Plains Indians

**Plains Indians** or **Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies** are Native American tribes with similar cultures in the Interior Plains, which include the Great Plains and the Canadian Prairies, between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. The landscape is mostly flat grasslands and plains.

The natives were often on the move (nomadic), used horses, and hunted mainly bison. They have become part of popular culture and were one of the last Natives to be taken over. The Plains Indians are the Native group that has become a stereotype for Native Americans in literature and art.

## Tribes

There are two main groups of Plain Indians. One group moved often (nomadic), and the other did not move that much (sedentary):

- Nomadic tribes: Arapaho, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Lipan, Plains Apache (or Kiowa Apache), Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwe (or Saulteaux), Sarsi (or Sarcee, Tsuutʼina Nation), Nakoda (Stoney), Sioux (Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota) and Tonkawa.
- Sedentary tribes: Arikara, Hidatsa, Iowa, Kaw (or Kansa), Kitsai, Mandan, Missouria, Omaha, Osage, Otoe, Pawnee, Ponca, Quapaw (or Arkansas and Ugahxpa), Wichita, and the Santee Dakota, Yanktonai and Yankton Dakota.

## History

In the early Prehistoric periods, Native peoples hunted and collected plants and later developed agriculture and grew corn. Plains People lived there for thousands of years and adapted to changes in climate and landscape. Early Natives did not move that much and so were sedentary. Groups developed Plains Village cultures. War and conflict were not that common before horses came.

The Spanish explorers and conquistadores first brought horses to what is now the Southwestern United States in the 1500s. Hernán Cortés was the first Spaniard to bring horses in 1519. Juan de Oñate brought many more horses in 1592. The horses later moved north and came to the Plains region. The horses changed how the Plains Indians hunted. They quickly adapted to hunting bison on horseback as nomadic hunters. The Navajo began to steal horses from the Spanish. The Apache traded captives for horses. Horses also escaped into the wild. Horses were traded to or captured by other tribes.The Comanche soon followed and realized how useful horses could be. The Comanche became powerful and took over the Apache areas. All of the tribes based their wealth and power on the horse. By the mid-1700s, most Plains Indians tribes had at least one horse. The Plains culture had now fully developed.

The next European advance came from the British and the French, who brought guns to North America. Natives interacted in those exchanges, which were part of the fur trade. The British also pushed many of the Eastern Woodlands tribes onto the Great Plains. Guns weakened the Native Americans, caused more common and more intense conflicts among the tribes. That indirectly led to forced migration.

In the 19th century, people in the United States started to slaughter and hunt bison. The US government wanted to get rid of bison to starve out the Native peoples. Many times, the Americans hunted for just the skin and left the meat behind. The bison almost became extinct.

The Americans pushed westwarrd, which led to conflict, including the American Indian Wars. Notable examples of wars include the Plains Wars, Dakota War, Great Sioux War, Snake War and Colorado War in which natives resisted Americans. In 1890, many Natives were killed in the Wounded Knee Massacre. After the 1850s, the horse culture of the Plains Indians ended, as tribes were moved to Indian reservations.

### Housing

Plains people lived in teepees, cone-shaped homes for single families. Natives used buffalo skin as the walls and poles for the structure of the teepees. There was a hole at the top to allow light and smoke through. Villages lived in round-shaped earth lodges, with the walls were made of earth. Usually, there were several families living in these homes. Other types of homes were the Wichita and Osage, which were shaped like wigwams, which had the sape of a dome or a cone. Native often used grass for the walls.

### Food and clothing

The most common crops in the Plains regions were corn, squash, and beans (the Three Sisters). There were also tobacco, plums, and sunflower. Corn culture developed in 900 AD. Natives often collected rainwater. Plains people also hunted buffalo, deer, and elk. With horses, several tribes began to focus only on hunting buffalo and to move around more often. Up to the 1500s, tribes lived on the edges of the Great Plains. They were farmers and hunter-gatherers. From autumn to spring, they raised crops. During the summer, they went out onto the Great Plains to hunt bison on foot.

