Plains

Question 1

Why are keystone prairie species important (Bison, 5)

Answer 1

• Help to maintain the ecosystem
• Foraging aerates the soil with hooves and transports seeds
• Added nutrients from “bison pies”
• Wallowing creates water holes
• Clear vegetation patches in winter for other animal

Question 2

Why were bison the staple species for Indigenous groups

Answer 2

Excellent source of protein
Regular and observable herd behaviour

Question 3

When was the Early precontact period in the plains and which cultures begun in

Answer 3

• 13,000 – 7,500 BP
• Begins with Clovis and Folsom peoples

Question 4

The plains was the home territory for what tradition

Answer 4

Plano

Question 5

how did the plano point styles differ

Answer 5

differed based upon their attribute, how they were flaked, and then overlapping date ranges

Question 6

What is the Farr site

Answer 6

Oldest intact Plano site in Saskatchewan

Question 7

Describe the late precontact Period (point types, how many intact sites)

Answer 7

Lanceolate
No intact sites

Question 8

Describe the middle precontact period (date, technology, behaviour)

Answer 8

• 7,500 – 1,350 BP
• Major shifts in behaviour
  Atlatl use
  Tipis
  Bison jumps

Question 9

What are Tipis and Tipi rings? When did they first appear? What do they determine

Answer 9

Structures created by covering long wooden poles with hide to
form a cone-shaped dwelling

7,500 BP

• Determine:
• Migrations
• Seasonality
• Household or group size
• Usage

Question 10

What are bison jumps? When were they used

Answer 10

Driving bison herds over a cliff

6000 BP

Question 11

What is the gray site

Answer 11

cemetery
acted as a boundary marker

Question 12

What was the Besant culture (date, traits from which groups, when did they migrate, technology, introduced what to the plains, how did they hunt)

Answer 12

2100-1200
Traits of both Plains and Eastern Woodlands
Migrated during a global warming period for the US
Atlatls
Heavy usage of a type of stone (knife river flint)
Introduced pottery to the plains
hunted using bison jumps and ison pounds

Question 13

Which period was the peak of bison hunting on the plains

Answer 13

Besant period

Question 14

Describe the late precontact period (Date, tech, culture)

Answer 14

1350-250 BP
Adoption of bow and arrow
Avonlea culture

Question 15

Describe the Avonlea (Date, Describe their pottery, subsistence)

Answer 15

1350-1100
Thought that three different regional variations exist for decoration
Bison was still important but they had a more varied diet

Question 16

Did Besant and Avonlea coexist

Answer 16

Sites were mostly re-used and they didnt really get along or coexist

Question 17

What were the two variations of side-notches in arrow heads

Answer 17

Older prairie side-notch which uses smaller arrowheads associated with old woman pottery
Plains using an angular point associated with Mortlach style pottery

Question 18

Were there numerous distinct groups within the plains region at European contact?

Answer 18

Yes

Question 19

Describe the social life of the plains region at European contact

Answer 19

Social life based around bands
Bannds and nations were responsible for their own affairs
There were alliances

Question 20

Describe the relationship between Assiniboine and Cree at European contact? Blackfoot? Migration?

Answer 20

Alliance
Frequently in conflict with Blackfoot
Practiced seasonal migrations

Question 21

Which groups used which side notch points

Answer 21

• Prairie Side Notched points and Old Women’s pottery viewed as ancestral Blackfoot groups
• Plains Side Notched points and Mortlach pottery viewed as ancestral to Assiniboine groups

Question 22

What were the spiritual practices at the time in the plains

Answer 22

Rock art and stone alignment

Question 23

what are stone alignments

Answer 23

• Figures or shapes made from placing stones on the landscape
• Medicine wheels
• Effigies