Plains Indians facts for kids

Stumickosúcks of the Kainai.
George Catlin, 1832

Comanches capturing wild horses with lassos, around July 16, 1834

Spotted Tail of the Lakota Sioux

The Plains Indians are the Native American and First Nations peoples. They have historically lived on the Great Plains of North America. For centuries before Europeans arrived, these groups had cultures that mixed hunting and farming. However, the region became famous for its horse cultures. These cultures thrived from the 17th century to the late 19th century. Their way of life, which often involved moving from place to place, and their efforts to protect their lands, have made Plains Indians a well-known symbol for Native Americans everywhere.

Plains tribes are generally grouped into two main types. The first group became fully nomadic horse cultures during the 18th and 19th centuries. They followed the huge herds of American bison (buffalo). Some of these tribes also farmed occasionally. This group includes the Arapaho, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Lakota, Lipan, Plains Apache (or Kiowa Apache), Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwe, Sarsi, Nakoda (Stoney), and Tonkawa.

The second group lived in one place or moved only a little. Besides hunting bison, they lived in villages, grew crops, and traded actively with other tribes. This group includes the Arikara, Hidatsa, Iowa, Kaw (or Kansa), Kitsai, Mandan, Missouria, Omaha, Osage, Otoe, Pawnee, Ponca, Quapaw, Wichita, and the Santee Dakota, Yanktonai and Yankton Dakota.

History of the Plains Indians

Bison hunt under a wolf-skin mask, George Catlin, around 1832

Early Native American tribal territories, shown by language group

The first people on the Great Plains hunted animals and gathered wild plants. Over time, their cultures developed farming. They began to live in settled villages and towns. Maize (corn), which came from Mesoamerica, spread to the southern Great Plains around 700 CE.

Many Plains peoples hunted the American bison (buffalo). They used the bison for food, cups, decorations, tools, knives, and clothing. The tribes followed the bison herds as they moved with the seasons. Plains Indians lived in tipis. These homes were easy to take apart and move, which helped them follow the game.

The Spanish explorer Francisco Vásquez de Coronado was the first European to describe the Plains Indian culture. In 1541, he found villages and towns of the Plains village cultures. While looking for a rich land called Quivira, Coronado met the Querechos in Texas. The Querechos were later known as Apache. Coronado described their skin tepees, travois pulled by dogs, Plains Indian Sign Language, and foods like jerky and pemmican.

Speakers of Siouan languages may have come from the lower Mississippi River area. They were farmers and might have been part of the Mound Builder civilization between the 9th and 12th centuries. Wars with the Ojibwe and Cree peoples pushed the Lakota (Teton Sioux) west onto the Great Plains in the mid-to-late 17th century. The Shoshone started in the western Great Basin. They spread north and east into what is now Idaho and Wyoming. By 1500, some Eastern Shoshone had crossed the Rocky Mountains into the Great Plains. After 1750, conflicts with other tribes pushed the Eastern Shoshone south and west. Some moved as far south as Texas, becoming the Comanche by 1700.

European explorers and settlers brought new diseases. Native Americans had no natural protection against these illnesses. Sadly, many thousands of Plains Indians died from diseases like smallpox. The 1837 Great Plains smallpox epidemic spread widely, causing many deaths between 1837 and 1840. It is thought that two-thirds of the Blackfoot population died. Half of the Assiniboines and Arikaras also died, along with a third of the Crows and a quarter of the Pawnees.

The Arrival of Horses

How horses spread. The black line shows where bison lived.

Historically, Plains Indians lived without horses. Horses had died out in the Americas 15,000–13,000 years ago. However, horses were brought back in the 16th century. This greatly changed the culture of the Great Plains. When tribes got horses, they quickly made them part of their daily lives. People in the southwest began getting horses in the 16th century. They traded for them or took them from Spanish colonists in New Mexico.

As horse culture moved north, the Comanche were among the first to fully adopt a nomadic lifestyle on horseback. By the 1730s, they had enough horses for everyone in their tribe to ride. Horses made it much easier for Plains Indians to get food from the huge bison herds. Riders could travel faster and farther to find bison. They could also carry more goods. This allowed them to have more possessions than their ancestors who traveled on foot. For Plains peoples, horses became a symbol of importance as well as being useful. They loved their horses and the freedom they brought.

