Plains Indian

Member of any of the American Indian peoples of the Great Plains, a region of North America extending over 3,000 km/2,000 mi from Alberta, Canada, to Texas, USA. The Plains Indians were drawn from diverse linguistic stocks fringing the Plains. They shared many cultural traits, especially the nomadic hunting of the North American buffalo (bison) herds after horses became available early in the 18th century. The Plains Indians provide the traditional image of American Indians as war-painted warrior-horseriders, living in conical tepees, and dressing in buffalo robes and eagle-feather bonnets. The various peoples include the Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Comanche, Pawnee, and the Sioux or Lakota.

The lifestyle of the indigenous Plains Indians was adopted by many other tribes who later migrated to the region. Wealth and prestige could be gained through bravery in warfare and by achieving such feats as touching an enemy in battle or stealing their tethered horses. Individualism was encouraged and most Plains tribes had military societies to channel aggressiveness. Common beliefs included that of the ‘thunderbird’ creator of the storms of the Great Plains. Visions played an important role in their religion, and Plains Indians also had shamans, or medicine men, who performed healing rituals. Their chief ritual was the sun dance at summer solstice. The warriors of some peoples practised gruelling torture tests in return for supernatural assistance; the Mandan, for example, hung themselves from pegs skewered under the skin.

The nomadic hunting lifestyle of the Plains Indians came to an end with the disappearance of the buffalo at the end of the 19th century through overhunting by white hunters. Social hierarchies, which had been based on hunting prowess, collapsed, and pressure from encroaching white settlement resulted in the Indians' removal to reservations. Many now raise cattle, avoiding cultivation which was traditionally perceived as women's work.