Draft:Plains Indians Technology

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Plains Indians Technology are Indigenous people that inhabited the Great Plains of North America. Spreading over a vast territory from Canada all the way through America including states like Montana, North and South Dakota, Wyoming, Nebraska, Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. There are many different Tribes within the Great Plains including, Crow, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, and among many more. Despite popular belief, the Indigenous People of the Plains created and used advanced technologies. Some technologies include: tools, food preservation, shelter, clothing, and transportation.

Tools

The Plains Indians used many different types of tools that were helpful for hunting, eating, and even playing games.

Hunting and Eating Tools

They used tools like bows and arrows and spears made from wood and bone. It was important that the Plains Indians used all of the animal when hunting, they used Bison bones and antlers to create these tools. From the bone they created arrowheads used for hunting, while the antlers were great for cups and spoons used to eat and drink.

Gathering Tools

Another great tool was baskets from utilizing bark and grasses by coiling, plaiting, and whickering them. Baskets could be used for food gathering, ceremonial uses, and even a gambling game. The gambling game was commonly played by Indigenous Women where they tossed dice into the basket.

Innovations With Food Preservation

The Plains Indians diet consisted of many things like bison, elk, deer, berries, beans, corn, and fish. One important food the Plain Indians ate was Pemmican, a dried meat.

Pemmican

Meat that is dried and ground into a powder mixed with animal fat and bone marrow. They even added mixed berries and nuts into it. Pemmican was a great way for Native Americans to preserve their food, making it easier on them during the winter months or to have it easily accessible while on long journeys.

Shelter

As far as shelter goes, there were several different types of homes the Plains Indians lived in. A popular one amongst them was tipi’s, earth lodges, and grass lodges.

Tipis

An innovative design made from buffalo hide and poles that protected against the elements. Tipis were typically ten to forty feet in diameter, and contained a fire in the middle allowing occupants to cook and keep warm. Smoke flaps were also included to allow for ventilation. Tipis could usually be taken down within five minutes, which was great for Native Ameicans were traveling on long journeys. Tipi’s were good for being used as a temporary home; it was so easy to take up and down.

Earth and Grass Lodges

Earth and grass lodges were more like permanent homes that were not moved. Earth lodges were very spacious, often containing multiple families. They were made from packed earth, and typically went underground. Grass lodges were common among the Wichita tribes where they bent wooden poles into a dome shape, and then covered the structure in long prairie grass. These homes typically had four entrances, all facing North, East, South, and West.

Clothing

Clothing among the Plains Indians was vital to not only their comfort, but their protection against their environment. Clothes were made from many different animal parts like hide, fur, horn, teeths, and feathers. The types of animals they used were dependent on the area they lived in. For example, tribes from the Western plains would wear caps made from feathers while other tribes located in Oklahoma wore ones made from otter fur. Bison fur and hide was great for insulating and keeping warm. Bison and rabbit fur was used to line cloaks and the inside of shoes called moccasins. Moccasins were often made from deer or elk leather that was sewn together, and could be decorated with paint, beads, or porcupine quills. Another great addition they added were leggings also made from hide that could be lined with fur.

Transportation

Before the Plains Indians had horses they would mainly travel on foot, but also used other ways of transportation in order to get around faster.

Canoes

A canoe is a lightweight, narrow boat that is propelled by paddles used for travel or trade. Canoes were great for transportation, fishing, and trading goods. Some canoes were made of bark, while others were made of skin or hide. The type of wood canoes varied depending the region Native Americans resided in, and were constructed from the bark on the trees around them. The bark was stripped from the tree and then shaped into the size and shape that was desired, then sewn together by roots or other natural materials. Skin and hide canoes were used in areas where bark wasn't easily accessible. Animal skin and hide was stretched over a wooden frame to dry and hold the desired shape, and then waterproofed by using resin or pitch.

Dog Travois

Before the Plains Indians had horses, they used dogs to help transport goods. Dog travois are a sled that could be used to drag loads over the land, and shallow rivers. Travois were made from two long wooden poles that latched to the sides of the animal with a leather harness. Once the Plains Indains had horses, they built a similar but bigger device to transport goods.

References

Holley, Linda A. Tipis, Tepees, Teepees: History and Design of the Cloth Tipi. Gibbs Smith, 2007.

Irwin, Henry T., and H. M. Wormington. “Paleo-Indian Tool Types in the Great Plains.” American Antiquity, vol. 35, no. 1, 1970, pp. 24–34. JSTOR, https://doi.org/10.2307/278175. Accessed 29 Feb. 2024.

Jolie, Edward A. “The Technomechanics of Plains Indian Coiled Gambling Baskets.” Plains Anthropologist, vol. 51, no. 197, 2006, pp. 17–49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/25670854. Accessed 16 Mar. 2024.

Lowery, Linda. Native Peoples of the Plains. Lerner Publications, 2017.

Wissler, Clark. North American Indians of the Plains. American Museum of Natural History, 1927.