1. The People of the Plains
By Deepak Bains

2. Location
From The Rocky Mountains to the woodlands of the Southeast Manitoba, a lot of the native people of the plains spanned the Southern provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. They all say that their people have been there for at least 1000 years.

3. Environment
To the East, high grass covers the prairies. And to the West, sage, cacti and short grasses.
The Weather extremes are : In cold weather -40 degrees Celsius, and in hot summers 35 degrees Celsius.
Forests and foothills are scattered at the base of the Rocky Mountains, rivers and along hills and rivers.(ex. Assiniboine, Red river , Saskatchewan river and streams.
There are also larger herds of Buffalo, Bears, Antelope, Deer, Cougars, and Coyotes. And then Smaller animals like Rabbits, Eagles, Prairie dogs, ducks, etc.

4. Clothing The Clothing that the people of the plains wore was:
The men wore long shirts, breechcloths, long leggings and moccasins.
The Women wore long dresses, short leggings (that were knee high) and moccasins.
The dresses and shirts were made of hide that draped over the shoulders, and the sides of the shirts were sewn on together with sinew or a type of leather strips. There were different types of moccasins for different tribes. Majority of moccasins were made out of Moose hide or Buffalo hide. Buffalo hide was strong and more solid than Moose hide. To make the moccasins more waterproof/Durable they smoked the hide over a fire.

5. Food
The People of the Plains were blessed with the amount of Buffalo they had to eat/use. Buffalo was by far the main meat/food resource that they had. The meat of the Buffalo was often cooked, dried and then made into various types of soups. The People of the Plains (mainly the women) had berries as food. The berries were fresh and cleaned and then served amongst the Women, Kids and Men. The other type of meat that was hunted was Deer, Moose, Elk, Prairie chickens, gophers, rabbits, lynx, coyotes and Wolves. The Cree and Ojibwa people often fished for some of their food. The vegetable that was most common was The Indian Turnip which was a common vegetable.

6. Shelter
Majority of the shelter for the People of the Plains was the Tipi.
A tall cone like structure made from different types of hide, the tipi’s were also weather handy and waterproof. The Tipi was amazing, it was hot in the winter and cool in the summer. In the Tipi the head of the family( usually the male) would sit on the opposite side of the tipi door flap. The Pine tipi poles used to make the tipi’s were very precious because the wood that was used was Scarce and there wasn’t many of those trees in the Plains. (Interesting fact the Women made, owned and erected the tipi’s.

7. Technology
There are some very important/useful/essential tools that the People of the Plains used like the:
Warrior Shield(Which was made out of toughened hide and painted with personal symbol: A warriors scared possession.)
The Tomahawk and Pipe Tomahawk(Used as a weapon or piece offering.)
Arrows(These small tools were smaller than spears and they penetrated skin when they were fired from an arrow. Great strength was needed for arrow use.)
Coup Stick- To prove your bravery, a warrior would use this long slender stick to interact or hit an enemy in battle.

8. Bibliography http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com
En.wikipedia.org
The Great Plains Indians By Mery Englar
Aboriginal Peoples in Canada By Diane Silvey
Crossroads Ch.7