 The Plains Indians lived in the middle region of the United States.  This is roughly west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains  This land is made up of miles of treeless grasslands….which is perfect grazing fields for buffalo!

In between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains

 Some well known tribes in the Plains region are the:  Crow  Sioux  Cheyenne  Apache

 The best hunters had the highest rank  Men hunted deer, rabbit and elk.  Dogs would pull the catch back to camp.

 Women spent the day fetching water, sweeping, hoeing the fields, cooking and sewing.  The land far from rivers was tough to garden, but near rivers they would grow corn, squash and sunflowers.  They picked berries and nuts.  The Plains women excelled at “quillwork.”  These quills were sewn in clothing and used for artwork on tipis.

 Babies were taught at a very young age not to cry because it might scare away food.  At four years old the girls would help their mother with her chores and boys would listen to war stories and practice their hunting skills.  Learning skills was an important part of childhood.  Boys and girls never played together, they knew they had separate roles in life.  Children often played a game stick ball game similar to hockey.

 The tipi (teepee) was a portable house  made up of poles arranged in a cone shape  many buffalo skins sewn together  Easy to put up, take down, and move  The opening always faced East (toward the morning sun.)  It took about one hour for a women to assemble the family’s tipi.

 The Plains Indians lives changed when horses were brought to America.  They traded for (and sometimes stole) them from Spanish settlers.  The horses helped with hunting, tribal trading and wars.  Warriors would paint their horses to show the history of battles.

 Summer: deerskin  Winter: buffalo  Most Plains Indians wore a belt to hang tools, knives or cups from, since they had no pockets.  Shoes: moccasins. Some were made from deerskin, quills, and beads.  Hairpipes, long thin beads made from bones, were often woven into the hair and kept for life.  If a man dbeen a great warrior he would wear a war bonnet made of eagle feathers. The greater the warrior, the more feathers.

 Before each hunt they performed a buffalo dance.  On foot it took a very large group to catch a buffalo, they are very dangerous.  The buffalo heart was left out on the plains as an offering.  Men and women would often record their lives on buffalo hides using pictographs.

 When settlers came, it changed where the Plains Native Americans lived, the tools they used, and what they ate.  The Plains Indians were the tribes to hold onto their culture the longest out of all of the Native American groups.  Four of the largest Indian Reservations in the US are located in the Great Plains today. (South Dakota and Oklahoma)

Sitting Bull Crazy Horse

Current Reservation Lands