The Plains Indians



The Plains Indians

Introduction

The majority of the Plains Indians emigrated from the tribes of the Southeast and western Woodlands. Their new habitat, the Plains, was a short-grass and treeless region lying between the Mississippi River and the Rocky Mountains. The Plains Indians remained alone in this area until the early 1700s when French fur traders made the first contact

In 1805, Lewis and Clark crossed this area on their way to the Pacific coast. Their reports opened the door for the thousands of Whites who were to follow. The government negotiated with the Indians for land and safe passage, but for the most part the resulting treaties were not worth the paper they were written on.

When the tribes realized the “noble documents” were scraps of paper of little value, trouble arose. By 1851, relations were so bad a general peace council was convened at Ft. Laramie. The Whites broke this agreement too. In the 1870s, White troops began the war against the Indians and pursued the “savages of the Plains” without mercy. By the mid 80s, all Plains tribes had been hunted down, put on reservations or driven into Canada.

Facts about Their Culture

Population: The following figures are based on studies made by the Bureau of American Ethnology. They show tribal population at their peak, before White influence affected them.

|Blackfoot |15,000 (1780) |Hidatsa |2,500 (1780) |

|Cheyenne |3,500 (1780) |Dakota (Sioux) |25,000 (1780) |

|Arapaho |3,000 (1780) |Assiniboin |10,000 (1780) |

|Gros Ventre |3,000 (1780) |Iowa |1,100 (1760) |

|Plains Cree |4,000 (1835) |Omaha |2,800 (1780) |

|Crow |4,000 (1780) |Osage |6,200 (1780) |

|Pawnee |10,000 (1780) |Kansa |3,300 (1780) |

|Arikara |3,800 (1780) |Shoshone |1,500 (1820) |

|Wichita |3,200 (1780) |Comanche |7,000 (1690) |

|Kiowa |2,000 (1780) |Ute |4,500 (1845) |

|Mandan |3,600 (1780) |Apache |1,100 |

| | |Nez Perce |4,000 (1780) |

(The Plains tribes were nomadic; but their size prevented them from moving as one. Thus, they subdivided “and pursued their similar ways within prescribed boundaries.” All the bands would reassemble for the fall and spring buffalo hunts, and the annual summer games and Sun Dance.)

Physical Characteristics: The Plains Indian did not have red skin, Indian color was actually white, but exposure to the sun colored them brown. The “red man” designation was due to the fact that vermilion, a sacred color, was used by most Indians to paint their bodies and faces. Their size ranged from an average of six feet for the northern tribes, to the shorter and stockier build of the southern tribes. No Plains Indian suffered from baldness. Their hair was straight and black, and usually parted in the middle and braided on each side. Body hair was almost non existent. Eyebrows and lashes were sparse and thin. Facial characteristics could indicate to a careful observer the area an Indian came from.

Personal Qualities: Anyone who considered the Plains Indians savages failed to comprehend the principal influences on Indian life. Indians were, for example, scrupulously honest in their relationships with other tribal members. Theft was almost unknown. Hospitality and charity were always evident. Pride was felt not only as a tribal member, but for being born an Indian. Friendships often lasted a lifetime. Etiquette, a common practice, was instilled in the very young. Whites had the notion that Indians were stoical and sullen. This was true during the war and reservation periods, but under normal conditions they were the opposite. “In his own camp, away from strangers, the Indian is a noisy, jolly, rollicking, mischief-loving braggadocio, brimful of practical jokes and rough fun of any kind, making the welkin ring with his laughter and rousing the midnight echoes by song and dance, whoops and yells.”

Cleanliness: As a rule, Plains Indians observed strict rules of cleanliness. Tribes located near rivers or lakes bathed at least once a day, summer and winter. Sweat lodges were widely used. Many tribes required purification by sweating before allowing individuals to take part in important ceremonies.

Health: Indians suffered no plague-type diseases or mental illness prior to contact with the whites. Health was a priority and indulgences frowned on. (Tobacco was used during solemn occasions or religious ceremonies.) Buffalo meat supplemented by wild berries, chokecherries, and turnips was the staple of their diet. Fish eating among the tribes was not wide spread. (Regular fasting was a common practice.) Physical training included swimming and long-distance running (125 miles was not uncommon.)

