Great Plains Indian Trading Networks before Lewis and Clark
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The Great Plains Indian trading networks encountered by the first
Europeans Europeans are the focus of European ethnology, the field of anthropology related to the various ethnic groups that reside in the states of Europe. Groups may be defined by common genetic ancestry, common language, or both. Pan and Pfeil (2004) ...
on the
Great Plains The Great Plains (french: Grandes Plaines), sometimes simply "the Plains", is a broad expanse of flatland in North America. It is located west of the Mississippi River and east of the Rocky Mountains, much of it covered in prairie, steppe, an ...
were built on a number of trading centers acting as hubs in an advanced system of exchange over great distances. The primary centers were found at the villages of the
Mandan The Mandan are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation. About half of the Mandan still res ...
,
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent t ...
, and
Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)
, with a surplus of agricultural produce that could be exchanged. Secondary centers were found at the villages of the
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...
, Kansa, and Osage on the central plains, and at the
Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...
villages on the southern plains. The ''Dakota rendezvous'' was an important annual trading fair among the
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
. European demand for fur changed the relations of the plains, increased the occurrence of war, and displaced several Indian nations that were forced away by the Sioux coming from the east. On the northern plains, European trade lay in the hands of the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
, although most of the territory belonged to
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, and later
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. European trade on the central plains was controlled by French merchants, first from
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
, later from
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
. From the mid-1700s', the
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
became an increasingly important military and commercial factor on the southern plains, forcing the Apaches into the mountains, and exchanging goods and spoils with the Southwestern trading networks hubs in
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
.


Geographical and tribal structure

The trading networks encountered by the first Europeans on the Great Plains were built on a number of trading centers acting as hubs in an advanced system of exchange over great distances. The major centers were found at the villages of sedentary peoples with a surplus of agricultural produce that could be exchanged.Swagerty 1988, pp. 351-353.Eifler 2004, pp. 606-607. Treasured commodities such as marine shells,
obsidian Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock. Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
, and
turquoise Turquoise is an opaque, blue-to-green mineral that is a hydrated phosphate of copper and aluminium, with the chemical formula . It is rare and valuable in finer grades and has been prized as a gemstone and ornamental stone for thousands of yea ...
were transported thousands of miles from their origin. The primary trading centers were found on the middle Missouri River, at the villages of the
Mandans The Mandan are a Plains Indians, Native American tribe of the Great Plains who have lived for centuries primarily in what is now North Dakota. They are enrolled in the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation, Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Bert ...
,
Hidatsa The Hidatsa are a Siouan people. They are enrolled in the federally recognized Three Affiliated Tribes of the Fort Berthold Reservation in North Dakota. Their language is related to that of the Crow, and they are sometimes considered a parent t ...
, and
Arikara Arikara (), also known as Sahnish,
''Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation.'' (Retrieved Sep 29, 2011)
. The central place of these villages in the exchange system was based on an advantageous geographical position combined with a surplus from
agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...
and
craft A craft or trade is a pastime or an occupation that requires particular skills and knowledge of skilled work. In a historical sense, particularly the Middle Ages and earlier, the term is usually applied to people occupied in small scale prod ...
. Historical sources show that the Middle Missouri villages were visited by
Cree The Cree ( cr, néhinaw, script=Latn, , etc.; french: link=no, Cri) are a Indigenous peoples of the Americas, North American Indigenous people. They live primarily in Canada, where they form one of the country's largest First Nations in Canada ...
,
Assiniboine The Assiniboine or Assiniboin people ( when singular, Assiniboines / Assiniboins when plural; Ojibwe: ''Asiniibwaan'', "stone Sioux"; also in plural Assiniboine or Assiniboin), also known as the Hohe and known by the endonym Nakota (or Nakoda ...
,
Crow A crow is a bird of the genus ''Corvus'', or more broadly a synonym for all of ''Corvus''. Crows are generally black in colour. The word "crow" is used as part of the common name of many species. The related term "raven" is not pinned scientifical ...
,
Cheyenne The Cheyenne ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Great Plains. Their Cheyenne language belongs to the Algonquian language family. Today, the Cheyenne people are split into two federally recognized nations: the Southern Cheyenne, who are enroll ...
,
Arapaho The Arapaho (; french: Arapahos, ) are a Native American people historically living on the plains of Colorado and Wyoming. They were close allies of the Cheyenne tribe and loosely aligned with the Lakota and Dakota. By the 1850s, Arapaho band ...
,
Kiowa Kiowa () people are a Native American tribe and an indigenous people of the Great Plains of the United States. They migrated southward from western Montana into the Rocky Mountains in Colorado in the 17th and 18th centuries,Pritzker 326 and eve ...
,
Plains Apache The Plains Apache are a small Southern Athabaskan group who live on the Southern Plains of North America, in close association with the linguistically unrelated Kiowa Tribe. Today, they are centered in Southwestern Oklahoma and Northern Texas an ...
, and
Comanche The Comanche or Nʉmʉnʉʉ ( com, Nʉmʉnʉʉ, "the people") are a Native American tribe from the Southern Plains of the present-day United States. Comanche people today belong to the federally recognized Comanche Nation, headquartered in La ...
. The Arikara villages were also frequented by the
Sioux The Sioux or Oceti Sakowin (; Dakota language, Dakota: Help:IPA, /otʃʰeːtʰi ʃakoːwĩ/) are groups of Native Americans in the United States, Native American tribes and First Nations in Canada, First Nations peoples in North America. The ...
. South of the Arikara the Sioux gathered at the ''Dakota Rendezvous'', an annual
fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Types Variations of fairs incl ...
exchanging goods acquired from other Indian nations. The villages of the
Pawnee Pawnee initially refers to a Native American people and its language: * Pawnee people * Pawnee language Pawnee is also the name of several places in the United States: * Pawnee, Illinois * Pawnee, Kansas * Pawnee, Missouri * Pawnee City, Nebraska * ...
, Kansa, and Osage were secondary centers on the central plains. On the southern plains, the
Caddo The Caddo people comprise the Caddo Nation of Oklahoma, a federally recognized tribe headquartered in Binger, Oklahoma. They speak the Caddo language. The Caddo Confederacy was a network of Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands, wh ...
villages formed important secondary centers whose westward exchange connected the Plains trading networks with the Southwestern trading networks. Important middlemen in the exchange system were Assiniboine and Cree, who connected the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara trading centers with the Northern Plains, and with the forest peoples north of
Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...
. The Sioux brought goods from the ''Dakota Rendezvous'' to the Arikara, while the Kansa acted as intermediaries between the Osage and the Pawnee. The Cheyenne were intermediaries between the Comanches and the Plains Apaches, and the primary trading centers on the Middle Missouri, thereby connecting them with the ''Shoshone Rendezvous'' and the Great Basin trading networks. On the southern plains, the Comanche became an all important factor after their arrival.


