Life of Children

DAKOTA

EDUCATION

DID DAKOTA CHILDREN ATTEND SCHOOL?

Children in a Dakota camp did not go to attend a traditional school. They learned by watching and imitating their parents and grandparents as they performed daily chores and tasks. Fathers, grandfathers, and uncles taught boys how to ride horses, hunt, and fight. Girls helped their mothers cook and dry food and sat with older women to learn how to sew and decorate clothing. They made beautiful items to give away as gifts.

USING SPECIAL SKILLS

Children in a Dakota camp were encouraged to use their special talents. If they showed a particular ability or skill, they were given the opportunity to learn that skill from others who had similar talents.

BECOMING ADULTS

When children matured, ceremonies were held to show that they were becoming young men and women and were ready to take on more responsible roles in the community. At that time, they were given new names.

< A grandmother performs a ceremony for her granddaughter to show that she is now a young woman.

TEACHING WITH STORIES - ORAL TRADITIONS

Listening to stories was another important part of learning for children. Since there were no books or written language, children learned about their families, ancestors, and the history of their nation by hearing stories over and over. Stories also provided lessons on behavior. Elder were often storytellers.

SPORTS AND GAMES

Games and sports were important in Dakota life. Children played games that helped them develop life skills. Some games involved thinking and guessing. Others imitated the future lives of boys and girls. For example, to practice becoming good mothers, girls played with dolls that they carried around on small cradleboards. They also put together tiny tipis so they would know how to set up a big one when they were older.

HOOP GAME

Boys played games, such as the hoop and pole games, which helped them become hunters and warriors. Hoop and pole games allowed the boys to practice shooting at moving targets. The hoops were made of flexible branches covered with rawhide. One player rolled the hoop in the direction of two other players, who tried to shoot their poles through the hoop as it rolled Sometimes, the boys scooted the poles along the ground to guess where the hoop would stop.

TEAM SPORTS

SHINNY

Team games were considered good practice for warfare. Several games played by the Dakota resembled the sports we play today, such as hockey and soccer. Shinny was a game much like hockey, in which players used curved sticks to hit a puck made out of a rawhide-covered stone. Players hit the puck across ice areas and through the opposing team's goalposts.

LACROSSE

In the ancient game of lacrosse, players held long poles with rawhide pouches at the end. They caught and threw a ball to other team members. The playing area was sometimes miles long, and several hundred players could play at once. The rowdy players often hit, pushed, and tripped each other, letting out loud yelps as they charged!

Life of Infants

Of all things carried as they moved from place to place following the buffalo herds, the most precious were their babies. "Infants were very tenderly cared for," recalled Samuel Pond, a European American who lived among the Dakota people beginning in the 1830s.

Dakota infants were kept on a wooden cradleboard for most of their first year. They were wrapped in blankets and secured to their upright cradles by straps of cloth or hide. The infants' faces were protected by a wooden frame, which was also used to hang toys and small object to entertain the baby. According to Pond, "Nothing better than this cradle could have been contrived for the comfort and safety of the infants. There was no other way in which they could be carried on the frequent journeys with safety.

Additional Resources

Sources

Kalman, B. (2003). Life in a Plains Camp. St. Catherines: Crabtree Pub.

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