M \ rERIAL CULTURE ill 



The latter has been pronounced Nicotiana attenuate and 

 ('row tobacco is multivalvis. The last is said to be a 

 native of Oregon and to have been cultivated by tribes 

 in the Columbia River valley. The fact that the Black- 

 foot and Crow did not attempt any other agriculture 

 except the raising of this tobacco rather strengthens 

 the previous opinion that maize was not produced be- 

 cause of the unfavorable conditions. Among the tribes 

 of the Plateau area, on the western border of the Plains, 

 wild seeds and grains were gathered and so took the 

 place of maize in the east. So we find the Shoshoni and 

 Tte making some use of such foods. On the other 

 hand, the northern and southern Plains groups de- 

 pended mostly upon dried berries and edible roots, 

 which, however, were a relatively small part of their 

 diet, buffalo flesh being the important food. This was 

 particularly true of the nine typical tribes. With these 

 tribes, the buffalo was not only food: but his by- 

 products, such as skin, bones, hair, horns, and sinew, 

 were the chief materials for costume, tents, and utensils 

 of all kinds. 



Transportation. Before the introduction of the 

 horse, the Plains Indians traveled on foot. The tribes 

 living along the Mississippi made some use of canoes, 

 according to early accounts, while those of the Missouri 

 and inland, used only crude tub-like affairs for ferry 

 purpose. When first discovered, the Mandan, Hidat- 

 sa, and Arikara had villages on the Missouri, in what is 

 now North Dakota, but they have never been credited 

 with canoes. For crossing the river, they used the bull- 



