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The Plains Indians
From the Rocky Mountains in
the west to the Mississippi River in the east, a great grassland
called the Great Plains stretches across the middle of our
country. At one time, as many as sixty million buffalo
roamed freely across the Great Plains. It was a giant
pasture for the large herds of buffalo, or bison, as they are
better known. At this time the Plains Indians hunted the
buffalo for food. They found a way to use every part of the
buffalo, even the parts they could not eat. The hide of the
buffalo provided clothing and shelter. The bones and sinew
of the buffalo were used for tools and weapons. Most Plains
Indians lived in tepees made of buffalo hide.
To kill the buffalo, Plains
Indians used a lance and the bow and arrow. Guns were also
used once they became available. The Indians hunted on foot,
often guiding a stampeding herd of buffalo over a cliff. The
Spanish brought horses to America and the Indians became skilled
hunters on horseback.
In the eastern part of the
Great Plains many of the tribes raised crops as well as hunting
for buffalo. They lived in houses called earth lodges.
To build an earth lodge, Indians dug a shallow hole, placed a
frame of logs and twigs over the hole, and then covered the frame
with soil.
In the western part of the
Great Plains the tribes did not farm. They were nomadic
people, moving often to keep up with the wandering
buffalo.
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