Native American Peoples Of The Plains
On the Great Plains to the West
of the Mississippi the tribes were 'nomadic', they moved around in
huge communities across the plains, following the herds of buffalo.
The men hunted them using bows and arrow originally on foot and then
on horseback. The women prepared the skins for tepees and clothing.
Tepees were the traditional homes of these tribes, easy to take down
and transported to the next site. Wintertime the community would
settle in one place in order to avoid the harsh winters that were often
bitterly cold. Cooking was done on an open fire using buffalo dung
as fuel and they would use the meat that they had dried earlier in
the year and stored.
Many of the traditional images that we have of the Indians come from
'The People of the Plain'-Tepees, wearing the hair in 2 plaits, along
with tunics and leggings made from deerskins. Some, ofthe men wore
headdresses that wore made from eagle feathers as a sign of bravery
in battle. The images of rain and war dance also originate from the
'People of the plains'.
One thing that they shared with other Native
American people was a belief in a great spirit who influenced their
lives. They believed that things like the Sun, wind, moon, water
had powerful influences and that animals like humans had Spirits.
Above all of this they believed that no one called own the land.
Chief Seathl wrote to the US Government in which he explained their
beliefs' The earth does not belong to man. Man belongs to the earth.
This we know.
The
History of the West - Wagon
Trains - Gold Fever - Ranches
on the Plains - Cowboys - Homesteaders - The
Railroad - Justice in the Wild West - War
Between The Settlers and The Native American Indians