Hernán Cortés brought about sixteen horses to the New World in 1519. Coronado brought 558 horses on his 1539–1542 trip. At that time, the Native Americans in these areas had never seen a horse. Coronado had only two mares, so his horses likely weren't the main source for the Plains Indians. However, in 1592, Juan de Oñate brought 7,000 livestock, including mares and stallions, to establish a colony in New Mexico.

Pueblo Indians learned about horses by working for Spanish colonists. The Spanish tried to keep this knowledge from Native people. But Native people learned to ride, and some left their Spanish employers, taking horses with them. Some horses were obtained through trade, even though it was forbidden. Other horses escaped and lived in the wild, then Native people captured them. In all cases, horses became part of their culture, and herds grew. By 1659, the Navajo from northwestern New Mexico were raiding Spanish colonies for horses. By 1664, the Apache were trading captives from other tribes to the Spanish for horses.

The real start of the Plains horse culture came with the Pueblo Revolt of 1680 in New Mexico. Thousands of horses and other animals were captured. Many horses were traded north to the Plains Indians. By 1683, a Spanish trip into Texas found horses among Native people. In 1690, the Spanish found horses among Indians near the Colorado River of Texas. The Caddo of eastern Texas also had many horses.

In 1719, the French explorer Claude Charles Du Tisne found 300 horses among the Wichita in Oklahoma. But horses were still not common. Another Frenchman, Bourgmont, could only buy seven horses at a high price from the Kaw in 1724. This showed horses were still rare in Kansas. While horses spread slowly northward on the Great Plains, they moved faster through the Rocky Mountains and the Great Basin. The Shoshone in Wyoming had horses by about 1700. The Blackfoot people, the most northern of the large Plains tribes, got horses in the 1730s. By 1770, the Plains horse culture was well established. Mounted bison-hunting nomads lived from Saskatchewan and Alberta south almost to the Rio Grande. Soon after, pressure from Europeans and European-Americans, along with European diseases, caused its decline.

This painting by Alfred Jacob Miller shows Plains Indians chasing buffalo over a small cliff.

The Comanche, first noticed by the Spanish in New Mexico in 1706, were the first to fully understand the power of the horse. As nomads, hunters, and herders with many horses, they pushed most of the Apache tribes from the plains. By the 1730s, they were powerful in the Great Plains south of the Arkansas River. The Comanche's success encouraged other tribes to adopt a similar lifestyle. Southern Plains Indians acquired vast numbers of horses. By the 19th century, Comanche and Kiowa families owned an average of 35 horses and mules each. Only about six or seven were needed for travel and war.

Caring for large horse herds required a lot of work. Societies that were once more equal became more divided by wealth. Richer men might have several wives and captives who helped manage their possessions, especially horses. The milder winters of the southern Plains helped the Indians' horse-based economy. On the northeastern Plains of Canada, tribes had fewer horses. They relied more on dogs for carrying goods and hunted bison on foot. The scarcity of horses in the north led to more raiding and conflicts over the smaller number of horses that survived the harsh winters.

The Lakota, also called Teton Sioux, lived in a good middle ground between the North and South. They became a powerful Plains tribe by the mid-19th century. They had smaller horse herds, which meant less impact on their environment. At the same time, they lived in the best bison hunting areas. This region was also excellent for furs, which they traded with French and American traders for goods like guns. The Lakota became a very strong Plains tribe.

The Decline of the Bison Herds

This map shows the decline of bison by 1889, based on William Temple Hornaday's research.

By the 19th century, the typical year for the Lakota and other northern nomadic tribes included a communal buffalo hunt in spring. This happened as soon as their horses recovered from winter. In June and July, scattered tribal groups gathered in large camps. Here, they held ceremonies like the Sun Dance. These gatherings allowed leaders to make political decisions, plan movements, settle disagreements, and organize raiding or war parties. In the fall, people split into smaller groups to hunt for meat for the long winter. Between the fall hunt and winter, Lakota warriors might go on raids or engage in warfare. When winter snows arrived, the Lakota settled into winter camps. Activities included ceremonies, dances, and making sure their horses had enough food.

On the southern plains, with milder winters, fall and winter were often raiding seasons. Starting in the 1830s, the Comanche and their allies often raided deep into Mexico for horses and other goods. Sometimes they traveled 1,000 miles (1,600 km) south from their homes in Texas and Oklahoma.

