The Way They Used to Live | Teen Ink

The Way They Used to Live

May 8, 2010
By silverstar31 SILVER, Orland Park, Illinois
silverstar31 SILVER, Orland Park, Illinois
5 articles 0 photos 0 comments

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Plains Indian women worked hard all day
They kept the tribes going all with no play
They had to make all the food
Whether they were in a good or bad mood

Men also had difficult lives
They had to protect the tribes
If settlers decided to attack
The men would always fight back

The Pueblo Indians got horses from a war
That the Spaniards didn’t want to fight anymore
They quickly learned to use the horses quite well
By using them themselves or by using them to sell

Herds of buffalo roamed the wild plain
But when jostled by Indians they go insane
The Indians corral them into a pen
Where they won’t ever live again

They used the buffalo for many reasons
Where they followed them throughout the seasons
Though they could be used for many things
They could not be made into Buffalo wings

The Indians had many ceremonies in the summer
Where they discussed problems that could be a bummer
Like the settlers forcing them from their land
Just because of something found that was real grand

Many of these ceremonies were long held traditions
That had been passed down from generations
The ceremonies were used throughout the tribes
As they danced around wearing buffalo hides

Small pox, measles, and mumps came to take the lives of them
Many suffered not able to live again
They were not immune to the diseases
So soon their culture shattered into pieces

The author's comments:
For social studies we got into groups to write poems about different things. My group got the Plains Indians, however I'm really the only one that wrote the poem and did the work.

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