USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The buffalo were incredibly important to the Plains Indians; their way of life and survival depended on them. Since there were so few resources on the Great Plains, the Plains Indians developed skills to use as much as the buffalo as possible.

Detailed explanation-2: -Some historians estimate there were once as many as 50 million buffalo roaming the Great Plains. Native American tribes like the Cheyenne, Arapaho, Kiowa, and Ute all relied on the buffalo for their survival.

Detailed explanation-3: -The Plains Indians had more than 150 different uses for the various bison parts. The bison provided them with meat for food, hides for clothing and shelter, and horns and bones for tools. They would even use the bladder to hold water. For the Plains Indians, bison equaled survival.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Arapaho, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Cheyenne, Comanche, Crow, Gros Ventre, Kiowa, Plains Apache, Plains Cree, Plains Ojibwe, Sarsi, Shoshone, Sioux, and Tonkawa. and were all nomadic tribes who followed the buffalo herds and lived in tipis.

Detailed explanation-5: -"Critical to their survival, bison not only provided American Indians with food, shelter and tools, but a model on how to live. To American Indians, bison also represent their spirit and remind them of how their lives were once lived, free and in harmony with nature.