American Indian Building Ideas

[WesternOutlaw]

Recently, there's been a lot of discussion about what fans want to see in the Wild West theme, and the first thing that comes to mind is the expansion of a western town.

But does Wild West always have to be about cowboys and cavalry?

How about our good friends, the American Indians, who we sometimes seem to forget.

Yes, we talked about a Buffalo Hunt with a few Indians, but how else could we expand our American Indian villages?

-A few extra tepees?

-A few strategicly placed canoes?

-A medicine man?

But what else?

Do you have ideas that could expand the American Indian sub-theme? What was missing in '97 and what else might you add?

Share your thoughts.

[Athos]

Buffalo would be a big improvement. Maybe a grinding rock? A primitive corn farm?

Pueblos and cliff dwellings, too.

Steve

[WesternOutlaw]

Very nice Steve! I've been wanting to build some cliff dwellings. You've beat me to it. I don't recall seeing this MOC. Is this a new creation? -very nice (and original).

[Big Cam]

I would love to see ELGO indian's make a comback, I just hope LEGO wouldn't get any grief from the Native American's, it was an easier time in 97.

[kabel]

some pacific northwest native americans would be really cool, they had really amazing houses, excellent art and the nicest canoes in all of north america

[Athos]

An indian raid on a covered wagon or log cabin would also be nice. Though probably not PC enough for Lego to do. Not that I blame them.

Very nice Steve! I've been wanting to build some cliff dwellings. You've beat me to it. I don't recall seeing this MOC. Is this a new creation? -very nice (and original).

Thanks. Its an older MOC. From around April. Though I do still have it together, as I plan to furnish the interior of the pueblos.

Steve

[Klaus-Dieter]

That's a great and very interesting topic, TheBrickster!

I totally agree with you - of course an expansion of the Western town is the first thing which comes to our minds when we think about which new Western sets we'd like to see. But Western is really not only cowboys, bandidts and sheriff.

Which TLG regrettably missed in 1997 is a

medicin man's tipi with a medicin man and an injured Indian on a stretcher

and a

treasure cave for the Indians with a waterfall and a secret door.

A buffalo and a pipe of peace are of course must-haves for new pieces.

Two different tribes (or at least a new sort of tribe in a possible new Western theme) would be more interesting and increase the playability - plus it would take away possible ethnic problems since so Indians fight against Indians (and not against civilians or soldiers).

Klaus-Dieter

[harrysnapperorgans]

Buffalo would be a big improvement. Maybe a grinding rock? A primitive corn farm?

Pueblos and cliff dwellings, too.

Steve

Great moc Steve, lots of life and detail.

[Sir Dillon]

Because sets revolving around Native American conflict would be such a sensitive subject, I think the best way to expand the line is to explore different tribes of Native Americans and their dwellings throughout the country. We already have tepees, but there could also be longhouses, wigwams, or pueblos like Athos suggested.

[Tom Bricks]

I would only like the return of the Indians if it was done differently from before. More earth colors would make sets more realistic than before. I don't think it will happen though, because it's such a sensitive topic.

[David Thomsen]

Other than the impressive rock buildings seen earlier on, I think it's quite hard to come up with Indian sets that haven't already been done. Indians hunt with bows and arrows and live in teepees. They have totem poles. What more is there to them? If you try to draw out the theme too long, you end up with the Farm theme where there are three or four tractors and little else.

You could do South American tribes and have ziggurats and Machu Pikachus, but that fits in better with the Pirates theme than with Cowboys.

Hum. Maybe you could have a set of the ruins of the colony of Leif Ericson? And that way tie it in with the Viking theme.

[badboytje88]

I don't think we'll se a resurection of the native indian american team. I had every Indian set made. I loved them when I was a kid. Today I'm disappointed about these sets. They are very low on detail and allmost every set was the same with a tipi, a totum, a rock and some indians. I would love to see some more diversity and day to day life in the indian sets like catching buffalows and the women making clothes out of the hides and baking the meat. I really missed the buffalows and cacti! I would also like to see some diversity in the minifigs, when the line came out there were 5 different indians I believe... Oh man this is inspiring me to create some indian minifigs!

Edited November 12, 2009 by badboytje88

[kabel]

Indians hunt with bows and arrows and live in teepees. They have totem poles. What more is there to them?

this only shows that you have no clue about native american culture whatsoever. and what freaks me out the most, is that the totem poles are always placed with the plains indians, which is of course complete megablocks. none but the tribes of the pacific nort west had totem poles, and they were not placed inftront of tepees but infront of some nicely decorated longhouses

[Athos]

this only shows that you have no clue about native american culture whatsoever. and what freaks me out the most, is that the totem poles are always placed with the plains indians, which is of course complete megablocks. none but the tribes of the pacific nort west had totem poles, and they were not placed inftront of tepees but infront of some nicely decorated longhouses

Vikings didn't have horned helmets either. And knights didn't fight dragons. And pirates didn't have skull and crossbones flags. Its all about capturing the fictional archtypes of the cultures portrayed.

Steve

[Jedi Master Fangorn]

It depends on what time and place we are talking about. If the American Indian sub-theme was part of a Wild West run, then we would need Plains Indians with buffalo and tipis, and no totem poles. Southwest Indians could be included with a pueblo and some small crop-growing areas, and the Apache could have a small band with lots of scenery items, maybe some small shelters. If we are aiming for much earlier, then cliff dwellings would be appropriate.

A better idea might be to have a full-blown North American Indian theme (but probably would never happen). That way, we would not be tied to a particular time, and Lego would be free to come out with a diverse line-up of sets from all areas and time periods (atl-atls would be nice to see!). Tribes, and even bands, are so diverse it would be a great chance to really open up Lego to historical accuracy. But again, probably would never happen.

[badboytje88]

Since this topic was my inspiration, I'll just post a link to my new Native Americans Minifigs here:

Edited November 12, 2009 by badboytje88

[Athos]

Nice. I especially like the old woman with the red dress, that piece works very well with the printing. The papoose is also a clever idea.

Not sure about the guy with yellow printing on his legs. Yellow always says skin to me... so it looks like he's wearing an orange thong and brown chaps backwards...

Steve

[David Thomsen]

this only shows that you have no clue about native american culture whatsoever. and what freaks me out the most, is that the totem poles are always placed with the plains indians, which is of course complete megablocks. none but the tribes of the pacific nort west had totem poles, and they were not placed inftront of tepees but infront of some nicely decorated longhouses

No, you're right, I don't. I only know about cartoon Indians, which is exactly what Lego Indians are always going to be. Teepees and tomahawks. Totem poles. Giant steel horse come through this way. Make big noise.

[Minifig Lecturer]

I like the idea of a cave (rocky mountain set) with or without a waterfall. Also bison are required, they weren't all wiped out!