Plains Indians

1. Plains Indians By: Aalia and Alvin For: Mrs. Spearman

2. The Beginning • Before white men came to America a lot of the plains Indians lived along the rivers and streams where the land was fertile.

3. Food • Food that the plains Indians ate were mostly buffalo they used for every thing.

4. Clothes • The women made the clothes for the entire tribe. Men wore animal skin leggings and belts, but they didn’t wear shirts.

5. Living • The plains Indians adopted lots of ways of living different than us. Most of them went on living in a hand-to-mouth way, surviving on raw food.

6. Other way they made clothes • Plains Indians made their own clothes. Most of their clothes were made from animal skins like antelope and deer.

7. Tepees • The teepee opening always faced east. The outside of the teepee is sometimes decorated with paintings of animals, stars, or other objects. The plains Indians had little furniture. Their beds were made from buffalo robes, skins with the hair left on. They also had back rests. Food, clothes, and belongings were stored in par fleches. A par fleche was made of buffalo hide.

8. Spirits • The plains Indians believed in the great spirit. The Indians believed the great spirit watched over all things, including animals, trees, stones,and clouds. The earth light and warmth. The plains Indians prayed individually and in groups. They believed visions came in dreams.

9. Dances and Traditions • The sun dance was a very important ceremony for the plains Indians. It always lasted for at least several days. Before the ceremony the Indians would fast. The camp was set up in a circle of teepees. A tree was cut and set up in the center of the space to be used for the dance. Ropes made of hair or leather thongs were fastened to the top of the poles. Men tied these ropes to sticks which were stuck through the flesh of their chest or backs. The men danced, gazing at the sun, whistling through pipes, and pulling back on the ropes until the sticks tore through the flesh.

10. Medicine Bundles and Pipes • They carried bags of animal and bird skins, pipes, dried herbs, and tobacco. They believe these objects to have special powers. Two of the most important bundles were the pipe bundle and the beaver bundle. The beaver bundle always contained the skin of a beaver along with skins of other animals. Some had feathers of birds, rattles and other objects. The bundles were used for healing and opened at certain times such as when the first thunder was heard in the spring. The pipe bundle contained tobacco to be used in pipes.

11. What were the two most important kinds of bundles that Indians carried?

12. Answer (pipe bundle and beaver bundle)

13. What did plain Indians mostly use?

14. Answer(buffalos)

15. What did the Indians do before the sun dance?

16. Answer (they would fast)

17. Who made the clothes for the entire tribe?

18. Answer (the women)

19. Before white men came to America Indians lived along the what?

20. Answer( they lived along the rivers)