L6 l\l>l INS "I ! Hi PLAINS. 



the map one may see how closely the distributions of 



this culture fcype and thai for the buffalo coincide. 

 This animal supplied them with one of their chief foods, 

 in accessible and almosl never-failing abundance. For 

 a part of the year at least, all Plains tribe- used the 

 conical skin tent, or tipi. In early times the dog was 

 used to transport baggage and supplies, but later, 

 horses became very abundant and it is not far wrong to 

 speak of all Plains tribes as horsemen. When on the 

 hunt or moving in a large body most of these tribes 

 were controlled by a band of " soldiers,' 7 or police, who 

 drove in stragglers and repressed those too eager to 

 advance and who also policed the camp and maintained 

 order and system in the tribal hunt. All Indians are 

 quite religious. Most of the Plains tribes had a grand 

 annual gathering known in literature as the sun dance. 

 In general, these few main cultural characteristic may 

 be taken to designate the type — the use of the buffalo, 

 the tipi, the horse, the soldier-band, and the sun dance. 

 Many of the tribes living near the Mississippi and along 

 the Missouri, practised agriculture in a small way and 

 during a part of the year lived in earth-covered or bark 

 houses. Furthermore, there are many other tribal 

 differences, so that it becomes admissible to subdivide 

 the Plains Indians. The following seems the most 

 consistent grouping. 



