By Taylor Fitzpatrick
Third-grade Wellington School
The Plains Indians, including Cheyenne, Crow, Kiowa and Comanche lived by the Mississippi River in teepees. The plains area was hotter than 100 degrees in the summer and could drop to 40 degrees below zero with heavy snows in the winter. The region was so dry that when it rained it often flooded. The rolling land was covered with grassland and a few mountains. The Black Hills were high and steep. Few Indians lived on the Great Plains before white men brought the horses in the 1600s.
The tribes lived along rivers and streams where the land was fertile. In the villages the Indians lived in earth lodges. They were made of frames of logs covered with brush and dirt. They lived in teepees. To make the teepee the women took long poles and stuck them in the ground in a circle. They leaned the poles together at the top. The poles were fastened and covered with buffalo hides. The longer poles were attached to the top corners. They were used to remove the smoke from the fire.
The women made their clothes from buffalo hides and deer skin. Boys wore nothing until the age of 10, then they began wearing breech clouts. A breech clout was a deerskin stretched between the legs and fastened to by a leather belt in the back and in the front. In cold weather the men put on robes and high boots made of buffalo hides.
The Plains Indians hunted buffalo and other game such as elk and antelope. The Indians hunted with bows and arrows even after the European traders brought guns. The Indians hunted all year long. Because the buffalo were so plentiful, the Indians hunted and were not limited in the number of buffalo they killed. The buffalo was roasted over a fire.
The Indians believed in the Great Spirit. They believed the Great Spirit had power over all things, including animals, trees, stones and clouds. The sun had great power also because it gave the earth medicine men or shaman. They were trained in healing the sick and interpreting signs and dreams.
The buffalo were very valuable to the Indians. The buffalo meat was dried and mixed with marrow and fruit. Bones were used for bowstrings.
The artists of the Plains used buffalo hides for their artwork. The hides were made into clothing, houses, beds, shields, belts, moccasins and folded envelopes.
