One in a series of Native American instructional materials, this booklet introduces elementary students to the tribes of the plains culture area, extending from the Rocky Mountains to the Mississippi River and from Texas to Canada. Written in simple language, the booklet begins with a brief description of the region--its extreme climate and the importance of the buffalo, which provided food, clothing, and shelter. Other topics include the design of tipis, the methods of buffalo hunting and the uses made of the buffalo, the Sioux legend of creation, the Lakota language, pictographs and manual signs used to communicate across language groups, beadwork, and the symbols used to decorate Sioux hunting horses. Student activities include constructing a model tipi (patterns and instructions are provided), translating and writing pictograph stories, creating a geometrical beadwork design, and learning a traditional game. Evaluation questions assess the students' ability to describe the plains culture area and compare it with the woodland, desert, and coastal culture areas covered by other booklets in this series. The text refers to films and books containing related information. (JH)