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Daily Life in Olden Times

The Plains People
For Kids & Teachers K-12

Why was the buffalo so important? What different did horses make? Why did the Plains people prefer tipis to houses? What were pictographs? Can you decode an ancient message? Read an ancient myth about Clever Coyote. Welcome to the Plains People in Olden Times. Use the Short Cut Menu to find just what you need.

The Plains People

Great Plains Region	The Horse	Names
Principal Tribes	The Buffalo	Stories/Myths
Pawnee	Tepees (Tipis)	Medicine Wheel
Blackfoot	Pictographs	Links for Kids
Cheyenne	Quilling/Painting	Lessons/Activities
Comanche	Maize	Resources
Sioux Daily Life	Coup Counting	Free Clip Art

Great Plains Region
Bounded on the west by the Rocky Mountains, and running south to the Rio Grande.
Dakotas, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, and parts of Texas

The Horse

Most Plains people were not farmers. They were hunters and gatherers. The women took care of the children, made the clothes, and gathered wild vegetables. For most of the year, the men wandered the prairies in search of food. The men traveled great distances and hunted on foot. When they killed game, they cooked and dried food wherever they were, and carried home as much as they could on foot, dragging food behind them piled on buffalo skin. The coming of the horse changed their life considerably.
Horses are not native to the United States. When the Spanish arrived in the New World, they brought horses with them. Some of those horses escaped. Some found their way into the Great Plains. When the Plains People first saw horses, they called them mystery dogs. These early people were smart and adventurous. It did not take them long to realize that if they could catch a horse, they could ride a horse. It might have started as a game, but it soon became a way of life.
The Plains People could travel many miles in one day on horseback. They could hunt more effectively. They could haul skins and food home more easily, and in bigger quantities as horses could drag large loads.
Soon, each family had ample skins to make much larger teepees. They happily moved out of earth homes made of mud, and into huge tepees made of wood poles covered with buffalo skins. They loaded their families, their goods, and themselves on horseback, and followed the buffalo.

The Buffalo

Tricks to Catch Buffalo: The Plains People had many ways to catch buffalo. In the old days, before the horse, they tricked buffalo into running off cliffs. Another way they tricked buffalo was to have some of the men dress up in buffalo skins and make crying sounds, like lost baby buffalo. When a real buffalo left the herd, and hurried to save what she or he thought was a baby buffalo in trouble, the People would kill the animal with spears and arrows. These ideas worked, but they were not nearly as successful as hunting on horseback.
Killing a Buffalo: In the Sioux culture, a boy could hunt his first buffalo at age 10. To a young boy, a single buffalo stands six feet tall, and weighs about as much as 10 people. Buffalo do not see well, but they run really fast. Can you imagine how a boy might feel, getting ready for his first kill? He would be riding a pony. All around him, men would be yelling to get the buffalo to run. Each would have picked out one buffalo to kill. With his boy and arrow, in the midst of all this racket and danger, a ten year old boy was expected to attempt a kill. There was no dishonor attached if he was not successful, but he had to try. The buffalo provided nearly everything the Plains people needed.
Using All Parts: When the Plains people killed a buffalo, they used every part of it. Nothing was wasted. They used the hide for tepee coverings, bedding, clothes, moccasins, and robes. The buffalo hair was used for rope and halters. The hoofs were used for rattles. The horns were used to make dishes and spoons and ladles. From various parts, they made whips, saddle pads, glues, toys, drums, belts, stirrups, shields, knife cases, boats, thread, and of course - FOOD.
The Buffalo was a major resource: In 1865, Chief Kicking Bear of the Kiowas explained, "The buffalo is our money. It is our only resource with which to buy what we need and do not receive from the government. The robes we can prepare and trade. We love them just as the white man does his money. Just as it makes a white man's heart feel to have his money carried away, so it makes us feel to see others killing and stealing our cattle given to us by the Great Father above to provide us meat to eat and means to get things to wear."
Comanche Buffalo Myth: Go here to read a Comanche Buffalo Myth called The Clever Coyote

Tracking the Buffalo (Plains Indians)