Medicine: Plains doctors had limited knowledge of the human body. Medical techniques included sweating, bleeding, cupping, massage, smoking, and suction. Medicine men believed that sickness was caused by a foreign object that had penetrated the body. They liked to show the patient that during treatment they had extracted something (usually by suction). (“A Crow named Bull-all-the-time cured several patients by sucking the afflicted parts with a pipestem and pulling out, respectively, a bone, a black beetle, or morsel of meat….”) Indian medicine obviously used sleight-of-hand, but it had a fairly extensive knowledge of the use of herbs. (Blackfoot Indians used at least 34 herbs to treat ailments like snow blindness, stomach trouble, colds, etc.) The Indian herbalist obtained knowledge about herbs by trailing sick animals to see what they ate.

Bison: Animals, particularly the buffalo herds, dominated and interrelated with the Plains culture. The Bison were indispensable. The buffalo hunt besides supplying almost everything the Indians needed, provided “an ideal training ground for military duty on horseback.” Unfortunately, the vast herds (estimated at more than 60 million head) were decimated during the great Indian wars of the late 19th century. (“Every buffalo dead is an Indian gone,” calculated Gen. Philip Sheridan.) Professional hunters like “Buffalo Bill” Cody continued the slaughter until by 1899 fewer than 1,500 bison were left. (Today there are more than 20,000.)

Dwellings: The tipi (Dakota word) was the Plains Indians mobile home that could be set up in 15 minutes and taken down in three. (An entire camp could be packed and moved in 20 minutes.) Mobility was important because the Indians survived by following the buffalo herds (and often moved 10-15 miles every few days). Tipis averaged 14 feet high, and had a ground diameter of 14 feet. It was covered with buffalo skins which allowed a pleasing light to pass into the interior. Plains tipis could be heated and vented. The entrance usually faced east. The place of honor was in the rear. Earth lodges were used by semi sedentary Indians. It is a circular, dome-shaped structure (covered with earth) that could accommodate forty or more people. The construction of such houses was usually a communal enterprise.

Sign Language: The Plains was an area where many languages were spoken. It was important to the Indians that one language be understood by all tribes; and sign language was the medium through which who spoke different languages could converse fluently, “even better than they could have with words.” “To illustrate the system, COLD was indicated by clenching both hands and crossing the forearms in front of the chest with a trembling motion., CHIEF was represented by the forefinger, pointing it vertically upward, then reversing the finger and bringing it down. For RAIN or SNOW the gesture was to hold the hands at the level of the shoulders m the fingers hanging down, the palm down, and then to push downward.”

Clothing: Before the trade with the Whites began, Plains clothing was made entirely of deer or sheep skin, knee-high leggings, and moccasins. The men wore a breechclout (a piece of buckskin five to eight feet in length), moccasins, and leggings if the weather was cold or while riding. A shirt was worn in winter and occasionally during the summer to prevent sunburn. Males wore a buffalo robe when it was necessary to be properly dressed. Indian footwear was shaped and designed differently by each tribe. An Indian scout could look at tracks and easily tell which tribe a man was from. (Captured moccasins were sometimes worn by warriors to deceive the enemy.)

Marriage and the Family: Plains Indians followed the usual double standard of civilized societies in their customs regarding sex. Feminine chastity was prized and young women were carefully watched by the elders. Young men, however, were expected to philander. There were no formal wedding services; usually an exchange of gifts between the two families of a payment by the groom’s family was all that was necessary. (Indian marriages were mostly monogamous, but polygamy was permitted because warfare created a surplus of marriageable women.) Marriages could be dissolved easily, and often were. “But a faithful, industrious woman was not likely to be deserted.” (A wife did not hesitate to interrupt and correct her husband.) A primitive division of labor existed in all marriages. Women did all the “menial” work while the husband hunted, made weapons, cleared plots, etc. Women, nonetheless, were highly esteemed, respected, and sometimes appointed to the tribal councils.

The Indian family usually consisted of one to three children spaced 3-5 years apart. Almost all Indians had a generic love for children and lavished a great deal of affection on them. They were catered to and indulged, and discipline as we know it was almost non-existent. Children were never whipped or roughly handled. Children were not permitted to cry because crying could endanger the safety of the tribe. Otherwise, children were asked, never told what to do. Entertaining lectures about responsibilities began at a very early age. Children were always reasoned with until they were able to realize their mistakes. Mothers sang instructive lullabies which often included history, ethics, etiquette, pride, spirituality, respect for elders, and conformance to tribal ways. Older children who misbehaved were subjected to “culture frighteners” (owls, medicine man, White man, etc.), or publicly scorned. At age 11, boys were introduced to more mature training, They were encouraged to go without food and waster, take long runs, develop the ability to tolerate pain, stay awake and alert for hours, and learn how to “look closely to everything.” Religion, ethics, heritage and warfare were included in an education that has been described as “the alphabet and calculations of the wilderness.”

