ABSTRACT

Plains Societies and Cultures
Indians of the Great Plains, written by Daniel J. Gelo of The University of Texas at San Antonio, is a text that emphasizes that Plains societies and cultures are continuing, living entities.
Through a topical exploration, it provides a contemporary view of recent scholarship on the classic Horse Culture Period while also bringing readers up-to-date with historical and cultural developments of the 20th and 21st centuries.  In addition, it contains wide and balanced coverage of the many different tribal groups, including Canadian and southern populations.

Teaching & Learning Experience:

  • Improve Critical Thinking - Indians of the Great Plains provides recent scholarship and up-to-date historical and cultural developments of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries to see the Plains societies and cultures as continuing, living entities — including charts showing tribal organization and kinship systems.
  • Engage Students — Indians of the Great Plains features excerpts of Native poetry, songs, and ethnographic accounts, as well as Chapter Summaries and End-of-Chapter Review Questions.

chapter 1|18 pages

The Great Plains

chapter 2|24 pages

Plains Prehistory

chapter 3|23 pages

Bison, Horse, and Hoe

chapter 4|25 pages

Tribal Organization

chapter 5|41 pages

Family and Social Life

chapter 6|38 pages

Material Culture and Decorative Arts

chapter 7|13 pages

Music and Dance

chapter 8|18 pages

Oral Traditions

chapter 9|34 pages

Religious Fundamentals

chapter 10|40 pages

Group Rituals

chapter 11|30 pages

External Relations

chapter 12|27 pages

Life Through the Twentieth Century

chapter 13|29 pages

Contemporary Plains Indian Life