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Plains Indians Way of Life Facts & Worksheets

Plains Indians living on the Great Plains were rich in tradition. There were more than thirty tribes, each with its own culture, customs, language, religion, and way of life.

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Plains Indians living on the Great Plains were rich in tradition. There were more than thirty tribes, each with its own culture, customs, language, religion, and way of life.

See the fact file below for more information on Plains Indians Way of Life or alternatively, you can download our 37-page Plains Indians Way of Life worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Key Facts & Information

Geographical Location

  • The Great Plains region consists of vast grasslands that stretch between the Mississippi River to the east of the Rocky Mountains, up to 400 miles across the United States.
  • The region consisted of only a few people until various Native American groups inhabited the area.
  • The climate in the region is said to be continental.

WAY OF LIFE

LIVELIHOOD

  • The earliest people on the Great Plains depended on hunting and gathering wild plants for their livelihood.
  • When they settled in sedentary villages and towns, they shifted to agriculture.
  • The most abundant crop was maize, or corn, which was then followed by squash and beans.
  • Women also harvested and collected medicinal plants such as the chokecherries, commonly used for stomach sickness.
  • The natives followed a cycle of seasons.
  • During winter, they spent time with their family and shared tribal history through songs and stories.
  • This season also allowed time to make and repair clothes.
  • In spring, they hunted, planted, and mingled with others after being in their winter shelters for a long time.
  • In summer, different celebrations and gatherings took place.
  • They also traveled for trade and left their homes to hunt for buffalo.
  • In the fall, they returned to their homes to harvest their crops and prepare for winter.
  • Two animals were considered significant for the Plains Indians: the horse and the buffalo.
Horse
  • When horses were introduced to the Plains Indians, they found them very useful in their everyday activities.
  • Southwest people began acquiring horses in the 16th century through trading or by stealing from the Spanish colonists.
  • Horses became very useful to the Plains Indians in hunting for buffalos and during warfare.
  • Horses served as transportation for the Plains Indians and a means of transport for their goods, thus, it can be concluded that horses increased the productivity of Plains Indians.
  • Horses also became one of the social ranking indicators.
  • The more horses they owned, the more wealthy and higher rank the person or tribe had.
Buffalo (Bison)
  • Bison or buffalo are very significant to the Plains Indians.
  • Each of its body parts had various uses.
  • Plains Indians ate buffalo meat.
  • They utilized the body parts that they could not consume for other needs, such as clothing and shelter making, decorations, toolmaking, and rituals.

SHELTER AND TRANSPORTATION 

  • The villagers often resided in earth lodges, but most Plains Indians used teepees for their shelters.
  • A tepee is a conical tent made of a sewed buffalo skin cover placed at the top of wooden poles.
  • It was an ideal shelter for the tribes because it was easy to assemble and transport during hunting and travel. Women were responsible for building and the maintenance of the teepees. 
  • Horses were used as land transportation, while Plains Indians used canoes, rafts, and bull boats when they crossed the waterways.

CLOTHING

Men
  • Men on the northern plains wore a shirt, leggings, and moccasins for their shoes. 
  • During winter, they wore painted buffalo robes, which showed the war deeds of the wearer. 
  • Some of the village men and southern nomads wore nothing on the upper part of their bodies but were tattooed on the chest, shoulders, and arm areas. 
Women
  • Women wore long dresses, leggings, and moccasins too. 
  • They decorated their dresses with porcupine-quill embroidery, fringes, and beads, sometimes using elk teeth.
  • They also used headgear made of eagle feathers for celebrations and ceremonies, war bonnets during wars, and as protection from the sun and the cold, they used billed caps and fur caps.

LANGUAGE

  • Several different American Indian languages were spoken on the Great Plains.
  • The most commonly used languages were Algonquian, Cheyenne, Siouan, Caddoan, and Uto-Aztecan, while some Plains Indians also used sign language as a form of communication with each other.

PEOPLE

Men
  • The men focused on hunting and were usually involved in warfare.
  • They were responsible for protecting their community.
Women
  • Women’s tasks involved leather-making, assembling teepees, homemaking, planting, harvesting crops, and making clothes.
  • They also bore and took care of the children.
  • Some women were also healers.
Children
  • Children learned skills such as hunting and fighting for boys and agriculture and household tasks for girls.

POLITICS

  • The political structures were based on bands.
  • Bands consisted of several people who lived, traveled, and worked together.
  • Each band consisted of the chief, a council, and warrior societies.
  • The tribes often elected skilled warriors and spiritual leaders as their chiefs.
  • The council was usually composed of elders who had already established a good reputation for their band, and they were assigned to make decisions in cases of war and punishment.
  • All men in the band were members of the warrior society, while women were not usually engaged in political life except for advisory roles.

MARRIAGE

  • Plains Indians practiced polygamy, but most of their marriages were monogamous.
  • Most polygamous marriages were that of sisters who shared one husband because, for the Plains Indians, it would be easier to raise their children and take care of their elders since they already had an established and strong bond.
  • Women had the right to divorce and keep their children.
  • Arranged marriages were prevalent, and usually, gifts in the form of horses were given and the groom offered buffalo skin as his bridewealth.