European trade and technology

European demand for
fur Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
transformed the economic relations of the Great Plains Indians from a
subsistence economy A subsistence economy is an economy directed to basic subsistence (the provision of food, clothing, shelter) rather than to the market. Henceforth, "subsistence" is understood as supporting oneself at a minimum level. Often, the subsistence econo ...
to an economy largely influenced by
market forces In economics, a market is a composition of systems, institutions, procedures, social relations or infrastructures whereby parties engage in exchange. While parties may exchange goods and services by barter, most markets rely on sellers offering ...
, thereby increasing the occurrence of conflicts and
war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militias. It is generally characterized by extreme violence, destruction, and mortality, using regular o ...
between the several Great Plains Indian nations as they struggled to control access to natural resources and trade routes. The
horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million y ...
replaced the
dog The dog (''Canis familiaris'' or ''Canis lupus familiaris'') is a domesticated descendant of the wolf. Also called the domestic dog, it is derived from the extinct Pleistocene wolf, and the modern wolf is the dog's nearest living relative. Do ...
as a beast of burden, increased the efficacy of the
bison Bison are large bovines in the genus ''Bison'' (Greek: "wild ox" (bison)) within the tribe Bovini. Two extant and numerous extinct species are recognised. Of the two surviving species, the American bison, ''B. bison'', found only in North Ame ...
hunt, and became a valuable tool of war. The horse did not reach the Great Plains until after the
Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish empire, Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than prese ...
in 1680 when thousands of horses began to spread north and then, through the ''Shoshone Rendezvous'' reached the Great Plains trading networks and the villages of the Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara, as well as the ''Dakota Rendezvous'', and then to the farthest reaches of the trading networks. The
musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually d ...
, also distributed through the Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara villages, gave its owners military superiority easily converted into control of natural resources and trade routes. During the 18th century, Indian nations with trade guns displaced nations without firearms in a process that radically changed the ethnography of the Great Plains. The horse spread from south to north and from west to east, while the musket spread from north to south and from east to west. Yet it was not until 1850 that the distribution of horses and guns overlapped.


