Family Life
The native Indians lived very closely so had to get along, otherwise if there was fighting within the tribe, it could weaken a tribe. If there were problems, the tribal elders and chiefs, who were considered wise men, would make the decision on a problem. The men were hunters and fighters, the women would cook and care for children, grandparents would help bring up their grandchildren. The grandparents were very important to a tribe because they were very wise people.
Unfortunately the elderly were are problem for the tribes when moving, if they were weak or ill, they slowed down the tribe. An unusual custom in the nomadic tribes, was if an elderly person was no longer useful to the family and was eating important food and not giving anything back to the family, the old person would go out at night to an area outside the tribal village and wait to die from exposure to the cold and no food.
If a husband died while fighting, the solution was that the widow would marry another man, even if he was already married. The wife had the choice of whether she wanted to be in a marriage or not.