Lifestyle
Buffalo Hunts
The Lakota Sioux depended on the herds of buffalo (called Ta Tanka) for their basic survival. They ate its meat, used its skin for clothing and shelter, its fur for warmth, and its bones for tools, just to name a few uses. Thus, the Lakota became a nomadic people, following the herds around the continent. Before the arrival of horses the buffalo wiould be driven off the edge of a cliff by hunters (called a "buffalo jump") while the women waited below to butcher the animals. Later, the Lakota hunted the buffalo on the plains, now being able to keep pace on their horses.
Food
Besides the buffalo, the Lakota enjoyed other foods such as deer, wild rice, wild fruits, and plants like the prairie turnip. Sugar was obtained mainly from two trees, the maple and the box elder, by drawing and boiling the sap. Methods of preservation included the drying of both meat and plants.
Manners
Hospitality an generosity were considered the prime virtues, while stinginess and selfishness were the worst possible behaviors. Where a European would have found a lapse in hospitality annoying or merely humerous, to the Lakota such negligence was the greatest insult.
Relationships within the community consisted of two primary sets of behavior: avoidance and joking. Men and women were expected to practice avoidance toward their respective in-laws, speaking to them only out of necessity. Brothers- and sisters-in-law, on the other hand, practiced a joking relationship.
Relationships within the community consisted of two primary sets of behavior: avoidance and joking. Men and women were expected to practice avoidance toward their respective in-laws, speaking to them only out of necessity. Brothers- and sisters-in-law, on the other hand, practiced a joking relationship.
Marriage
A man and woman could be considered eligible for eachother if they were not closely related. A newlywed couple could decide where to camp, though it was common for the pair to reside near the bride's parents for economic stability.
Tipis
Tipis ("Teepees") were tents made of buffalo skin stretched over wooden poles. Fires were kept in dug-out holes in the center of each tipi with the smoke able to vent out the top. Tipis were often covered with designs and symbols of religious or personal significance. Because the Lakota Sioux were constantly moving their homes in order to follow the buffalo, tipis provided a perfect style of shelter that could be taken down quickly.