The U.S. federal government and local authorities encouraged bison hunting. This was done to clear land for cattle ranching. It also aimed to encourage Native American tribes to settle on reservations. Bison herds were the foundation of the Plains tribes' economies. Without bison, they were forced to move onto reservations or face starvation.

Bison were hunted for their skins. The rest of the animal was often left to decay on the ground. After the animals rotted, their bones were collected and shipped east in large amounts.

A pile of bison skulls in the 1870s.

The railroad industry also wanted bison herds reduced or removed. Large herds of bison on tracks could damage trains if they didn't stop in time. Herds often sought shelter in the cuts made by train tracks through hills and mountains during harsh winters. This meant bison herds could delay a train for days.

The decline of the bison had major negative effects on the Native American people who depended on them. These effects were both immediate and long-lasting. By the early 20th century, Native American nations that relied on bison had higher child mortality and unemployment. This was compared to nations that never depended on bison. By the late 20th century, income per person was 25% lower for bison nations. People in bison-hunting communities were once among the tallest in the world. However, generations born after the bison decline lost this height advantage.

As the great herds began to shrink, ideas to protect the bison were discussed. Buffalo Bill Cody and others spoke in favor of protecting the bison. He saw that the pressure on the species was too great. But these efforts were often discouraged. It was understood that the Plains Indians, who were often in conflict with the United States, relied on bison for their way of life. In 1874, President Ulysses S. Grant stopped a federal bill to protect the dwindling bison herds. In 1875, General Philip Sheridan asked Congress to continue hunting the herds. He believed this would remove the Plains Indians' food source. This led to the bison being hunted almost to extinction during the 19th century. Their numbers were reduced to just a few hundred by the early 1900s.

The Indian Wars

The Ghost Dance ritual. The Lakota believed it would reunite the living with spirits of the dead. They hoped it would make white invaders vanish and bring peace and unity to Indian peoples.

Armed conflicts grew more intense in the late 19th century. These were between Native American nations on the plains and the U.S. government. They are generally known as the Indian Wars. Important conflicts during this time include the Dakota War, Great Sioux War, Snake War, and Colorado War. Comanche power was strongest in the 1840s. They carried out large-scale raids hundreds of miles into Mexico. They also fought against the Anglo-Americans and Tejanos who had settled in independent Texas.

One of the most tragic events was the Wounded Knee Massacre in 1890. In the years leading up to it, the U.S. government had continued to take Lakota lands. A spiritual ceremony called the Ghost Dance was happening on the Northern Lakota reservation at Wounded Knee, South Dakota. This led to the U.S. Army's attempt to control the Lakota. The dance was part of a religious movement started by the Northern Paiute spiritual leader Wovoka. It spoke of a new era of peace and prosperity for Native Americans. It promised that if they lived good lives and performed the Ghost Dance, European American colonists would vanish, bison would return, and the living and dead would reunite. On December 29 at Wounded Knee, gunfire broke out. Many Lakota people, including women and children, lost their lives.

Material Culture

Agriculture and Plant Foods

The Wichita were a farming tribe in the Southern Plains. They lived in beehive-shaped houses made of grass. They had large cornfields. They traded their crops with nomadic tribes for meat and hides.

The semi-settled, village-dwelling Plains Indians relied on farming for much of their food. This was especially true for those in the eastern Great Plains, where there was more rain. Corn was the main crop, followed by squash and beans. Tobacco, sunflower, plums, and other plants were also grown or gathered from the wild. Among the wild foods, berries (used to flavor pemmican) and the Prairie Turnip were very important.

The first clear evidence of corn farming on the Great Plains dates back to about 900 AD. The earliest farmers, the Southern Plains villagers, were likely Caddoan speakers. They were ancestors of today's Wichita, Pawnee, and Arikara. Plains farmers developed corn varieties that grew quickly and could survive dry conditions. They did not use irrigation. Instead, they were skilled at collecting water and placing their fields to get the most from limited rainfall. The Hidatsa and Mandan of North Dakota grew corn at the northern edge of its possible range.

