ABSTRACT
Many descriptions of Plains Indian life leave the impression that tribal societies were inward-looking and not widely aware of the larger world around them. Modern scholarship has shown that the Plains Indians were very conscious and capable strategists dealing with a rapidly changing, global political and economic environment. Plains Indian were skillful in pursuing external relations through warfare, trade, and diplomacy. The term warfare has stood for a wide range of human activities and it is worthwhile to consider the special nature of warfare on the Plains. To coordinate dispersed groups when raiding, scouting, or hunting, Plains Indians invented a number of systems for long-distance signaling. With the advantage of long vistas for visual signaling, Plains Indians did not use sound for sending long-distance messages. Plains tribes actively engaged outside groups and maintained external relations. Intertribal marriage was an important tool for promoting cooperation. Intensive intertribal marriage resulted in the formation of hybrid groups, forerunners of new tribes.
