Native American Cultures: The GreatPlains

Bobby Morris, 4, of Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, joins hundreds of other dancers for the Grand Entry of the Prairie Island Dakota

Wacipi Celebration Pow Wow hosted by the Prairie Island Indian Community near Red Wing, Minnesota, on July 11, 2003.

Nestled along the Mississippi River on 600 sandy acres - about half of it habitable - the Prairie Island Indian Community is a

Mdewakanton Sioux reservation in Goodhue County, Minnesota, along the Mississippi River. The pow wow is a way for children

of Prairie Island to meet other Native Americans as well as learn Native American history. Photo by: AP Photo/Ann Heisenfelt

By Encyclopedia Britannica, adapted by Newsela staff on 06.15.17

Word Count 1,163

Level 890L

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Plains Native

Americans traditionally lived on the Great Plains. The Great Plains is a vast grassland at the

center of North America. It stretches from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River, and from

southern Canada down to the Rio Grande in Texas.

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Different Tribes, Languages

The Plains Native Americans were not one tribe. Rather, they were many different tribes who

spoke different languages. The best known of these tribes include the Blackfoot, Arapaho,

Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Kiowa, Lakota and Plains Cree.

Some of their languages are similar to languages spoken as far north as Alaska. Others, such as

the Comache, spoke languages from the Uto-Aztecan language family. These are some of the

oldest languages in the Americas.

Plains peoples invented a type of sign language as well. It represented common objects and

ideas like "buffalo" or "exchange." This allowed people who spoke different languages to

communicate with each other.

From Farming To Hunting On Horseback

The Native Americans Plains cultural area is known for its mobile culture. However, this culture

developed only after contact with Europeans.

Before 1700, most Plains peoples lived in villages, some of which had populations of several

thousand people. They got their food from farming, hunting and fishing.

However, after Spanish settlers brought horses to North America, many tribes on the Plains

stopped farming. Instead, they took on a nomadic or wandering way of life. They spent most of

the year following herds of buffalo.

Family Life: Division Of Labor

Men and women had different jobs in traditional Plains tribal societies.

Women were responsible for gathering plant food, building and cleaning the home, cooking and

making clothing. Men hunted, made weapons and protected the community.

Food: Buffalo Meat

Buffalo meat was the main food of the Plains tribes. At first most buffalo hunters used bows and

arrows. Later they used guns that they got through trade with Europeans.

After the hunt, the women skinned the dead buffalo and cut up the meat. Most of the meat was

cut into thin strips and dried.

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Settlements: From Lodges To Tepees

Before 1700, the tribes lived in villages along the Missouri and other rivers. Some villages had

populations of up to a few thousand people. Typical village tribes planted crops in the spring,

spent the summer as nomadic hunters, and returned to their villages in the autumn for the

harvest. In the late autumn they hunted for a short time. Then they moved to hamlets of a few

homes each, which provided shelter from winter storms. They returned to their villages in the

spring to begin the cycle again.

Dwellings in the villages were mostly dome-shaped earth lodges. These were roofed and walled

with earth and entered through a covered passage. Earth lodges averaged 40 to 60 feet in

diameter and generally housed three-generation families. Earth lodge villages were usually

protected by a defensive ditch and palisade, or fence.Many Plains tribes gave up permanent

villages after they got horses. As they became more reliant on bison hunting on horseback, they

adjusted their way of life to match the habits of the animals.

The nomadic buffalo-hunting tribes lived in portable, cone-shaped tents called tepees.

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Tepees were made by stretching a cover of sewn buffalo skins over a framework of wooden

poles. The cover was usually decorated with colorful paintings of animals and the hunt. A flap of

the cover served as a door, and a flap at the top was left open to allow smoke from the central fire

to escape. Tepees were usually 12 to 20 feet high and 15 to 30 feet in diameter. They could be

taken apart quickly and easily. Usually, they were large enough to house an entire family.

Clothing: Animal Hides, Beads And Feathers

Plains women made clothes out of animal hides. They decorated them with porcupine quills and

beads.

Men wore a shirt, leggings and moccasins. In cold weather they wore buffalo-skin robes painted

with scenes of battles they had fought. Warriors sometimes wore warbonnets, or headdresses

made with eagle feathers.

Women wore a long dress, leggings and moccasins.

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Making Tools And Weapons

Plains people used different parts of the buffalo and other animals to make all kinds of items.

Bedding and bags were made from buffalo hides. The horns were carved into spoons, and the

hooves were cooked to make glue.

Bows for hunting were made out of wood. Arrows were made with a sharp stone head until

European traders provided metal points. Feathers were tied to the end of the arrow to make it fly

straight.

Society: Bands, Clans, Tribes

Most Plains tribes were divided into bands. These were made up of a few dozen to a few hundred

people who lived, worked and traveled together. The leaders of bands were chosen based on

their courage and wisdom.

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Each band had its own territory. Some bands were fairly independent of each other, while others

were tightly connected. A tribe's different bands gathered together at least once a year.

Plains peoples were also divided into groups called clans. The clan was larger than a band, but

smaller than a tribe. People from different bands could be in the same clan.

The members of a clan shared a common ancestor. Depending on the tribe, a child became a

member of either the father’s or mother’s clan.

Warfare: Small Fights

The bands and clans within a tribe did not fight one another. However, fighting did take place

between different tribes.

Fighting rarely involved large forces. Usually it was carried out by raiding parties of a few

warriors.

These raids were carried out to avenge a death, to steal horses and especially to gain glory.

Brave warriors won the right to wear eagle feathers in a headdress. A warrior received more

honor from touching an enemy in battle than from killing him.

Religion: Spirits, The Sun Dance

Plains peoples believed that spirit-beings lived in animals, plants, the Sun, the Moon, the stars

and all other natural things. To gain the help of a spirit, a person would go off on their own. They

would fast and beg for aid.

The Sun Dance was an most important ceremony. It was held once a year in summer, when the

whole tribe could gather. People fasted and danced for several days, praying for power.

21st Century: Rebuilding Culture

Over time, Plains people lost much of their traditional way of life. Today in the 21st century many

Plains tribes are trying to reconnect with their past. For example, tribal schools now teach native

languages. Many of these languages were once almost completely forgotten.

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Quiz

1 Read the section "Different Tribes, Languages."

Which paragraph BEST supports the idea that Plains tribes interacted with other communities?

2 Which sentence from the article MOST suggests that Plains peoples avoided unnecessary violence?

(A) Men hunted, made weapons and protected the community.

(B) However, fighting did take place between different tribes.

(C) These raids were carried out to avenge a death, to steal horses and especially to

gain glory.

(D) A warrior received more honor from touching an enemy in battle than from killing

him.

3 Which sentence from the article is BEST illustrated by the map near the top of the article?

(A) The Plains Native Americans were not one tribe.

(B) The Native Americans Plains cultural area is known for its mobile culture.

(C) They spent most of the year following herds of buffalo.

(D) Buffalo meat was the main food of the Plains tribes.

4 How does the photograph near the section "Settlements: From Lodges To Tepees" relate to the

central idea of the article?

(A) It portrays Plains peoples using multiple parts of a recently hunted buffalo in their

daily lives.

(B) It portrays members of different Plains tribes working together to avoid warfare

over buffalo.

(C) It portrays dwellings used by nomadic Plains peoples when they were hunting for

buffalo.

(D) It portrays the land available to Plains tribes in river villages for agriculture.

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