The farming tribes also hunted buffalo, deer, elk, and other animals. Typically, on the southern Plains, they planted crops in the spring. Then they left their permanent villages to hunt buffalo in the summer. They returned to harvest crops in the fall. After that, they left again to hunt bison in the winter. The farming Indians also traded corn to the nomadic tribes for dried buffalo meat.

With the arrival of the horse, some tribes, like the Lakota and Cheyenne, stopped farming. They became full-time, buffalo-hunting nomads.

By the 1870s, bison herds were greatly reduced. Beef, grains, fats, and starchy vegetables became more important in the diet of Plains Indians. Fruits and nuts, especially plums and grapes, were dried for winter storage. Flour was made from the Indian breadroot (Pediomelum esculentum). Indian tea (lespedeza) is still sometimes enjoyed by Plains Indians who keep these traditions. Plums were one of the most important wild plant foods on the Oklahoma reservation.

Hunting Practices

"Assiniboine hunting buffalo", painting by Paul Kane

While Plains people hunted other animals like elk or pronghorn, buffalo was their main food source. Before horses were introduced, hunting was harder. Hunters would surround the bison. Then they tried to herd them off cliffs or into small areas where they could be killed more easily. Plains Indians built V-shaped funnels, about a mile long, using fallen trees or rocks. Sometimes, a hunter would cover himself with a bison skin and imitate the animals' calls to lure them into a trap.

Before they had guns, Plains Indians hunted with spears, bows, and various types of clubs. Horses made hunting (and warfare) much easier. With horses, Plains Indians had the speed to stampede or overtake bison. They shortened their bows to three feet so they could use them on horseback. They continued to use bows and arrows even after getting firearms. This was because guns took too long to reload and were often too heavy. In the summer, many tribes gathered in one place for hunting. The main hunting seasons were fall, summer, and spring. In winter, bad weather like snow and blizzards made it harder to find and hunt bison.

Clothing and Adornment

Animal hides, with or without fur, provided material for most clothing. Much of the clothing came from buffalo and deer hides. Hides from many types of birds and other small animals were also used. Plains moccasins usually had soft, brain-tanned hide on the top part and tough rawhide for the soles. Men's moccasins often had flaps around the ankles. Women's moccasins had high tops, which could be pulled up in winter and rolled down in summer. Honored warriors and leaders earned the right to wear war bonnets. These were headdresses with feathers, often from golden or bald eagles.

Society and Culture

Spiritual Beliefs and Practices

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

Rainmaking among the Mandan, by George Catlin, 1830s

While there are some similarities, different tribes have their own unique spiritual beliefs. Some beliefs see spirits in all living things and nature. Others focus on one main creator or a group of powerful spirits. Prayer is a regular part of daily life for everyone, from individuals to spiritual leaders. It happens alone and in group ceremonies. One of the most important gatherings for many Plains tribes is the yearly Sun Dance. This is a special spiritual ceremony that involves personal sacrifice, several days of fasting, and prayers for loved ones and the whole community.

Certain people are considered wakan (Lakota: "holy"). They train for many years to become medicine men or women. These individuals are trusted with spiritual leadership roles in the community. The buffalo and eagle are especially sacred to many Plains peoples. They might be shown in art, or parts of them used in special clothing and items. In Plains spiritual beliefs, certain items can hold spiritual power. This is especially true for medicine bundles. These bundles are only entrusted to important religious figures of a tribe and passed down through generations.

Gender Roles and Family Life

Historically, Plains Indian women had clear roles that were different from men's roles, but they worked together. Women typically owned the family's home and most of its contents. In traditional culture, women tanned hides, cared for crops, gathered wild foods, prepared meals, made clothing, and set up and took down the family's tepees. Today, these customs are still followed when lodges are set up for ceremonies, such as at pow wows. Historically, Plains women were not as involved in public political life as women in coastal tribes. However, they still offered advice and participated through women's societies.

"Indian women moving", painting by Charles Marion Russell

In modern Plains cultures, traditionalists work to keep these daily life traditions and their values alive.

Plains women generally had the right to divorce and keep their children. Since women owned the home, an unkind husband might find himself without a place to live. An example is Making Out Road, a Cheyenne woman. In 1841, she married a non-Native frontiersman, Kit Carson. Their marriage was difficult. It formally ended when Making Out Road put Carson and his belongings out of her tepee. This was the traditional way to announce a divorce. She later married and divorced several other men, both European-American and Indian.

