Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains: Quick Facts

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Facts

Also Known As	North American Plains Indian • Plains Indians

Photos

Map showing the traditional territories of Indigenous peoples of the North American Plains, outlined in red and spanning parts of present-day Canada and the central United States. Tribal names such as Blackfoot, Crow, Cheyenne, Pawnee, Osage, Comanche, and Wichita are labeled within their respective regions. Major rivers like the Missouri, Mississippi, and Rio Grande are also shown for geographic context.

Dramatizing the West

A Cheyenne River Sioux dancer in colorful traditional regalia performs during the Grand Entry at a powwow, with an American flag and other participants in the background.

George Catlin: Buffalo Hunt, Chase

Clovis culture spear point

Mandan: village

Adapting traditional travel

Buffalo on the Plains

Painting by George Catlin showing a Little Sioux village with several tipis, villagers dressing robes, drying meat on racks, and people on horseback on open grassy plains.

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Topics

Oglala Lakota Penateka Teton Hunkpapa Plains Cree Standing Rock Oceti Sakowin Blackfoot Cheyenne Mandan Indigenous peoples of the American Southeast Northwest Coast Indian Indigenous peoples of the American Southwest Northeast Indian Plateau Indian American Subarctic peoples Indigenous peoples of the Great Basin Indigenous peoples of California Inuit Aleut

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Key People

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Robert H. Lowie

American anthropologist

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Maximilian, prince zu Wied-Neuwied

German naturalist and explorer

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George A. Dorsey

American anthropologist

Tecumseh. Battle of the Thames, Ontario, Canada, and the death of Tecumseh. Col. Richard M. Johnson with the Kentucky volunteers on left battle with Tecumseh and his Native troops. Native American Shawnee chief. North American indian. (See Notes)

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