WHO WERE THE PLAINS INDIANS?

AIMS

• To understand where the Indians came from.

• To understand why the Indians moved onto the Great Plains

ASIA TO AMERICA!

• The original Indians came from North Asia.

• The two continents were linked by land in the Ice Age.

• The Indians moved into Northern America and spread throughout the continent.

• The end of the Ice Age brought the end of the link.

EARLY SETTLERS

• The Great Plains were empty except for the buffalo.

• The Indians lived difficult lives on the edge of the Great Plains.

What changed this?

THREE REASONS

• Horses

• Guns

• Disease

HORSES

• Introduced by the Spanish in the 1500s.

• Allowed greater and quicker movement.

• Could be used to hunt buffalo.

• Tribes able to move onto the Great Plains and follow the buffalo herds.

• They need never be hungry again.

GUNS

• European traders brought guns to America.

• This changed the balance of power among the Indian tribes.

• The Sioux fled onto the Plains when their enemies, the Ojibwa, got guns.

• On the Plains the Sioux were mobile and could escape the Ojibwa more easily.

DISEASE

• The Europeans brought killer diseases.

• Cholera, smallpox, measles, flu, scarlet fever.

• The Indians had no immunity.

• Whole settlements were wiped out.

• Moving onto the Plains allowed the Indians to escape the diseases.

TASK

1. Why did the Indians move onto the Great Plains?

2. Which of these reasons is most important?

Explain your answer.

Use Martin & Shephard, p. 15, and Rees,

p. 9-10 for extra help.