How do Tonkawa Indian children live, and what did they do in the past?
They do the same things all children do–play with each other, go to school and help around the house. Many Tonkawa children like to go hunting and fishing with their fathers. In the past, Indian kids had more chores and less time to play in their daily lives, just like colonial children. But they did have dolls, toys, and games to play. Here is a picture of a hoop game played by Plains Indian kids. Tonkawa girls and boys also enjoyed running races. A Tonkawa mother traditionally carried a young child in a cradleboard on her back–a custom which many American parents have adopted now. What were men and women’s roles in the Tonkawa tribe? Tonkawa men were hunters and sometimes went to war to protect their families. Tonkawa women did most of the child care and cooking. Only men became Tonkawa chiefs, but both genders took part in storytelling, artwork and music, and traditional medicine. What were Tonkawa homes like in the past? The Tonkawa Indians lived in large buffalo-hide tents calle
