Chapter I. 



MATERIAL CULTURE. 



Since this is a discussion of the general characteristics 

 of Plains Indians, we shall not take them up by tribes, 

 as is usual, but by topics. Anthropologists are ac- 

 customed to group the facts of primitive life under the 

 following main heads: material culture (food, trans- 

 portation, shelter, dress, manufactures, weapons, etc.), 

 social organization, religion and ceremonies, art, 

 language, and physical type. 



Food. 



The flesh of the buffalo was the great staple of the 

 Plains Indians, though elk, antelope, bear and smaller 

 game were not infrequently used. On the other hand, 

 vegetable foods were always a considerable portion of 

 their diet, many of the eastern groups cultivating corn 

 (maize) and gathering wild rice, the others making 

 extensive use of wild roots, seeds, and fruits. All the 

 tribes living on the edges of the buffalo area, even those 

 on the western border of the Woodlands, seem to have 

 made regular hunting excursions out into the open 



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