80 [NDIANS OF THE PLAIN-. 



hand game (hiding the button). Among the Blackfoot 

 and their neighbors, the hand game was a favorite 

 gambling device and handled by team work: i. e., one 

 large group played against another. 



By a comparative study of games, it would be possible 

 to divide the tribes of the area into a number of sub- 

 geographical groups. On the other hand, it is clear 

 that taken as a whole, these tribes have sufficient 

 individuality to justify their position in a distinct 

 culture area. 



We have now passed in review the main character- 

 istics of material culture among the Plains tribes. 

 There are many other important details having func- 

 tional and comparative significance for whose consid- 

 eration the reader must be referred to the special 

 literature. We have seen how the typical, or central 

 group, of tribes (Blackfoot, Gros Ventre, Assiniboine, 

 Crow, Teton-Dakota, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, 

 and Comanche) seems to have few traits in common 

 with adjoining culture areas, while the border tribes 

 manifest a mixture of the traits emphasized among 

 the typical group and those most characteristic of 

 other culture areas. For example, the typical material 

 culture of the Plains is peculiar in the absence of pot- 

 tery, the textile arts, agriculture, and the use of wild 

 grains and seeds, all of which appear to varying degrees 

 in one or the other of the marginal groups. 



In general, it appears that in the Plains, traits of 

 material culture fall within geographical rather than 





