Methods of Travel
DAKOTA
Embedded Files
Before the Arrival of Europeans
Before the Arrival of Europeans
RELYING ON DOGS
RELYING ON DOGS
Before explorers and settlers brought horses to North American, the American Indians had no horses to travel across the plains. They traveled over land on foot and used dogs to help carry their supplies. They strapped their tent poles over a dog's shoulders to make a carrier that the French traders later called a travois. Supplies were attached to the poles to be dragged along by the dog.
< Traveling on foot was slow and tiring. A family could only walk a few miles a day and a dog could carry no more than 50 pounds of supplies.
CANOES
CANOES
Before the arrival of the Ojibwe, many Dakota lived in northern Minnesota and primarily used the lakes and rivers as transportation routes. In order to efficiently travel the waterways, the Dakota used a birch bark canoe, often only ten or twelve feet long. The frame was made of white cedar and then covered in long strips of white birch bark.
Horses on the Plains
Horses on the Plains
In the 1600s, Europeans arrived in North America and brought horses with them. Some of the horses escaped into the wild and were caught and tamed by American Indians, who became skilled riders.
Horses drastically changed the way of life for the Dakota. Using horses, Dakota could follow the buffalo when they moved from one place to another with the seasons. People who were farmers became more nomadic because hunting buffalo on horseback was much easier than hunting on foot.
Sources
Sources
Kalman, B. (2003). Life in a Plains Camp. St. Catherines: Crabtree Pub.
Page updated
Report abuse