SS Chapter 2 – Native Americans, Lesson 3 – The Plains

The Plains PeopleCentral Plains

IowaMissouriSioux (Nakota)

Great PlainsCheyenneKiowa

Central PlainsWays of Life

- both hunters and gatherers and farmers- gathered plants, hunted deer, elk, and buffalo- they grew beans, corn, and sunflowers- they traded goods with each other. All of the above is part of their economy.

People of the Central Plains- lived in lodges. A lodge is a large circular house, not a teepee- in the north, lodges were made of sod – layers of grass.- lodges could hold as many as 60 people. +/- of that??

Great Plains

A Nomadic Society- nomad means moving from place to place. - they followed the herds of buffalo from place to place- they could not farm the dry grass land (no irrigation)

Teepees were cone shaped structures that were easy to move,. They tied wooden poles together and wrapped them in buffalo skins. A hole at the top let out smoke from fires. They were easy to take down and move.

Travois – was made of two poles tied together and harnessed to a dog. Good were carried.* The early people in the Americas did not have horse.

Plains CulturesThe Plains people had different customs and kinds of government.

Lakota – they had were made up of seven nomadic groups. Each group made its own choices. But belonging to the larger Lakota group meant that the smaller ones had to respect their hunting grounds and live in peace.

Cheyenne – usually had up to ten groups. Each group sent leaders to a council of chiefs.

All the Cheyenne groups had to respect the councils decisions.

Sitting Bull Dull Knife

** Among the Plains people, every person in the group was equal. No one person was born more important than anyone else Any man could become chief if he was a good warrior and a good leader.

What was one thing that the governments of the Plains peoples had in common with our government today?How were the governments of the Lakota and the Cheyenne different?

Traditions and Religious Beliefs

*The Blackfoot creation story

Ceremony

Sundance

SummaryThe Plains people lived in a large region that stretched across the middle of North America. The Plains people were made up of many different groups. However, different groups lived in similar types of shelters, depended on the same sources of food, and shared certain religious beliefs.