They were originally forced onto the plains by the rapid growth of the East of America in the early 1800s.
The plains were given to the Indians, and in1832 the US goverment established the pertmanent Indian frontier. The land was supposed to be protected for life; however the US goverment also hoped that by pushing the Indians onto the plains that they would no longer be an irritation to "white society"
The whires brought with them many diseeases and so threatened the Indians, they would be safer on the plains.
The plains were empty of the other people but full of buffalo, which they would use to survive.
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The Indians-The buffalo
The indians used every part of the buffalo-none was wasted (the bones were used as arrowheads and knives, the hide was used for clothes and tipi covers,the dung was used for fuel, the intestines were used as buckets.)
the hunting of the buffalo was very difficult- the Indians would have to follow the herds wherever they went.They could not kill too many at a time either, or elsethere would not be enough to sustian them.
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The Indians- Homes
The Indians did not belive you could own land- therefore being nomadic was part of their lifestyle.
The Indians lived in tipis
These were designd to withstand the extreme conditions of the plains
They were cool in the summer yet warm in the winter. They were shaped like a cone so they would not fall over in the high winds
Everything was done inside the tipi- sleeping,cooking and often the tipi would fill up with very dense smoke due to the open fires.
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The Indians- religion and lifestyle
The Indians belived in polytheim- that there is more than one god
The most famous religious ceremony was the Sun Dance- this was performed in order to get help from the spirit world.
The Sun Dance was performed in a circle- the circle was sacred to the Indians
Women were very importent- they did most of the work, including all the food preparations and keeping of the homes. The men's roles were simply to fight and hurt
They belived in polygamy-you were allowed to have more than one wife. Many men had at least 3 or 4 wives
During battle, the Indans saclped their enemise- this was belived to be romving the spirirt of his enemy so that he could not go in to the afterlife
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The Indians- problems they faced
They gradual invasion of white settlers- trailblazers and homestaders interrupted their lifestyle and that oo the buffalo
the US goverment always wanted the principke of Manifest Destiny to be invorked one day
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