RELIGION AND BELIEFS

  • The different tribes believed in different cosmologies and world views.
  • Praying was a form of regular activity for them.
  • Some were animists and polytheists, while others were monotheists or panentheists.
  • One of the most important gatherings celebrated yearly was the Sun Dance.
  • The celebration involved fasting, sacrifices, and prayers for individuals and the community.
  • The buffalo and eagle were animals considered sacred to them.
  • Some men and women underwent long training to become a ‘wakan’ or a healer with a significant spiritual leadership role.
  • According to the Plains Indians, some items like the medicine bundle possessed spiritual power, and only a prominent tribal religious figure could hold on to these items. 
  • Thus, these items were carefully kept and passed on to keepers of the next generation.

WARFARE

  • Factors that led to the significance of warfare were the protection of goods and their people, trade and control of trade routes, and the acquisition of horses and weapons.
  • Warfare became a livelihood and a sport.
  • The Plains Indians usually attacked and involved themselves in wars for material gain, esteem, and honor.
  • They engaged in short raids to show their bravery, and counting coups would determine who would receive the honor.
  • The number of horses and property obtained usually determined the success of the war. 
  • Due to a few bands, the Plains Indians avoided risking casualties during a battle.
  • They wouldn’t risk losing a warrior in the battle, but if a herd of horses was the prize, the loss of a warrior or two was considered and accepted.
  • As guns were scarce and only a few warriors trained in using them, Indian warriors preferred to use short and stout bows for their battles.

TRIBES

  • Several tribes lived on the Great Plains, and each of them had a different way of life. 
  • Some of the tribes were fully nomadic, engaging in horse culture and agriculture, while others were sedentary and semi-sedentary, hunting buffalos, raising crops, and trading.
  • The list below comprises some of the tribes who lived on the Great Plains:
  • ARAPAHO
    • When the Arapaho tribe entered the Great Plains, they were situated on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming and became closely associated with the Cheyenne tribe.
    • They were buffalo hunters who also gathered wild plants and engaged in trading.
  • BLACKFOOT
    • The Blackfoot tribe was considered one of the strongest and boldest tribes in the Northern Plains, specifically Alberta, Canada, Idaho, and Montana.
  • CHEYENNE
  • COMANCHE
    • They lived in the southern part of the Great Plains and were known as great horsemen.
  • CROW
    • The Crow were known as bandits and horse-stealers.
    • Their territory can be found in the Yellowstone River valley, which stretches from Wyoming to Montana and North Dakota.
  • GROS VENTRE
    • They were known farmers who lived in Minnesota and Manitoba, Canada, and were close allies with the Cheyenne forebears.
  • ARIKARA
    • Arikara was a tribe in the lower Mississippi River Valley.
    • Their population had decreased due to wars and an epidemic, so they joined the Mandan and Hidatsa, tribes.
  • KIOWA
    • The Kiowa tribe who migrated to the Southern Plains was originally from the Northern Plains.
  • OJIBWE
    • Their tribe was considered to have the largest population among the Native Americans.
  • NAKODA
    • They were close allies of the Cree and lived along Alberta’s Rocky Mountain foothills.
  • LAKOTA
    • Lakota was considered a powerful tribe that had produced legendary heroes and historical warriors.
  • HIDATSA
    • They were traders, hunters, and farmers who settled along the Missouri River.
  • KAW / KANSA
    • They lived in Kansas and were semi-sedentary people who practiced hunting and farming.
  • MANDAN
    • Mandan tribe lived along the Missouri River.
    • During the 1837 smallpox epidemic, the Mandan tribe lost several people, resulting in the Mandan epidemic survivors joining the Hidatsa tribe.
  • PAWNEE
    • The Pawnee tribe were hunters and farmers and known for their great interest in astronomy.
    • Their tribe was composed of warriors who intimidated their enemies with their tattoos and war paint.
  • OMAHA
    • The Omaha tribe were hunters, gatherers, and farmers.
    • Their culture was a combination of the Midwest and Plains American Indians.
  • IOWA
    • The Iowa tribe lived a semi-sedentary life and were hunters and farmers.
  • CREE
    • The Cree tribe lived in small bands located in Canada.
  • OTOE
  • OSAGE
    • When oil was discovered on their reserves in 1894, several Osage people became wealthy.
  • TONKAWA
    • They were a nomadic tribe of hunters and traders from the Southern Great Plains.
  • APACHE
    • They were also a nomadic tribe who gave high importance to religion and buffalo.
  • WICHITA
    • They were natives of Oklahoma, Texas, and Kansas.

Plains Indians Way of Life Worksheets

This is a fantastic bundle that includes everything you need to know about Plains Indians Way of Life across 37 in-depth pages. These are ready-to-use worksheets that are perfect for teaching about Plains Indians Way of Life which were very rich in tradition.

Complete List Of Included Worksheets

  • Plains Indians Way of Life Facts
  • Listen and Learn
  • Plains Fashion
  • Color Me
  • Is It True or Is It False?
  • Task Delegation
  • Mix & Match
  • Politics
  • Beliefs
  • Warfare
  • Picture Their Life

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