Music: Singing and dancing were not indulged in for amusement or exercise. They were expressions of the serious side of Indian life; like the celebration of planting and harvesting, hunting, mourning, peace or victory. Every song and dance was about a moment in their lives. (Most were short and were repeated over and over.) Through their songs they gave thanks to the supernatural powers that influenced their lives. Music was provided by the dancers who sang or played instruments while dancing. (Sometimes a chorus or orchestra playing rattles, whistles, flutes, and drums provided the music.) The Plains Indians used music to accomplish “transformation within himself so that he could bring this person into accord with the Spirit, with the Universe, and with his fellow man.”

Religion: “In the life of the Plains Indians there was only one inevitable duty—the duty of prayer, the daily recognition of the Unseen and Eternal.” Every new day came as a holy event. Indians felt that to be successful they needed “the help of the force which ruled nature.” The Plains Indians were acquainted with the natural forces, but they were ignorant of their origin and fearful of the causes. They could not conceive of nature as a scientist does. In their minds winter, for example, was caused by the Cold Maker or Winter Man. Thunder was caused by the wings of the Thunder Bird. Supernaturalism (the beliefs and practices involving power beyond that of mortal beings) pervaded every aspect of Indian life. Everything mysterious was considered holy. While sharing a universal belief in immortality of the soul, the Plains Indians expressed no particular concern about rewards and punishment after death. They had “no elaborate picture of posthumous existence,” because their understanding about a future life was vague. Plains Indians believed in a future life where the dead lived very much as they had while alive. The “Other-Side-Land” was simply a “happy hunting ground.” This hazy view was explained by their acceptance of the fact that a finite being cannot understand much about an infinite being or place. “The individual who insists upon comprehending the Gods before he will accept them inevitably defeats his own purposes and hopes.”

Government and Law: As a rule, the Plains culture did not tolerate autocratic chiefs, oligarchy or monarchy. The term “chief” was generally an honorific title involving very little authority. (A chief’s job was frequently a thankless task involving him in consultation rather than decision making.) Tribal power was exercised only when the scattered bands assembled for a festival of the collective buffalo hunt. Some tribes had a head chief and many lesser chiefs representing the tribe’s scattered small bands. Sometimes a council of chiefs was organized. This council (made up of leaders from each band) made all important decisions for the tribe.

The power of Indian law resided in public opinion. Indians were very sensitive to gossip that affected them socially; and very few recalcitrant individuals could stand the mortification of being publicly ridiculed. Id it was necessary, Indian police could flog an offender, destroy his tipi and confiscate his possessions. Execution was extremely rare.

Weapons and War: The bow and arrow was the Plains Indians natural weapon. It averaged 35 to 48 inches in length and took almost a month to make. An Indian’s quiver held about 20 one ounce arrows that were equipped with either a long tapering hunting blade or barbs (war arrows) that resisted being pulled out. (“To remove the war arrowhead, the victim had to suffer the excruciating pain of having the head either cut out of pushed through his body.”) During an attack it was common for an Indian to increase his rate of fire by holding five arrows in his bow hand and two in his mouth,

Guns were first furnished to the Plains Indian by White traders during the 17th century. By the late 1800’s most warriors had guns. (Plains Indians preferred their bow to the gun until the Winchester carbine appeared in 1873. The Indians loved this weapon.)

Prior to the start of the horse period (1700s), each Indian nation lived on relatively good terms with its neighbor. They did not practice war like civilized countries, maintain standing armies, fight prolonged war, or attempt to take land away from a neighbor. The usual military adventure involved only a few warriors from each side bent on revenge, horse stealing, or glory. War parties rarely attacked an enemy village with the intent to destroy or appropriate property (except horses). Indians considered it essential “that a party return without the loss of a man. To incur losses for strategic ends was wholly repulsive to Indian ideas.” Battle casualties were usually light because coup (touching the enemy with a hand or special stick) was considered a deed of merit that “outranked the killing of a man.” War was taken more seriously after the Whites encouraged the tribes to attack each other.

Indians were individualists, and “perhaps it is fortunate for the White army that most battles by far were fought as combined efforts of small groups of individuals; each man fighting his supernatural patron as he pleased, for the Plains Indians constituted the best light cavalryman the world has ever known, and had they united against our soldiers and settlers the result could have been an incredible disaster for the Whites.”

Retyped from Documentary Photo Aids, Inc. P.O. Box Mount Dora, Florida 32757

RECOMMENDED READING: Mails, Thomas E. THE MYSTIC WARRIORS OF THE PLAINS. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1972.

Lowie, Robert H. INDIANS OF THE PLAINS. New York: The Natural History Press, 1963.

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