The American Plains Indians are among the best known of all Native Americans. These played a significant role in shaping the history of the West. Some of the more noteworthy Plains Indians were Big Foot, Black Kettle, Crazy Horse, Red Cloud, Sitting Bull, and Spotted Tail.
Big Foot.
Big Foot (? 1825-1890) was also known as Spotted Elk. Born in the northern Great Plains, he eventually became a Minneconjou Teton Sioux chief. He was part of a tribal delegation that traveled to Washington, D.C., and worked to establish schools throughout the Sioux Territory. He was one of those massacred at Wounded Knee in December 1890 (Bowman, 1995, 63).
Black Kettle.
Black kettle (? 1803-1890) was born near the Black Hills in present-day South Dakota. He was recognized as a southern Cheyenne peace chief for his efforts to bring peace to the region. However, his attempts at accommodation were not successful and his band was massacred at Sand Creek in 1864. Even though he continued to seek peace, he was killed with the remainder of his tribe in the Washita Valley of Oklahoma in 1868. (Bowman, 1995, 67).
Crazy Horse.
Crazy Horse (? 1842-1877) was also born near the Black Hills. His father was a medicine man; his mother was the sister of Spotted Tail. He was recognized as a skilled hunter and fighter. Crazy Horse believed he was immune from battle injury and took part in all the major Sioux battles to protect the Black Hills against white intrusion. He was named supreme war and chief of the Oglalas in 1876 and led the Sioux and Cheyenne to victory at the battle of Rosebud in January that year.
Perhaps he is most remembered for leading the Sioux and Cheyenne in the battle of the Little Bighorn, where his warriors defeated Custer's forces. Crazy horse is regarded as the greatest leader of the Sioux and a symbol of their heroic resistance. (Bowman, 1995, 160-161).
Red Cloud.
Red Cloud (1822-1909) was born near the Platte River in present "day Nebraska.
The Plains Indians diet was mostly meat. ... Soup was a favorite food of the plains Indians. to make soup meat , bones, and water were put into a clean animal stomach or blabber. ... Most of the Great Plains Indian tribes did not plant crops. ... The Plains Indians called corn, beans, and squash "The Three Sisters." ... The Buffalo was a necessity for the plains Indians. ...
The Sioux Indians were an important alliance in North America, but mostly in South Dakota. ... The Ojibwa people, who were their rivals, forced the Sioux to move to the buffalo ranges of the Great Plains. ... By 1750 the Sioux had about 30,000 people living in the northern Great Plains. ... The Sioux were known for being one of the best-dressed tribes of the Great Plains. ... The Sioux Indians lived in teepees and were hunters. ...
The life of a plain Indian was one of simplicity and routine. As with most other Native Americans, plain Indians were very resourceful and were "one with their land." ... Once peaceful plain Indians but later turned rebellious due to the white man's destruction of what these Indians believed was sacred. ... Buffalo, the main source the plain Indian depended on. ... Another clash that came between the plain Indians and the white folk was a fight over the Bozeman Trail. ...
The life of a plain Indian was one of simplicity and routine. As with most other Native Americans, plain Indians were very resourceful and were "one with their land." ... Once peaceful plain Indians but later turned rebellious due to the white man's destruction of what these Indians believed was sacred. ... Buffalo, the main source the plain Indian depended on. ... Another clash that came between the plain Indians and the white folk was a fight over the Bozeman Trail. ...
Many Natives traveled to The Great Plains and many migrated to the Northeast. ... Indians were know to become one with the Earth and its surroundings. ... The Indians from the Great Plains area relied on the buffalo for everyday survival. ... In any area, the Indians" culture was the way to stay strong as people. ... In the Northeast, many Indians were doctors, warriors, or agriculturalists. ...
After 1825 the federal government attempted to remove all eastern Indians to the Great Plains area of the Far West. The Cherokee Indians of northwestern Georgia, to protect themselves from removal, made up a constitution which said that the Cherokee Indians were sovereign and not subject to the laws of Georgia. ... Andrew Jackson's decision to remove the Cherokee Indians to lands west of the Mississippi River was a reformulation because it continued Washington's, Monroe's, and Jefferson's administration to acquire Indian land. ... According to Document A, the map shows the ...
The Contested Plains, by Elliot West, didn"t read much like a story about Colorado, instead it read more like a biography. ... The hardships that plains people came across just amazes how they got through them. ... It was not unusual to come in contact with an Indian that wouldn"t mind having you dead. ... White people believed all Indians were untrusting savages, and the Indians believed that all white people were untrusting and greedy. ... The Indians were dealing with their own movement 100 years earlier than the Black movement in the 1960's. ...
These places consisted of the Northwest Coast, the Plains, the Plateau, the Eastern Woodlands, and the Northern and Southwest. ... Another group of Indians called the Pueblo Indians are Indians who live in stone or adobe, dried clay, houses. ... The Indians in the Eastern Woodland Culture lived east of the Plains Indians. ... The Iroquois Indians were actually a "nation" of Indians made up of 5 tribes. ... Many Indians died along the way, especially older Indians and children. ...
This land was also the home of the North American plains Indians, whose lives were centered upon the buffalo of North America. ... One of the major effects of the decreasing buffalo population was the effect on the plains Indians of North America. The plains Indians did not just depend on the buffalo for a source of food. ... The fate of the plains Indians of North America was unchangeable. ... The land of the buffalo had to be used and because the plains Indians depended on these buffalo they suffered the same fate as the great herds of buffalos. ...