Warfare and Conflict

This painting shows the speed and intensity of a fight between the U.S. cavalry and Plains Indians.

The first Spanish explorers in the 16th century did not find the Plains Indians especially warlike. The Wichita in Kansas and Oklahoma lived in spread-out settlements with few defenses. The Spanish first had friendly contact with the Apache (Querechos) in the Texas Panhandle.

Three things led to warfare becoming more important in Plains Indian culture. First, Spanish colonization in New Mexico led to raids and counter-raids by Spaniards and Indians for goods and to capture people. Second, contact with French fur traders increased competition among tribes to control trade routes. Third, getting horses gave Plains Indians greater mobility. From the 17th to the late 19th century, warfare among Plains Indians became a way to gain resources and show bravery. Young men gained respect and valuable items by fighting as warriors. This individual style of warfare meant that success in single combat and capturing war trophies were highly valued.

Plains Indians raided each other, Spanish colonies, and later, the growing frontier of Anglo-Americans. They sought horses and other property. They mainly got guns and other European goods through trade. Their main trade items were buffalo hides and beaver pelts. The Comanche were known as some of the most skilled warriors among all Plains Indians. The Economist noted in 2010 that they "could loose a flock of arrows while hanging off the side of a galloping horse, using the animal as protection against return fire. The sight amazed and terrified their white (and Indian) adversaries." The American historian S. C. Gwynne called the Comanche "the greatest light cavalry on the earth" in the 19th century. Their raids in Texas frightened American settlers.

War on the Plains: Comanche (right) trying to use a lance against an Osage warrior, painting by George Catlin, 1834

Plains Indian warriors were tough in defense. However, they usually went on the offensive to gain goods and individual respect. The highest military honors were for "counting coup"—touching a live enemy. Battles between Indian groups often involved warriors showing their bravery rather than trying to achieve specific military goals. The focus was on ambushes and quick attacks, not close combat. Success was often measured by the number of horses or property gained in a raid. Casualties were usually low. "Indians thought it was foolish to attack if it meant some of them would surely be killed." Given their smaller numbers, losing even a few men in battle could be very bad for a group. For example, at the battles of Adobe Walls in Texas in 1874 and Rosebud in Montana in 1876, the Indians stopped fighting even though they were winning. This was because the casualties were not worth the victory. The most famous victory by Plains Indians over the United States was the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876. It was won by the Lakota (Sioux) and Cheyenne fighting defensively. Decisions to fight were based on what they might gain versus what they might lose. The loss of even one warrior was considered a great cost. Generally, because their groups were small and the United States had a large population, Plains Indians tried to avoid casualties in battle. They would avoid fighting if it meant losses.

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

Because of their mobility, endurance, horsemanship, and knowledge of the vast plains, Plains Indians often won battles against the U.S. army. This was true during the American era from 1803 to about 1890. However, even though Indians won many battles, they could not fight long campaigns. Indian armies could only gather for short times. Warriors also had to hunt for food for their families. An exception was raids into Mexico by the Comanche and their allies. In these raids, the warriors often lived for months off the supplies from Mexican ranches and settlements. The main weapon of the Indian warrior was the short, strong bow. It was designed for use on horseback and was deadly at short range. Guns were usually in short supply, and ammunition was scarce for Native warriors. The U.S. government, through the Indian Agency, would sell Plains Indians guns for hunting. However, unlicensed traders would exchange guns for buffalo hides. The lack of ammunition and training with firearms meant the bow and arrow remained the preferred weapon.

Research on Plains Indians

Studies have shown that the people of the Great Plains were among the tallest in the world during the late 19th century. This information comes from a 21st-century analysis of data collected by Franz Boas for the World Columbian Exposition. This is important for historians who study human body measurements. They often connect the height of populations with their overall health and standard of living.

List of Plains Peoples

Pawnee warrior, by George Catlin, 1832

Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains are often divided into Northern and Southern Plains tribes.

See also

• Comanche-Mexico Wars
• Plains Standard Sign Language
• Plains hide painting
• Hair drop, Plains men's adornment
• Native American tribes in Nebraska
• Buffalo jump
• Southern Plains villagers
• Spanish peace treaties with the Comanche
• Great Plains Indian Trading Networks before Lewis and Clark