Northern Great Plains

Although most of the northern plains belonged to French and later
Spanish Louisiana Spanish Louisiana ( es, link=no, la Luisiana) was a governorate and administrative district of the Viceroyalty of New Spain from 1762 to 1801 that consisted of a vast territory in the center of North America encompassing the western basin of t ...
, the Louisiana merchants failed to convert the formal sovereignty into trade with the Great Plains Indians north of the Osages. Rather, it was the
Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business div ...
(HBC) that dominated the area commercially. English muskets were much-coveted articles that changed the balance of power between the Indian nations. During the 18th century, mounted Shoshone controlled the northern Great Plains, but through Assiniboine middlemen
Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'' or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bla ...
,
Gros Ventre The Gros Ventre ( , ; meaning "big belly"), also known as the Aaniiih, A'aninin, Haaninin, Atsina, and White Clay, are a historically Algonquian-speaking Native American tribe located in north central Montana. Today the Gros Ventre people are ...
and Sarcee acquired HBC trade guns, and forced the Shoshone back to the mountains. Mandan, Hidatsa and Arikara direct trade with the HBC was principally through
Brandon House Brandon House was a Hudson's Bay Company post or posts from 1793 to 1824. It was located at several places on the Assiniboine River between Brandon, Manitoba and the mouth of the Souris River about 21 miles southeast of Brandon. Because of its lo ...
, after its foundation at the end of the 18th century. Efficient competitors of the HBC did not come from Louisiana, but from the
North West Company The North West Company was a fur trading business headquartered in Montreal from 1779 to 1821. It competed with increasing success against the Hudson's Bay Company in what is present-day Western Canada and Northwestern Ontario. With great weal ...
of
Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
. At the end of the 17th century, Cree and the Assiniboine became intermediaries between the HBC and more distant Indian nations; maintaining their position with the aid of English muskets. The two nations formed a close alliance in war and trade, further strengthened by the enmity of the French and the Sioux. The Sioux were during the 18th century gradually forced westward by the Cree and the
Ojibwe The Ojibwe, Ojibwa, Chippewa, or Saulteaux are an Anishinaabe people in what is currently southern Canada, the northern Midwestern United States, and Northern Plains. According to the U.S. census, in the United States Ojibwe people are one of ...
, who had access to firearms, moving into the plains and transforming their economy and culture from a Woodland to a Plains pattern, at the same time forcing the Cheyenne further west.


Central Great Plains

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
dominated the trade in European goods on the central plains. The French were successful in maintaining the amiable relations with the Indian nations necessary for trade, adjusting their behaviour to the social mores expected, and never trying to replace existing intermediaries in the trade networks. Generous gifts of trade guns and other articles of trade to Indian leaders and their families smoothed commercial negotiations. The first French contacts with the central plains nations took place at the end of the 17th century, but commercial success had to wait until the foundation of
New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster.
; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...
in 1718. Increased French activities on the central plains compelled the Spanish governor of
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
to dispatch the
Villasur expedition The Villasur expedition of 1720 was a Spanish military expedition intended to check New France's growing influence on the North American Great Plains, led by Lieutenant-General Pedro de Villasur. Pawnee and Otoe Indians attacked the expedition ...
in 1720. Its massacre by the Pawnee marked the end of the Spanish influence in the area. Bourgmont founded Fort Orleans in 1724. Pawnee and Osage become the most important allies and trading partners of the French, who depended on them in order to reach their commercial goals. Yet, these Indians did not allow the French to trade directly with nations further west. After the
French and Indian War The French and Indian War (1754–1763) was a theater of the Seven Years' War, which pitted the North American colonies of the British Empire against those of the French, each side being supported by various Native American tribes. At the ...
, France ceded
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
to the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
and Louisiana to Spain. French merchants from
St. Louis St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, now Spanish subjects, continued to be masters of the trade with the central plains peoples. The main aim of the Spanish authorities was to retain sovereignty of the area, and ward of British and Canadian commercial intrusions, using proven French diplomatic methods.


