INDIANS OF Tin: PLAINS 



31 



In the 



Blackfoot 

 Tipi 



Societies 



food, and of buffalo skin they made their garments. In some cases a 

 buffalo paunch was uscA for cooking and buffalo horns were made into 

 various implements of industry and war. The 

 spirit of the buffalo was considered a powerful 



ally and invoked to cure sickness, to ward off 

 evil, and to give aid in the hunt. Whenever 

 the buffalo herds led the way, the more no- 

 madic Plains tribes moved their tents and fol- 

 lowed. With the extermination of the buffalo 

 the entire life of the Plains Indians was revolu- 

 tionized. 



center of this hall is a Blackfoot 



Indian tipi with paintings of 



otters on the sides, representing 



a vision of the owner. This 

 tipi has been fitted up to show T the home life of 

 a typical Buffalo hunting Indian. 



There were numerous soldier societies 

 among the Plains Indians which included 



practically all the adult males. 



Each society had a special dance 

 and special costumes. (See the Arapaho cases 

 for. costume dancers.) There were other 

 dances connected w^ith tribal religious cere- 

 monials, the best known and most important of which is the sun dance 



illustrated by a model at the left of the tipi. The sun dance 



was held annually in the early summer in fulfillment of a vow r 

 made during the preceding wdnter by some member of the tribe who wished 

 a sick relative to recover. The dance involved great physical endurance 

 and excruciating self-torture, lasting three days, during which time the 

 dancers neither ate nor drank. 



In the center of the hall is a genuine medicine pipe, held in awe by 



the Indians and dearly parted with; also the contents of a 



medicine pipe bundle. The contents of another medicine 



bundle, belonging to a leading man of the Blackfoot tribe 

 (medicine man), together with the headdress which he wore in ceremonies, 

 is in a case near the tower. 



The Plains Indians are noted for their picture writing on skins and for 

 their quillwork which has now been superseded by beadwork. They have 

 a highly developed decorative art in which simple geometric designs are 

 the elements of composition, this being one of the most interesting features 

 of their art. (See Dakota case.) [See Handbook Xo. 1. North American 

 Indians of the Plains.! 



A beaded moccasin from _the 

 Indians of the Plains (Gros Ventre) 



Sun Dance 



Medicine 

 Pipe 



