22 Facts About Plains Indians

Plains Indians tribes are usually divided into two broad classifications which overlap to some degree.

The Plains Indians lived in tipis because they were easily disassembled and allowed the nomadic life of following game.

Plains Indians encountered villages and cities of the Plains village cultures.

Between a half and two-thirds of the Plains Indians are thought to have died of smallpox by the time of the Louisiana Purchase.

Plains Indians found by Coronado had not yet obtained horses; it was the introduction of the horse that revolutionized Plains culture.

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Pueblo Plains Indians learned about horses by working for Spanish colonists.

In 1690, a few horses were found by the Spanish among the Plains Indians living at the mouth of the Colorado River of Texas and the Caddo of eastern Texas had a sizeable number.

Semi-sedentary, village-dwelling Plains Indians depended upon agriculture for a large share of their livelihood, particularly those who lived in the eastern parts of the Great Plains which had more precipitation than the western side.

The earliest farmers, the Southern Plains Indians villagers were probably Caddoan speakers, the ancestors of the Wichita, Pawnee, and Arikara of today.

Plains Indians farmers developed short-season and drought resistant varieties of food plants.

Typically, on the southern Plains Indians, they planted crops in the spring, left their permanent villages to hunt buffalo in the summer, returned to harvest crops in the fall, and left again to hunt buffalo in the winter.

The farming Plains Indians traded corn to the nomadic tribes for dried buffalo meat.

The Plains Indians constructed a v-shaped funnel, about a mile long, made of fallen trees or rocks.

The Plains Indians reduced the length of their bows to three feet to accommodate their use on horseback.

Plains Indians moccasins tended to be constructed with soft braintanned hide on the vamps and tough rawhide for the soles.

One of the most important gatherings for many of the Plains Indians tribes is the yearly Sun Dance, an elaborate spiritual ceremony that involves personal sacrifice, multiple days of fasting and prayer for the good of loved ones and the benefit of the entire community.

Plains Indians's later went on to marry, and divorce, several additional men, both European-American and Indian.

Plains Indians raided each other, the Spanish colonies, and, increasingly, the encroaching frontier of the Anglos for horses, and other property.

Battles between Plains Indians often consisted of opposing warriors demonstrating their bravery rather than attempting to achieve concrete military objectives.

However, although Plains Indians won many battles, they could not undertake lengthy campaigns.

People of the Great Plains Indians have been found to be the tallest people in the world during the late 19th century, based on 21st century analysis of data collected by Franz Boas for the World Columbian Exposition.

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