INDIANS 01 i 111. PLAINS 



Some tribes, the Dakota for example, used highly 

 decorated saddle blankets, or skins; while others 

 < 'row. Blackfoot, etc. used elaborate cruppers. Quirt- 

 with short handles <>t elkhorn or wood were common. 

 In fact, there was little difference in the form of riding 

 gear among nil the Plains tribes. 



The nine typical tribes were more or le>s always on 

 the move. All their possessions were especially de- 

 signed for ready transport. Nearly all receptacles 

 and most utensils were made of rawhide, while the tipi, 

 or tent, was easily rolled up and placed upon a travois. 

 When the chief gave out the order to break camp it 

 took but a few minutes for the women to have every- 

 thing loaded on travois and ready for the march. Even 

 the Village group used tipis and horses when on the 

 buffalo hunt p. 19). The smaller baggage was often 

 loaded upon dog travois. We have no accurate data 

 as to how the camp was moved before horses came into 

 the country, but the process was certainly more 

 laborious and the marches shorter. 



The Tipi. One of the most characteristic features 

 of Plains Indian culture was the tipi. All the tribes 

 of the area, almost without exception, used it for a 

 part of the year at least. Primarily, the tipi was a 

 conical tent covered with dressed buffalo skins. A 

 carefully mounted and equipped tipi from the Black- 

 fool Indians stands in the center of the Plains exhibit. 

 Everywhere the tipi was made, cared for, and set up 

 by the women. First, a conical framework of long 

 slender poles was erected and the cover raised into 



