Meskwaki Culture

Emergence of Modern America (1890-1930),

Great Depression and World War II (1929-1945),

Postwar United States (1945-early 1970s),

Contemporary United States (1968 to the present)

US History

How does our culture make us similar or different?

There are many definitions of culture, but in general terms, culture is one's way of life, how we understand the world around us, the material things we have made and our learned behaviors. Culture includes: language, religion, economics, family life, the arts, architecture, technology and many other facets of the world around us. While we usually do not include the natural order itself as part of one’s culture, how we understand and respond to nature is part of our cultural perspective.

Every culture must organize to sustain basic needs — food, shelter, clothing, labor, gender roles and family. While the needs remain similar among cultures, the ways they meet them can differ markedly. Each must respond to the resources and challenges it faces. Where soil and rainfall make agriculture a possibility, cultures often organize themselves according to the seasons that determine planting and harvest. Hunting cultures may prefer smaller units since it would be likely that it would be necessary to overhunt an area to feed a large population. With rapid and reliable transportation, large cities are possible because steady supplies of food can be shipped in.

The Meskwaki culture of the early 19th century provides an instructive comparison to our contemporary lifestyle. Men hunted deer and buffalo and protected the tribe while women gardened, took care of household needs like building bark lodges, preparing skins and sewing them into clothing, cooking, and caring for children. Religious stories were passed along from generation to generation through an oral tradition. Meskwaki boys learned hunting skills from their fathers and listened to tribal stories that prepared them to become leaders as adults. Meskwaki girls spent the days with the women learning how to feed and clothe their families. Both males and females participated in traditional dances the expressed their religious beliefs and formed a part of their courting rituals.

When white traders introduced manufactured items like iron cookware, cloth and firearms, Meskwaki hunters began hunting deer, beavers and other fur-bearing animals for skins that could be traded for items they could not produce themselves. The traders exchanged their inventories for the furs which were shipped back east and sometimes to European markets where they brought high prices. Excessive hunting sometimes forced tribes to look for better hunting grounds which could lead to tribal conflicts.

Modern Life

Modern life also needs to feed, clothe and educate its people. Men and women now tend to specialize in specific occupations rather than to provide all of a family’s needs themselves. A merchant sells goods and takes the money earned to buy the products of others rather than to produce the food, clothing, medicine and transportation the family needs. Boys and girls are taught together in classrooms rather than learning at home from their parents. Modern communication technology like the Internet and cell phone put the whole world within reach of even young children in ways the Meskwaki could never imagine. Events anywhere on the globe can instantly affect life in Iowa.

Still, Meskwaki boys and girls had many of the same needs that modern children have. They need to eat and be clothed to protect them from the elements, they need housing to live in and they need education to prepare them to become successful adults. The means to those ends may change but not the needs themselves.

Supporting Questions

Who are the Meskwaki?

What was life like for the Meskwaki long ago?

How do the Meskwaki live now?

No.	Standard Description
SS.1.7.	Investigate how social identities can influence students’ own and others’ thoughts and behaviors.
SS.1.9.	Describe a situation that exemplifies democratic principles including, but not limited to, equality, freedom, liberty, respect for individual rights, and deliberation. (21st century skills)
SS.1.17.	Describe how environmental characteristics and cultural characteristics impact each other in different regions of the U.S.
SS.1.18.	Use a map to detail the journey of particular people, goods, or ideas as they move from place to place.
SS.1.23.	Describe the diverse cultural makeup of Iowa’s past and present in the local community, including indigenous and agricultural communities.

Meskwaki Culture

How does our culture make us similar or different?