Plains Indians facts for kids

The Plains Indians were groups of Native American people. They lived on the vast Great Plains of North America. For many years, their way of life was closely tied to the huge buffalo herds. Hunting buffalo was not just about getting food; it was a very important part of their beliefs and daily life. Their culture was shaped by the natural world around them.

Before the 1500s, many tribes lived on the edges of the Great Plains. They were farmers and hunter-gatherers. They grew crops from autumn to spring. In the summers, they would travel onto the plains to hunt buffalo on foot.

How Horses Changed Everything

When conquistadors like Juan de Oñate arrived, they brought horses to North America. This changed the lives of the Plains Indians forever. They quickly learned to hunt buffalo while riding horses. This made them powerful nomadic hunters, meaning they moved often to follow the buffalo.

The Apache were among the first to get horses, either by trading or by capturing them from the Spaniards. Horses also escaped and became wild. Soon, the Comanche also became skilled horse riders. Horses became a sign of wealth and power for these tribes. Horses were traded or captured by other tribes. By the mid-1700s, most Plains Indians had horses. Later, the British brought guns to North America. They also pushed many Eastern Woodlands tribes onto the Great Plains. The horse culture of the Plains Indians began to end after the 1850s. This was when tribes were moved to Indian reservations.

Plains Indian Tribes

Many different tribes lived on the Great Plains. They each had their own unique customs and languages. Some of the well-known tribes included:

• The Arapaho
• The Blackfoot
• The Comanche
• The Cheyenne
• The Crow
• The Kiowa
• The Kitsai
• The Missouria (or Niúachi)
• The Mandan
• The Omaha
• The Osage
• The Otoe
• The Pawnee
• The Saulteaux (or Plains Ojibwe)
• The Plains Cree
• The Plains Apache (also called the Kiowa Apache)
• The Ponca
• The Quapaw (or Arkansas and Ugahxpa)
• The Sarcee
• The Sioux (Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota)
• The Tonkawa
• The Wichita

Plains Indians in Movies

Buffalo Bill Cody started his Wild West shows in the 1880s. These shows often featured Plains Indians. When Hollywood began making movies, the western became very popular. These movies often showed Plains Indians as the typical "Native American Indian" to the world. So, when you see movies or stories about the American Old West, the Indians shown are usually Plains Indians.

Related pages

• Great Plains

Images for kids

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  Stumickosúcks of the Kainai in 1832

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  Spotted Tail of the Lakota Sioux

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  Bison hunt under the wolf-skin mask, George Catlin, c. 1832

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  Early Native American tribal territories color-coded by linguistic group

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  Blackfoot warrior, painted between 1840 and 1843 by Karl Bodmer

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  Stump Horn of the Cheyenne and his family with a horse and travois, c. 1871–1907

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  This painting by Alfred Jacob Miller portrays Plains Indians chasing buffalo over a small cliff. The Walters Art Museum.

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  A pile of bison skulls in the 1870s.

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  The Wichita were an agrarian Southern Plains tribe, who traditionally lived in beehive-shaped houses thatched with grass surrounded by extensive maize fields. They were skilled farmers who traded agricultural products with the nomadic tribes in exchange for meat and hides.

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  "Assiniboine hunting buffalo", painting by Paul Kane

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  An Oglala Lakota Ghost Dance at Pine Ridge. Illustration by Frederic Remington

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  Rainmaking among the Mandan, by George Catlin, 1830s

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  This painting depicts the speed and violence of an encounter between the U.S. cavalry and Plains Indians.

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  Southern Cheyenne Chiefs Lawrence Hart, Darryl Flyingman and Harvey Pratt in Oklahoma City, 2008