1. The Plains Indians

3. Life on the Plains
Other than water, buffalo was the most important resource on the plains.
Men hunted the buffalo by either shooting them with bows and arrows or steering them off of a cliff.
The hunters wore animal disguises so the buffalo wouldn’t get scared.

4. Women did not hunt.
Women skinned the buffalo, prepared them to eat, made tools from their body parts and made clothes from their skins.

6. Farmers and Hunters
Some tribes that lived on the Interior Plains were the Sioux, Pawnees and Wichitas.
They farmed and hunted deer, elk and buffalo.
These people lived in villages made up of circular houses called lodges.
The lodges could be covered in sod, grass, or animal skins.
Many people (and their pets!) lived in these lodges.

8. The Great Nomads
Many people who loved on the Great Plains were nomads. They did not live in a village or farm.
Groups such as the Crows and Cheyennes were nomads.
These people moved to follow the buffalo.
Their shelters were called tepees. Tepees are wooden poles covered with buffalo skins.
SO Plains Indians made a choice – they farmed and settled OR were nomads and followed the buffalo!