Life on the Prairie

Elizabeth 

Middle waters child,

Taught by the Nuns and Black Robes,

Still true to her own. 

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Child of the prairie,

Taught by earth, wind, buffalo,

Proud Osage woman.

 

The short story, “Elizabeth Journey,” received second place at the first Astra Festival of Arts’ writing contest in Independence, Kansas.

Please note this blog posts the first and third weeks of each month.

Prairie Girls

Elizabeth

This is Elizabeth again. My friend Anna and I returned to my village from the school at Osage Mission and helped prepare for the five day marriage ceremony of my cousin, Sarah.  Succotash, squash, fry bread, plums, strawberries, deer and buffalo jerky and other foods were served at Sarah’s wedding feast. We also helped Sarah dress for her wedding. She wore the military tunic given to our tribe by the President in Washington. 

The Osage Native Americans participated in ceremonies before buffalo hunts, too. We did not waste any of the buffalo. It provided our food and our clothing, as well as, our tools and toys for our children. I will tell you more about my life on the prairie later.

 

 

Local Museums

 A favorite museum with elementary students is Woolaroc located outside of Bartlesville, Oklahoma. It provides areas both inside and out for activities. Although it is self-directed with no guide, it affords extra time to read captions under the vast Native American and western paintings and the artifacts housed there. It is possible to travel farther to Tulsa and Oklahoma City to see more excellent displays.

Doing research at museums for our writing projects has been interesting. We have come into contact with curators who have answered questions and provided information that would have taken months to glean from books and records. The collections at St. Paul where Elizabeth’s school was located were very helpful as was the director. Further research took us to Pawhuska, Oklahoma, where we visited the Osage Museum and learned more about the Osage removal to Oklahoma.

 

 

Buffalo

Endangered Buffalo

Buffalo once roamed North America by the millions--30,000,000 by the time white men arrived. The animals were slaughtered on a large scale and placed on the endangered list for many years.

Decimation of the herds occurred for several reasons, and all relate back to white men. When guns were introduced by whites and acquired by Native Americans, the hunting of the buffalo was much easier. Still tribes only harvested animals needed to survive and used the entire animal. Severe droughts over the years depleted the grasslands, and the buffalo food supply dwindled. It was the encroachment of farmers and ranchers pushing the herds further west that spelled doom for the large mammals.

The introduction of the railroad onto the plains provided the reason to destroy the animals. The herds traveled in groups large enough to destroy the rails of the tracks. Large railroad crews needed to be fed so wide scale slaughtering began. Easterners also coveted the warm buffalo robes the animals provided. Lastly, killing off the animals kept Native Americans from their most valuable resource.

Off the endangered list, buffaloes have made a comeback. Now considered to be healthier than most meat, it is sought after by Americans today.

The following websites will provide more information about the American buffalo.

https://www.fws.gov/bisonrange/timeline.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_bison
https://www.defenders.org/bison/basic-facts
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bison_hunting