(7) Protohistoric period

Protohistoric period

• old women’s expands into this phase and its all pretty similar, except now we have the introduction of trade goods

• shifting trade networks

• there is sustained contact and the impacts of colonization are starting to be felt

• Europeans change populations through diseases and migration

• in NP, horses come in from the south and southeast

• Europeans start to encroach and they have guns which causes many tribes to retreat and migrate to different areas

What changes to the lifeways fo plains people occur during the protohistoric period

• introduction of the horse

• changes of tipi

• introduction of guns

  • hunting

  • gun use and distribution

• trade and trade goods

• death and disease

• complexity and warfare

  • large scale warfare?

• introduction of the horse

• they are reintroduced from the south by the Spanish

  • then they spread through intertribal conflict and trade to the north and west

• horses replaced dogs because they were a lot stronger

  • this caused changes in settlement and migration patterns as the horses were much more capable

  • protohistoric sites are in areas they can accommodate the horses better

    • they need more water

    • they needed valleys and refuge areas, so people were in these types of areas

• horses became a status symbol, and trade of them was limited

  • shoshone didnt want to trade horses with blackfoot because they didnt want them to have access to these resources

changes of tipi

Different use of tipis, pegs are now preferably used instead of stones

• Some debated evidence for an increase in the size of Tipis

introduction of guns

• hunting

• gun use and distribution (alliances, first guns, changes in hunting style)

Comanche (tribe on southern plains) acquired guns from French traders along the Mississippi in the early 18th century.

• HBC began trading guns to the cree and assiniboine at the same time

• blackfoot allied with the cree so they could use these guns against their enemies shoshoni

• the introduction of guns and conflict over horses brought big social changes on the plains

  • alliances formed

  • conflict created

• this also changed bison hunting a lot. Access to guns and horses revolutionizes bison hunting.

  • now there were buffalo runners (horses)

  • they still used jumps and pounds, but now we see that individual hunting is possible

gun use and distribution

• cree and assiniboine did not want to give guns to the blackfoot, but the blackfoot allied with them to get the guns so they could use those guns against the shoshone to obtain horses

• introduction of guns and horses means there is wider variety in how bison are hunted

• first gun was musket, not very effective

• then when the rifle showed up, this is where we see major changes in hunting and warfare

• trade and trade goods

• no actual fur trading posts on the plains yet but they surround the plains, so tribes eventually do get into contact with them

• the iron confederacy strictly controls what enters the plains

  • this is made up of an alliance between the cree, assoniboine, and metis and allies

• early trade happens around the early to mid 18th century and deals with stuff life

  • blankets

  • cloth

  • kettles

  • tobacco

  • gunpowder

  • guns

  • knifes

  • axe heads

• metal trade points are a big thing, and occur around 1820-1880

  • they are seen to be very durable and are associated with changes in cutmarks on bones

  • tools like metal knives and axe heads were very useful

• there is no layer with only protohistoric goods, so its hard to tell when european goods replace indigenous tools and how fast they do

• death and disease + changes in burial practice

• already occuring before 1730

• they got it from Europeans, and epidemics spread really fast

  • sedentary tribes hit first, then nomadic

• populations reduced by 80-90%

  • this caused changes in settlement patterns (some tribes combined cuz low numbers)

  • also caused change in marriage practices

  • change in subsistence

  • mobility and conflict

  • they used european medicine

burials changed as well

• originally, Sioux believed that sun had to hit the body to release its soul but the missionaries encouraged that they should bury bodies

• now, the bodies were put on ground instead of on platforms, and shafts were left in graves so the sun could hit the body

• complexity and warfare

  • large scale warfare?

• the need to access guns and horses let to shifting alliances on the plains and increasing conflicts

• horses as a wealth and status symbol means there was an increased need for control

• there was surplus in bison hunting because now everyone could kill them easily

• people on the plains entered into agreements with the Europeans on their own accord (no iron confederacy)

• large scale warfare does not happen prior to this

• we also see that everyone becomes more sedentary

  • mobile ones stay in areas suited towards their horses

now that people can trade on their own accord

• guns and horses facilitated large scale battles

• the tribes would wage war against each other

  • because now, people have property that others want and it is worth capturing

  • initially, the only main possessions were early weapons, dogs, clothes and dried meat, these were common to all tribes, so nobody waged war over it because they all had lots of it

Saukamappe story + advantages of guns

• again, musket was bad and misfired 20% of the time

  • but musket was used with horses as counting coup (heroic acts that were performed in battles or raids, it earned them status and honour)

• was no more effective than bow and arrow

saukamanappeee

• 7 great battles took place

• was faught with stone clubs and arrows

• saumapkapees group was able to turn a loss into a win due to a handful of guns

Site EePj-103 (Margarets site)

psyzszyk said that introduction of eurpoean goods did not significantly alter the use of traditional material

• this site proves him wrong

• this is a protohistoric campsite (pretty rare and unique, it also has stratified occupation, there are layers to it: rare)

  • we find lots of heavily smashed up bison bones but no boiling pits

    • suggests that they might have already switched to metal boiling tools from trade

    • or, they had limited bison resources left and they were very heavily smashing it up to extract whatever they could

  • we also find lots of trade goods

  • metal goods

  • European glass goods

Antelope Hill Tipi Ring Site (EbPi-75)

• Little Bow Reservoir - low terrace on the Mosquito Creek
• Two occupations defined

• there is a difference in the lithics between them which suggests a collapse of trade networks

  • Potentially more material types present in earlier than late occupation
    

  • Faunal assemblage suggests food stress in both instances - high percentage of antelope bone, high fragmentation of bone
    
    
    - Collapse of traditional trade networks, as lithics are now more directly sourced from areas close to the camp. This suggests that trade networks were now maybe replaced with European trade
    - Even toe bones were extracted for marrow, suggesting high nutritional stress
    - Antelope Hill and Margaret are the only sites with distinct