How was the way of life of the Plains Indians suited to the Great Plains?
The Plains Indians’ lifestyle was well suited to the Great Plains for many reasons. The Sioux Indians lived in tipis. Tipis were made from ten to twenty buffalo skins sewn together and supported by a frame of wooden poles arranged in a circle. Buffalo skin was available because there were a lot of buffalo that lived in the Great Plains so this made buffalo skin very easy to get hold of. The Sioux Indians had to live in this kind of structure because they needed something that could be transported easily, easily taken down, easy to put up and suitable for all weather conditions. This made the tipi an ideal home for the Sioux Indians because they had to move location quite regularly because they would run out of resources. In cold weather conditions the tipi could be baked with earth to keep it warm and in summer the tipi bottom could be rolled up to let air in. When there were strong winds, the tipi was still standing because it conical shape made it strong enough to resist the winds. In winter a fire would have been made in the centre of the tipi for heat and cooking. The smoke would be let out of the flaps at the top of the tipi. This made the tipi very suitable for life in the Great Plains.