At the height of their cultures, their main source of food was the large herds of American bison. Hunting was the main activity of Plains Indians but also a central part of their religion. Their culture was formed from the natural environment they lived in. Before horses, it was more difficult for natives to hunt bison. They often had to create traps for the bison. Early on, they used bows and arrows, spears, and clubs. Later, the Europeans introduced firearms.

Native peoples used mostly the skins of bison and deer for their clothing. War heroes could wear war bonnets. Natives wore mocassins as shoes. The horses allowed Natives to become wealthier. As a result, clothing began to include more luxury items.

### Family, gender, and society

In Plains culture, inheritance and lineage could be through the mother, father, or both. There were some rules for marriage like against incest. Arranged marriages were common, and there was sometimes polygamy. The least strict relationship rules were between grandchildren and grandparents.

There were particular gender roles in communities. Women did things related to food, clothing, raising children, and building teepees. Women, however, owned the home and could divorce. Men did more hunting and defending. Children more through rewards and praise than through punishment. Several family members could serve as mentors.

### Warfare

Warfare was very individualistic. Often, only a few warriors went on a raid. Individual warriors could get plunder and trophies from an attack. Warrior status was important. Raiding became more common with horses. The Comanche were notable warriors. Fighting was both defensive and offensive. Natives attacked other natives but also European colonists. Usually, war was about revenge for a person's death or to get praise. Horses were very valuable and, if stolen, could lead to war.

Wealth, success, and status were based more on merit and achievement. The system applied to the ranking of warriors. There were many honors for warriors. Bravery was very important. The tradition of "counting coup" was a very high honor. One showed bravery by defeating another warrior without killing the warrior. The number of horses won in a raid decided how successful the raid was.

The Plain Natives won several battles against the Americans such as at the Battle of Little Bighorn. War with the Americans lasted up to the 19th century. Natives were fast and knew the lands and how to control the horses. The could not enter longer wars because of the hunting season. Natives also did not want to take big risks, which would cause more deaths. Natives used bows and arrows even after they got firearms.

### Religion

Plains Indians believed in forms of animism and so believed that animals and certain objects had spirits, which were often the ones that brought about success. Natives could get help from a spirit by doing a vision quest. A spirit could give a vision or dream. The visions would contain knowledge like how to win a fight or to heal sicknesses. Some tribes believed that there was one spirit that was greater than all the others. Other tribes believed that all spirits were equal.

There were certain religious leaders. Shamans had spiritual powers and could heal the sick. They had direct contact with the supernatural. Shamans were different from priests, who had a lot of knowledge about the spiritual world. One person could sometimes be both a shaman and a priest. Some people in tribes were _wakan_ (Lakota: "holy"). There was often training to get that status. One could become a spiritual leader or a medicine person.

Natives had many rituals and ceremonies. The usually-annual Sun Dance was an important ritual. Different tribes came together to affirm their beliefs. The ceremony also included sacrifices. People would make personal sacrifices to heal the larger community. There were dances and songs, and fasting was also common. There was much preparation for the ceremony. The dance sometimes included piercing individuals.

## In popular culture

Popular culture in the United States included stereotypes of Plains Indians. Buffalo Bill featured plains Indians in his Wild Wesy shows beginning in the 1880s.  When Hollywood began making movies, the western was a favorite topic and introduced the Plains Indians as the stereotypical Native American Indian to the entire world. When fiction about the American Old West shows Indians, they are usually Plains Indians.

The Plains Indians have been popular in European countries like Germany. Such views of Natives were often idealized and filled with stereotypes. The richness of Native American cultures was not considered. The Plain Indians became a stereotype for all Native Americans. The German writer Karl May wrote many books about the Wild West and Plains Indians.

The American artist George Catlin made many drawings and paintings of Plains Indians.

## Related pages

- Great Plains
- Native Americans in the United States
- Northeastern Woodlands
- Southeastern Woodlands