Southern and Northern Plains Tribes

Southern and Northern Plains Tribes

        Two geographic areas that had an impact from the horse/bison complex would be the southern and northern plains tribes in America.  The native Americans had to adapt to how having horses would change their lives from there on out as well as how the horse populations would affect the ecologic and structure of the plains in regard to bison.  The native Americans main pack animal at the time were dogs so once they were introduced to horses, many of them became nomadic and followed the bison.  

        The southern native Americans (Cheyenne, Kiowa, Arapahoe) major adaptations to when the horse was introduced was that of power.  They were able to move faster while on a horse so hunting became easier and they were able to carry more weight from their hauls.  The southern native Americans lived in warmer climates so horses became plentiful which allowed for more trade options and higher statures.  The more horses you had, the richer you were.  Once guns came into the picture with the use of horses, the southern natives were unstoppable during raids and battles for land.  They became nomadic for the most part moving from hunting ground to hunting ground for bison and stealing other tribe’s horses so those tribes were unable to defend themselves as easily.

        Bison were crucial to the life of the plains native Americans.  Most tribes centered their lives around the bison hunt.  Bison were killed by the tribes for their needs but trade became more important.  The southern natives were able to mass produce hides from bison due to having horses.  Before, they would either create a corral and drive the bison into it which they were able to kill many in one spot (1).  But with guns and horses, they were able to kill many bison as they rode next to them and move onto the next.  Once traders and trappers arrived, that dramatically decreased the numbers for trading (2).  Another reason the bison were disappearing so quickly is due to the fact that horses were competing with the grasslands that the bison would migrate to every year, so in turn the bison could not reproduce as quickly.  Native Americans were not the only thing that helped decrease the bison numbers.  Archaeological data indicates that for the southern plains there were intervals, some spanning centuries, when bison must have been almost absent.  The archaeological levels that lack bison bones correspond to pollen data indicating droughts (3).    

        The nrthern native Americans (Lakota, Crow, Blackfeet) had to make bigger adaptations to the arrival of the horse.  Since they lived in much colder climates, the horses would usually end up dying from starvation or freezing.  Many of the tribes would keep only a few horses through the winter time and release the rest only to capture the surviving ones in the spring.  Horses were a symbol of prosperity in the north as well as in the south.  Horses allowed the natives to hunt and defend better as well.  The northern natives were a major fur trade district until the companies started asking the Indians to produce buffalo robes and pemmican (4).  Of course the natives did this because they were able to trade bison goods and pelts for more horses.

        Even with the cold winters, the northern natives were able to find the migrating bison further to the north west Rocky Mountains.  They had a sanctuary for horses as well as being able to hunt the bison herds in harsh winters from the mountains.  The native Americans would have many wives to help with the labor of cleaning, tanning, cooking, etc.  of the bison that their husband would bring back if they were rich.  The northern natives moved southward in order to compete in the hide trades with the European’s.  This also put great pressure on the dwindling numbers of bison on the plains.