The Plains Indians (also known as Native Americans of the Plains and Prairie, Indigenous Peoples of the Great Plains) are the original inhabitants of the western plains of North America, now part of the United States and Canada. They are the Native Americans most often depicted in media from the 19th century to the present.
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Definition
Timeline
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c. 11000 BCE - 13000 BCEPlains Indians inhabit the Plains and Prairies of North America.
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c. 700 CE - c. 900 CEPlains Indians first begin cultivating corn (maize) and establish permanent settlements.
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c. 1700 CE - c. 1825 CECheyenne have mastered the horse and become one of the most powerful Plains Indians nations of the west.
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1837 CESmallpox epidemic devastates Plains Indians.
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1890 CEWounded Knee Massacre kills over 250 Sioux men, women, and children, ending the Indian Wars of the Plains.