1. The Sioux of the Great Plains

2. Table of Contents The Great Plains…………………………………………………………………………2 Sioux Homes………………………………………………………………………………3 Sioux Clothes……………………………………………………………………………..4 Sioux Food……………………………………..………………………………………….5 Crafts…………………………………………………………………………………………6 Glossary……………………………………………………………………………….……7 1

3. The Great Plains The Great Plains spreads around South Dakota, Wyoming, North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and more. The land has vast grasslands. The temperature is so hot and dry it stings your eyes in the summer. In North Dakota it gets very, very cold in the winter. The Rocky Mountains border the Great Plains. The Great Plains also hold the Minnesota River. Our tribe the Sioux lived there. The environment of the Great Plains. The Great Plains is in the middle of the United States. 2

4. Sioux Homes The Sioux lived in buildings called teepees made out of buffalo hide and tall poles. Teepees are tall structures that are cone shaped. The Sioux set fires in the teepees. The teepees had flaps at the top to let out the smoke from the fires. A small family had a small one room teepee. The Sioux painted their teepees. The teepees could be set up and taken down in minutes. Setting up and taking down the teepees was one of the women's many jobs. They had teepees because they had to follow the buffalo around the plains to get food to eat. A tepee from the Sioux tribe. This is a tepee that a Sioux would live in. 3

5. Sioux Food Most of the food that the Sioux tribe ate was buffalo. They ate buffalo boiled, broiled, dried sometimes raw and they also ate the fat. The other meat they ate was bear, deer, antelope, turkey and prairie chicken. The fruits and vegetables they ate were cherries, berries, plums, potatoes, spinach and prairie turnips. Thy also ate quail, raccoon, and skunk. They used the buffalo bones for tools. They also used buffalo sinew for thread. This is some of the food that the Sioux would eat. 4

6. Sioux Clothes The Sioux boys wore deerskin shirts and leggings. The girls wore long dresses and leggings. They were mostly made out of animal skins. The girls dresses were often beaded. The moccasins were always beaded. The chiefs wore feathered headdresses. The Sioux decorated their clothes for special occasions with elk teeth, bear claws, feathers and fur. This is what the Sioux girls and women would wear. 5

7. Sioux Crafts The Sioux women used porcupine quills and beads to decorate clothing and bags. The children made leather dolls for toys. The babies got beaded rattles as toys. The toys and tools were often made from the bones of buffalo. A special needle called an awl was made out of buffalo bone. Some bones made good painting sticks. Buffalo sinew was used as thread. Spoons and cups were sometimes made out of buffalo horns. Fine pots were made out of cleaned out buffalo stomach. The pots could carry food and water. This is some of the things that the Sioux tribe would make. This is a leather doll that a Sioux girl would make. 6

8. Glossary Flaps: flat pieces attached along one side and loose on the other Grassland: an area of land, such as a prairie, covered with grass Headdress: a fancy covering or decoration worn on the head Porcupine: a large rodent covered with long sharp quills that are used for protection Sinew: a strong cord of tissue in the body that joins a muscle to a bone 7