20 



INDIANS OF THE PLAINS 



Sot i hwesi Pavilion 

 INDIANS OF THE PLAINS 



The collections from the Indians of the I Mm in- will be ion ml in the hall 

 adjoining. These Indians comprised the tribes living wesi of the Missis- 

 sippi ami cast of the Rocky Mountains as far south as the valley of the Rio 

 ( rrande and as far north a- 1 In- Saskatchewan. See map on south wall. - 



On the left side of the entrance, against the wall, is a special exhibit 

 of life casts .-mil photographs of typical Plains Indians, with tables and 

 charts explaining their chief racial characteristics. 



Occupying the greater pari of the hall beginning on the left arc the 

 buffalo-hunting tribes: the Plains-Cree, Dakota, ("row, Blackfoot, 

 Indians of Gros Ventre, Arapaho and Cheyenne. These tribes did 

 the Plains qoI prad isc agricull me but depended almost entirety on the 



buffalo; buffalo flesh was their chief food, and of buffalo skin they made 

 their garments. In some cases a buffalo paunch was used 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 



A DOG FEAST OF THE SIOUX 



Given in honor of Mr. Sanford, Pierre Choteau and Catlin. From the Catlin 

 Collection of paintings 



to <aire sickness, to ward off evil, and to give aid in the hunt . Whenever 

 i he buffalo herds led the way. the more nomadic Plain.- tribes moved their 

 tents and followed. With the extermination of the buffalo the entire 

 life of the Plains Indians was revolutionized. 



( m the righl . near the entrance^, are the village tribes of the Plains; 

 the Mandan with whom Lewis ami ( 'lark passed the winter of 1804-1805. 

 the Hidatsa who now live with them, and the Omaha. Kansa. Iowa 



