What were the women supposed to do once the buffalo had been killed? 8. They had to butcher and skin the buffalo, then to preserve the meat and tan the hides.