Southern Great Plains

The Southwestern trading networks were not damaged by the Spanish takeover of
New Mexico ) , population_demonym = New Mexican ( es, Neomexicano, Neomejicano, Nuevo Mexicano) , seat = Santa Fe , LargestCity = Albuquerque , LargestMetro = Tiguex , OfficialLang = None , Languages = English, Spanish ( New Mexican), Navajo, Ker ...
in 1582. Spanish road building improved transportation and the major trading centers of the Zuñi Pueblo and the
Pecos Pueblo Pecos National Historical Park is a United States National Historical Park in San Miguel and Santa Fe Counties, New Mexico. The park, operated by the National Park Service, encompasses thousands of acres of landscape infused with historical ...
came under protection of the Spanish crown. The Spanish demand for fur was partially met on the southern plains, in exchange for European goods that spread over large areas, yet without any major changes in the indigenous cultures. The Spanish accepted the coexistence of cooperating but separate European and Indian lifestyles. After the
Pueblo Revolt The Pueblo Revolt of 1680, also known as Popé's Rebellion or Popay's Rebellion, was an uprising of most of the indigenous Pueblo people against the Spanish empire, Spanish colonizers in the province of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, larger than prese ...
, the Southwestern trading networks grew in importance for the Spanish due to the Comanche trade. In the 1720s exchange with the Comanche formed an essential part of the New Mexico economy. In the mid-1700s, the French began to supply the Comanche with muskets, allowing them to force the
Apache The Apache () are a group of culturally related Native American tribes in the Southwestern United States, which include the Chiricahua, Jicarilla, Lipan, Mescalero, Mimbreño, Ndendahe (Bedonkohe or Mogollon and Nednhi or Carrizaleño an ...
from the plains toward the Pueblo and Spanish settlements. The Spanish changed their firearms policy and began to sell guns and ammunition to the Comanche, in order to acquire their friendship and making them dependent on a technology they could not reproduce. De Anza's treaty with the Comanche in 1786 brought peace to New Mexico. The Comanche continued, however, to raid
Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
and
Coahuila Coahuila (), formally Coahuila de Zaragoza (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Coahuila de Zaragoza ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Coahuila de Zaragoza), is one of the 32 states of Mexico. Coahuila borders the Mexican states of N ...
, bringing their spoils north and into the Southwestern trading system. The Comanche visited the Southwestern trading centers, but also relied on the
Comanchero The Comancheros were a group of 18th- and 19th-century traders based in northern and central New Mexico. They made their living by trading with the nomadic Great Plains Indian tribes in northeastern New Mexico, West Texas, and other parts of the ...
s to act as intermediaries with the Spanish and the Pueblos. The peace also favoured the
Cibolero A Cibolero (plural: ''ciboleros'') was a Spanish colonial (and later Mexican) buffalo hunter from New Mexico. The Spanish word for buffalo as used in New Mexico is ''cibolo''; hence, the name ''Cibolero'' for buffalo hunter. Activities Ciboleros hu ...
s, New Mexico bison hunters that brought robes and meat into the trading system.Kenner 1994, pp. 78-80, 98-101.


References


Notes

{{reflist


Cited literature

* Burns, Louis F. (2004). ''A History of the Osage People.'' The University of Alabama Press. * Carlos Ann M. & Lewis, Frank D. (2016). "Native Americans, Exchange, and the Role of Gift Giving." ''Unlocking the Wealth of Indian Nations.'' Lexington Books. * Baught, Timothy G. & Ericson, Jonathan E. (1994). ''Prehistoric Exchange Systems in North America.'' Springer. * Brown, Jennifer S. H. (2001). "History of the Canadian Plains until 1870." ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains.'' Smithsonian Institution. *DeMalie, Raymond J. (2001). "Sioux until 1850." ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains Smithsonian Institution.'' * Eifler, Mark A. (2004). "Trade." ''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains.'' University of Nebraska Press. *Ewers, John C.(1968). ''Indian Life on the Upper Missouri.'' University of Oklahoma Press. * Gump, James O. (2004). "Villasur Expedition." ''Encyclopedia of the Great Plains.'' University of Nebraska Press. * Hyde, George E. (1951). ''The Pawnee Indians.'' University of Oklahoma Press. *Kenner, Charles L. (1994). ''The Comanchero Frontier.'' University of Oklahoma Press. * LaBounty, Andrew (2008). "Technological Introductions and Social Change: European Technology on the Great Plains". ''Nebraska Anthropologist'', 39: 30-41. * Lange, Charles H. (1979). "Adaptions of the Southwest with the Plains and Great Basin." ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 9: Southwest.'' *Mitchell, Mark D. (2013). ''Crafting History in the Northern Plains.'' The University of Arizona Press * Ray, Arthur J. (1974). ''Indians in the Fur Trade.'' University of Toronto Press. * Rollings, Willard H. (1992). ''The Osage.'' University of Missouri Press. * Swagerty, William R. (1988). "Indian Trade in the Trans-Mississippi West to 1870." ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 4: History of Indian White Relations.'' Smithsonian Institution. * Swagerty, William R. (2001). "History of the United States Plains Until 1850." ''Handbook of North American Indians, Volume 13: Plains.'' Smithsonian Institution. Plains tribes Great Plains Fur trade Mandan, Hidatsa, and Arikara Nation
Great Plains Indian Trading Networks before Lewis and Clark The Great Plains Indian trading networks encountered by the first Europeans on the Great Plains were built on a number of trading centers acting as hubs in an advanced system of exchange over great distances. The primary centers were found at the ...
Great Plains Indian Trading Networks before Lewis and Clark The Great Plains Indian trading networks encountered by the first Europeans on the Great Plains were built on a number of trading centers acting as hubs in an advanced system of exchange over great distances. The primary centers were found at the ...