Hunter Andrews

The Great Plains

Climate and Terrain

-The Great Plains stretch over a wide area of North America.

-The land to the east of the great plains consists of rain and tall grass prairies.

-The land towards the east is more dry, has shorter grass prairies and hardly any rain since it is on the leeward side of the mountains.

-The great plains weather consists of very cold winters and hot and humid summers.

Transportation

-The early plains peoples would walk from place to place while carrying what they could.

-Dogs were used to pull loads by being hitched to an A-shaped frame called a travois.

-Horses later replaced dogs after Spanish explorers arrived since they could carry more.

-Canoes, rafts and bull boats were used to cross lakes and rivers.

-In the winter, toboggans and sleds pulled by dogs and snowshoes were used.

Fact: Snowshoes were invented by aboriginal peoples and were made from wooden frames, sinew netting and leather straps.

Fact: Red river carts could float and also be used as rafts when a river had to be crossed.

-During the fur trade but before the railroad was built, Red river carts which were pulled by horses or oxen were used.

Tools and Technology

-The plains people used spears with stone points which were later replaced by bow and arrows which was more accurate and lighter than the spear.

-Decoys of ducks and geese were made to attract the birds so they could be hunted.

-Small animals such as rabbit, gophers and small birds were caught with a snare trap.

-Hammers were made from a rock, a wooden handle and skin straps and were used to crush berries and break up firewood.

-Knives and hide scrapers were made from sharp bones or stones with handles made of deer antlers or wood.

-Other tools they would use would be water bottles made from animal skins and bison stomach and hair brushes made from porcupine tails.

Music

-In some parts of the plains nasal, high pitched and frequent falsettos in monophony would be the singing you would hear along with the double sided skin drums and the end-blown flutes.

-Central plains tribes music is recognized by extreme vocal tension, pulsation, rhythmic complexity and increased frequency of scales northern tribes have smaller melodic ranges and fewer scale tones

Economy

-Before European explorers came over, the plains people would live off the land. The jobs would be separated into women’s and men’s jobs.

-After explorers arrived, the economy changed quite a bit as the fur trade began and the natives joined because the explorers brought over material goods that the natives would need to survive

-During and after the first world war some natives went to work in the oil or other mineral resources industry and more traditional economic enterprises.

-Women from the Cheyenne tribe continued to make moccasins for natives as well as non-natives.

-Wheat and potato harvesting and cattle ranching were also jobs plains people would have at this time.

System of Government

-Within each nomadic group, there is a band chief who was supported by the group only if his band could catch enough game for food and were protected from enemies.

-Public shame was the form of discipline.

-Sometimes groups would split off into smaller groups when food was scarce.

-The leaders could have different duties or certain powers like being the keeper of the staff, knife or whip.

http://vimeo.com/107083388

http://www.aitc.sk.ca/saskschools/firstnations/travel.html

http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_plains6.html

http://www.aitc.sk.ca/saskschools/firstnations/tools.html

http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.na.001

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Native_American_music#Plains

http://www.warpaths2peacepipes.com

Bibliography