The Tepee

A tepee (tipi, teepee) is a Plains Indian home. It is made of buffalo hide fastened around very long wooden poles, designed in a cone shape. Tepees were warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Some were quite large. They could hold 30 or 40 people comfortably.
Tepee Poles: The 15-foot poles were sometimes hard to find. Some people became really good at making sturdy poles. They used them for trade. A typical trade would be one horse for five poles.
The Rising Sun: A tepee used a hide flap as a doorway. Weather permitting, the entrance faced east, towards the rising sun. If the weather was miserable or a storm was brewing, the people positioned the flap opening in whatever way would best serve the comfort of the occupants. Sometimes, the people arranged their tepees in a circle, with all the opening flaps facing the center open space created by the circle of tepees. The younger kids could play in this open space, under the watchful eyes of their mothers.
It was up to the women where to place a tepee. The tepee was their castle, and they were in charge of anything to do with it , including building it, erecting it, breaking it down for transports. She was in charge of behavior inside the tepee. If she said, "Go to sleep," everyone had to go to sleep or leave the tepee. She was in charge inside the tepee. It was her tepee.
Painted Skins: Men were in charge of the outside of the tepee. It was up to them to bring back the skins necessary to cover the poles. It was up to them to either bring back horses or hides to trade for poles, or to make the poles themselves. The men often painted the outside of the tepee they called home. The painting was often symbolic of their achievements. Each tribe had their own style.
Inside the Tepee: There was a small fire in the center for cooking and for warmth when needed. Tepees had an open space at the top, a little off center, to let the smoke out. When it rained or snowed, the men were sent outside to wrap an extra piece of hide around the top of the tepee. The men always left a little room for the smoke to get out. The Plains people used little furniture. They slept on buffalo skins on the floor of their homes.
Tepee Etiquette: If the entrance flap was open, it was an invitation to enter. If the flap was closed, you needed to announce yourself and wait for an invitation to enter a tepee, even if you lived there. A guest always sat to the left of the head of the family, who always sat the farthest from the door flap. These were rules that everyone knew and everyone followed.

Pictographs

The Plains people did not have a written language of words and letters. They used pictures and symbols.
Pictures: They wrote on rocks, cave walls, and on scraps of buffalo hide. These pictographs told stories of their battles, heroes, and daily life. They also acted as warnings. There is a story about a Plains family who saw a picture sign by the side of a creek. This picture clearly told of an enemy camp just ahead. The family could tell that the writing was recent. There had been little wear to the message, and the weather had been wet. They quickly turned and took another route.
Smoke Signals: Smoke signals were another form of communication. The plains are flat. You could see a smoke signal for miles. By changing the puffs of smoke from short to long, they could send a message. Sometimes the message was one of warning. Some were simple messages like, "Come on home. It's time for supper!"
Fire Signals: Fire signals were used at night. These were motion signals made by running in front a fire, or running around it. Indian scouts could read these messages easily. One of the uses for fire signals was to tell other tribes of danger. Running around the fire meant "go away, get out of here."
Blanket Signals: Warriors used blankets to communicate to someone who could see them, but might not hear them. A wildly waving blanket told of danger. It gave the tribe a few precious extra minutes to get ready for an attack.
Mirror Signs: The Plains people did not invent the mirror. The white man brought the mirror with him. The Plains people put mirrors to good use. They traded for them with traders who might have thought the Plains people wanted to see themselves in a mirror. Not even close. They wanted mirrors to use to send signals in the daytime - signals that could be seen for miles - streaks of reflected sunlight, which could be read as easily as puffs of smoke. The mirror was instantly portable. They could send a signal on horseback, and be miles away in no time.

This is a pictograph.
What story do these symbols tell?

Go here for the answer

Maize (Corn)

Farmers: Not all Plains people stayed on the move. Some preferred to settle down and grow crops. Many thousands of years ago, the Pawnees and the Apaches planted corn, beans, squash, melons, and tobacco.
Earth Lodges: They lived in round earth lodges. These earth lodges were huge things. Some were 40 feet in diameter and about 15 feet high. They were made of framework of poles, covered with earth. They were warm in the winter and cool in the summer. Since these were fixed structures, the doorway did face east. The men hunted for food. But they also farmed.
Corn: Corn was the most important crop they grew because it could be stored. Farmers stored surplus maize (corn) in underground storage rooms. These rooms were lined with grass to prevent mildew or spoiling. Corn could be made into many things like corn bread, corn flour, corn fritters, corn pudding and other food items.
Festivals: The tribes were very grateful for the food they grew. They had two huge ceremonies each year to thank the gods - one when they planted, and one when they harvested the crops.

Fine Arts

Beading / Painting / Carving

The Plains people were marvelous artists.
Pipes: They carved pipes out of wood. Some were beautifully decorated.
Painting: They made paints and natural dyes using berry juice and other plants in nature. Most paintings were action scenes - scenes of battle, of hunts, of warriors riding horses and warriors shooting bows and arrows. They often painted their weapons.
Porcupine Quills: The Plains People wove geometric designs (squares, triangles, diamonds) into their clothing, moccasins, and other personal goods. They did not use beads. They used porcupine quills. They used quill pieces as small as one eight of an inch (1/8") and as large as 5" to create these designs. They used natural dyes, so their colors were tan, dull white, bright red, vivid yellow, and black. Their stitching was so perfect and tiny that the end result looked like beadwork.
Beads and Barter: Quillwork spread from the Woodland People to the Plains People. The People were eager to trade pelts for beads. The white man's beads came in many colors and were much easier to use than porcupine quills.
Unlike the Woodland Islands, where men did the beadwork, in the Plains, women did the beadwork. The women were proud of their work. The men wore their clothes with pride. Their women might add 5 or 6 pounds of beads to a garment that was already heavy because it was made from animal hide.

