Major Tribes

• Blackfeet
• Arikara
• Cheyenne
• Dakota
• Arapaho
• Comanche
• Pawnee
• Caddo
• Kickapoo
• Crow

• maintained permanent settlements between planting and harvesting
• developed special corn varieties
• hunted buffalo on foot
• acquired horses through contact with the Spanish
• farmers and hunters traded corn and hides

• tribes organized as clans
• warrior societies
• tribal councils
• descent through the mother
• women did agricultural work, preserved meat, cured hides
• war was a way of life, but it was as much a game as combat
• men took part in "counting coup" -striking an enemy without killing him

• two basic types of country: humid region of tall grass prairies and dry land with short grass
• seas of rich, fertile grasses
• small and big game animals flourished making hunting easy

• major migration route for early Indians moving south from Alaska and Canada
• about 3,000 years ago, the plains population grew rapidly
• many distinct cultures developed until the coming of the white people

• built circular earth lodges up to 50 feet in diameter for permanent dwellings
• carried buffalo-hide tipis on the their hunts
• tipis usually painted with naturalistic and geometric designs
• use "bullboats" for river travel
• dragged possessions in slings called "travois" because they hadn't invented the wheel yet

• special reverence for the sun
• performed sun dances
• were directed by priests
• medicine men acted as priests and doctors
• young men fasted in order to get visions from personal guardian spirits

• Blackfeet
• Arikara
• Cheyenne
• Dakota
• Arapaho
• Comanche
• Pawnee
• Caddo
• Kickapoo
• Crow
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