MATERIAL CULTURE. 29 



that its positive absence among the extreme western 

 and northern tribes is due to unfavorable soil and climate 

 rather than to any mental or social differences in the 

 tribes concerned. This is consistent with the wide 

 distribution of tobacco raising. The Blackfoot, Crow, 

 Hidatsa, Mandan, Ankara, Pawnee, and Santee- 

 Dakota are known to have cultivated it for ceremonial 

 purposes. So far as known this plant was Nicotiana 

 midtivalvis, said to be a native of Oregon and to have 

 been cultivated by tribes in the Columbia River valley. 

 The fact that the Blackfoot and Crow did not attempt 

 any other agriculture except the raising of this tobacco 

 rather strengthens the previous opinion that maize 

 was not produced because of the unfavorable conditions. 

 Among the tribes of the Plateau area, wild seeds and 

 grains were gathered and so took the place of maize 

 in the east. On the other hand, the northern and 

 southern groups depended mostly upon dried berries 

 and edible roots which however, were a relatively 

 small part of their diet, buffalo flesh being the impor- 

 tant 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 



