Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains

Table of Contents

Introduction & Top Questions
Traditional culture
- Linguistic organization
- The role of the horse in Plains life
  - Plains life before the horse
  - Plains life after the horse
- Settlement patterns and housing
- Material culture and trade
- Political organization
- Kinship and family
- Socialization and education
- Social rank and warfare
- Belief systems
Cultural continuity and change
- Intercultural contact
- The Plains Wars
- Syncretism, assimilation, and self-determination
- Sovereignty, economic development, and cultural revitalization

References & Edit History Quick Facts & Related Topics

Images

Distribution of Indigenous peoples of the North American Plains

Dramatizing the West

Traditional performance

George Catlin: Buffalo Hunt, Chase

Clovis culture spear point

Mandan: village

Adapting traditional travel

Buffalo on the Plains

George Catlin: A Little Sioux Village

For Students

Pawnee scouts

Plains Indian summary

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Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains: Facts & Related Content

Written and fact-checked by The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	Plains Indians • North American Plains Indian

Photos

Distribution of Indigenous peoples of the North American Plains

Dramatizing the West

Traditional performance

George Catlin: Buffalo Hunt, Chase

Clovis culture spear point

Mandan: village

Adapting traditional travel

Buffalo on the Plains

George Catlin: A Little Sioux Village

See All Images →

Topics

Teton Hunkpapa Oglala Lakota Standing Rock Penateka Plains Cree Oceti Sakowin Blackfoot Cheyenne Mandan Indigenous peoples of the American Southeast Northwest Coast Indian Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest Northeast Indian Plateau Indian American Subarctic peoples Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin Indigenous peoples of California Eastern Woodlands Indians Inuit

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Key People

Robert H. Lowie

American anthropologist

Maximilian, prince zu Wied-Neuwied

German naturalist and explorer

George A. Dorsey

American anthropologist

Quiz

Tecumseh. Battle of the Thames, Ontario, Canada, and the death of Tecumseh. Col. Richard M. Johnson with the Kentucky volunteers on left battle with Tecumseh and his Native troops. Native American Shawnee chief. North American indian. (See Notes)

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Eskimo. Three members of a Noatak family pose for a portrait in full regalia. Photo by Edward S. Curtis (1868-1952), c.1929. Eskimos or esquimaux indigenous peoples, traditionally inhabited circumpolar region (see notes)

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