Coup Counting

Point Count: In olden times, in the plains, warfare developed into almost a game. There was a point system for various acts of bravery. A warrior received the most points for touching a live enemy in combat. The next highest point award was for touching a live enemy with a bow. There was a higher point count awarded for spearing an enemy than for killing him with an arrow. This system was called counting coup. Warriors each kept their own count. They were believed. Lying was part of their culture.
Feathers and Face Painting: The award for a coup was to be able to paint your face in certain ways, and to wear certain feathers. When you prepared for war, you wore your war feathers and war paint. This told all the warriors what honors you held.
Becoming an "ace": If you had four or more coups, you were an ace. You could then hold a position of leadership in your tribe. Leadership was not hereditary. You had to earn the right to lead as a reward for personal achievement.
Other Way to Earn Coups: There were other ways to earn a coup. One way was to steal a horse from another tribe. You received more points if you stole a horse that was tied a tepee than if you stole a horse held in an open field. If you were caught trying to steal a horse, the people from whom you were stealing would kill you. This was understood. The more risk, the more points. You could also earn coups with acts of bravery and achievement when hunting buffalo and other large game.
Pictorial Records: Warriors were proud of their coups. They would paint a pictorial record of their achievements on the sides of their tepees, and occasionally on the bare side of their buffalo robe.

Names

Names were valuable property. The Plains Indians believed that some names possessed magical powers. Names could be sold, given away, or discarded at will. A boy usually took a new name when he reached manhood. A girl typically kept her name all her life. She did not change her name in any way when she married.
When the early settlers translated Native names into English, they made many mistakes. The Plains people, and other tribes across the country, often found this quite funny. They would use the wrong names in their war preparation ceremonies, not to ridicule the owner of the name, but to ridicule their enemy.
Sitting Bull, for example, the great Sioux leader, had his name translated as "Sitting Bull", because the picture of his name, the hieroglyph, looked like a bull that was sitting to the early pioneers. But his name was not Sitting Bull. It was "The Bull in Possession", which has quite a different meaning.
Another example concerns a young Dakota Sioux warrior. His name was translated as "Young Man Afraid of His Horses." Actually, his name was "Young Man Whose Very Horses Are Feared". He was an incredible warrior, with many feathers.

Some Principal Tribes of the Plains people

Arapaho, Arikara, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Gros Ventre,
Iowa, Kansas, Kiowa, Lakota, Mandan, Omaha, Osage, Oto, Pawnee,
Ponca, Sioux (Dakota), Wichita

A Quick Look

What was life like in olden times in what is now the Great Plains region of the United States?

There were many different Plains people. Some wandered the plains in search of foods. Others settled down and grew crops. They spoke different languages. Tribes communicated with hand signals, smoke signals, mirror signals, and pictographs.
The Pawnee: The Pawnee loved the stars. There was no ceremony that did not have some connection with the stars. They are also credited with being the best scouts on the Plains. Their young warriors could make a call that sounded exactly like a wolf. Their scouts seemed to almost have the power to be invisible. Be it day or night, it was rare a Pawnee scout was spotted.

The Blackfoot: The Blackfoot were one of the oldest Plains People. They lived on the Plains for about 4000 years before the arrival of the white man. Legend says that the Blackfoot People walked across a burned prairie. The ash turned their moccasins black. That is how they got their name.
The Blackfoot like to paint their tepees in a unique way. They painted a band around the top of their teepee, and another band around the bottom. Both bands had huge dots painted in a pattern of dot space dot space, all the way around. The top dots were symbols of planets and stars. The bottom dots were symbols of the plants and animals of the earth. It was their job to balance their life between these two worlds.

The Cheyenne: The Cheyenne religion is centered around two objects - the sacred hat and the sacred arrow. Their most important dance is the Sundance. The Sundance was believed to have the power to take troubles away.

The Comanche: The Comanche did not like life on the reservation. The Comanche wanted to hold on to their culture and traditions. That was hard to do on a reservation. They were not farmers. They were hunters and gatherers.
Before their forced move to a reservation, the Comanche wandered the prairie in small groups called bands. A band was usually made up of family members. The Comanche believed in freedom. You did not have to stay with your own band. You were free to join another band if you wished. Each band had its own leaders. There was a peace chief and a war chief. The band council included all the men of the band. The council decided when to go to war and where to hunt.
Although bands were free to go their own way, Comanche bands had many things in common. They had a common language. They believed in the same gods. They had the same customs. Depending upon where they lived, they dressed in similar ways. They wore buffalo capes instead of shirts. The men wore headdresses made of eagle feathers. The number of feathers was symbolic of the number of brave acts they had performed. The woman wore dresses decorated with fringe and beads. The women braided their hair with beads. They wore bead necklaces. Like the Apache women, Comanche women spent time on their appearance.
The bands got together at annual powwows (gatherings, festivals.) The Comanche sang and danced at powwows to honor their beliefs. People often met their future husbands and wives at powwows.
Learn more about the Comanche's by reading the ancient myth, The Clever Coyote.

The Sioux (Dakota): Sioux people Daily Life in Olden Times