American Indian Ways of Life on the Great Plains

Dr. Isern's lecture on American Indian life in North America prior to European contact emphasizes the evolution of native cultures in response to the diversity of North American environments. The table on this web page expands on this idea in relation to native life in our own region, the Great Plains.

Big game hunters	Correspond to what archeologists call the Paleo-Indians. From the time of immigration into the plains--perhaps 12,000 years ago--to about 5000 BC. Hunters of megafauna (mammoths and giant bison) with spears and spear-throwers (atlatl).
Hunters and gatherers	Correspond to what archeologists call Archaic and Plains Woodland. Hunters of modern animal forms, post-Ice Age--modern bison and others. And gatherers of berries, herbs, seeds, root crops. "Plains Woodland" refers to arrival of influences from cultures to the east--bow and arrow, pottery, and beginnings of agriculture.
Village farmers	From about 1000 AD to the 1700s or after. Residence in permanent or semi-permanent villages in conjunction with fields of crops. Also still reliance on gathering and hunting, especially annual buffalo hunts, which seasonally took them away from the villages.
Cultural transformation	The results of contact with white cultures, especially in two ways: acquisition of the horse, resulting in classic plains Indian culture, and induction into mercantile economy, resulting in commercial hunting (and the introduction of firearms). Major changes not only in culture (with the rise of horse-and-bison-based cultures) and in geopolitics (new nations arriving on the plains, struggles for territory).
Reservation life	Through removal, conquest, and starvation, Indians are confined to reservations on the plains. A new cycle of adaptation to these social and environmental circumstances begins. Cultural and political life are defined by native persistence in the face of aggressive, often inconsistent federal Indian policies.