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The Great
Plains form the very "heartland" of
North America. A land of sun, wind and grass.
They stretch north to south more than two
thousand miles from the North Saskatchewan River
in Canada almost to the Rio Grande in Mexico,
while the east-west boundaries are approximately
those of the Mississippi-Missouri valleys and the
foothills of the Rocky Moutains, in all
encompassing an area of some one million square
miles.
Climate varies on the Plains. In general the
limited rainfall produces a semi-desert type
terrain particularly to the west and south, were
in places the arid conditions result in socalled
"badlands".
To the east, however, in the Mississippi and
Missouri valleys, the rainfall is higher often
producing humid conditions and green prairie
lands. In these areas the grass is tall.
The Plains of North America, provided the
homeland for the Plains Indians: the hunting
grounds of the twelve "typical" Plains
tribes. These tribes all shared the common
features of the tipi, buffalo and horse.
The Northern Plains were largely dominated by
Algonquians.
The Central Plains by Siouans.
These particular linguistic groups were not well
represented on the Southern Plains although some
Cheyenne and Arapaho formed strong military
allegiances with the Kiowa and Comanche who
dominated this region.
The population was relatively small. In 1870, for
example, the Blackfeet ( also called Blackfoot,
one of the largest groups on the Northern Plains,
were estimated at fifteen thousand, the Lakota
ten thousand, while the semi-sedentary tribes
such as the Omaha, Mandan and Arikara on
theMissouri River have been estimated to have
been less than four thousand in 1780.
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Location
Tribes: |
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Northern Plains
Blackfeet
Plains Cree
Plains Ojibwa
Gros Ventre
Assiniboine |
Central Plains
Sioux
Crow
Mandan
Hidatsa
Arikara
Cheyenne
Arapaho |
Southern Plains
Comanche
Kiowa
Wichita
Pawnee
Kiowa-Apache |
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