DRAWN BY THE BISON LATE PREHISTORIC NATIVE MIGRATION INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS LAUREN W. RITTERBUSH Popular images of the Great Plains frequently for instance, are described as relying heavily portray horse-mounted Indians engaged in on bison meat for food and living a nomadic dramatic bison hunts. The importance of these lifestyle in tune with the movements of the hunts is emphasized by the oft-mentioned de­ bison. More sedentary farming societies, such pendence of the Plains Indians on bison. This as the Mandan, Hidatsa, Pawnee, Oto, and animal served as a source of not only food but Kansa, incorporated seasonal long-distance also materials for shelter, clothing, contain­ bison hunts into their annual subsistence, ers, and many other necessities of life. Pursuit which also included gardening. In each case, of the vast bison herds (combined with the multifamily groups formed bands or tribal en­ needs of the Indians' horses for pasturage) af­ tities of some size that cooperated with one fected human patterns of subsistence, mobil­ another during formal bison hunts and other ity, and settlement. The Lakota and Cheyenne, community activities.! Given the importance of bison to these people living on the Great Plains, it is often assumed that a similar pattern of utilization existed in prehistory. Indeed, archeological KEY WORDS: migration, bison, Central Plains, studies have shown that bison hunting was Oneota, Central Plains tradition key to the survival of Paleoindian peoples of the Plains as early as 11,000 years ago. 2 If we Lauren W. Ritterbush is Assistant Professor of Anthropology at Kansas State University. She is an combine archeological information about this archeologist with primary research interests in very early period of prehistoric existence with prehistoric hunter-gatherer-gardeners and the processes documentation of the historic era, it seems of human adaptation to the Great Plains. plausible to interpret that focused bison hunt­ ing was the mainstay of Indian societies throughout the millennia of native occupa­ [GPQ 22(Fall 2002): 259-701 tion of the Plains. 259 260 GREAT PLAINS QUARTERLY, FALL 2002 Upon close examination of the archeologi­ decisions to migrate and in adjusting to the cal record, however, we find that bison hunt­ Plains. There are no simple explanations of ing was not equally important to all past Plains the process of migration; rather, it is a com­ societies. During the Late Prehistoric period plex interaction of environmental and social (A.D. 1000-1500), for instance, indigenous factors. The presence of bison does not pro­ societies of the Central Plains were not heavily vide a single explanation for occupation of reliant on bison hunting.3 These societies or­ the Plains. Yet, for certain Oneota peoples ganized themselves around individual house­ this variable interplayed with social structures holds and depended on the harvesting of a to influence human movements and adjust­ wide variety of locally available wild and do­ ments. Through a dynamic perspective of the mestic resources. This pattern of subsistence, past we see not only changing populations with limited interest in bison, proved success­ and adaptations but also the changing role of ful given the small-scale social organization of bison in human societies. This reminds us that these societies. A change toward more focused the common image of Plains Indians as a bison hunting developed in the Central Plains monoculture of bison hunters was neither all­ late in prehistory, not by indigenous Plains encompassing at anyone time nor pervasive populations but by groups that migrated into throughout the long period of human occupa­ the region in the thirteenth or fourteenth cen­ tion of the Plains region. tury.4 These immigrants came from the east and were likely Siouan rather than Caddo an CENTRAL PLAINS TRADITION speakers. They organized themselves in groups (villages) of linked households. Archeologists Identifying and untaveling the factors in­ refer to this cultural manifestation as the volved in migration into the Central Plains Oneota tradition.s With the entry of Oneota starts by understanding the indigenous peoples peoples into the Central Plains, indigenous who lived in this region during the early por­ households shifted their settlements, making tion of the Late Prehistoric period. Archeolo­ room for the more cohesive and potentially gists refer to these people and cultures as the aggressive population.6 Central Plains tradition (CPt). Numerous sites The exact reason for westward Oneota mi­ identified with this archeological tradition gration is difficult to discern. It appears that have been studied in Nebraska, Kansas, east­ abundant bison resources played an impor­ ern Iowa, and northwestern Missouri and pro­ tant role in drawing them into the heart of vide us with valuable data for interpreting past the Plains. 7 Preexisting social structures and lifeways. The majority of CPt sites are rela­ modes ofliving allowed large-scale bison hunt­ tively small and consist of one to three lodges. ing to be successfully incorporated into the House floor plans indicate that these struc­ already mixed subsistence base of Oneota cul­ tures were commonly subrectangular with an ture.1t is this adaptation, developed prior to extended entryway. Four central and a series the introduction of the horse and contact with of smaller wall posts upheld the superstruc­ European peoples, that came to characterize ture of beams, thatch, and earth. A central many of the sedentary bison-hunting groups firepit suggests an opening in the roof for ven­ of the eastern Plains during the historic pe­ tilation. These structures were substantial riod. (nonportable) homes that required some in­ This study of prehistoric human migration vestment of labor and resources. Their design into the Central Plains provides insight into was well suited to the climatic extremes of the this region's past, its people, and the processes region. As such, these shelters likely served as of human adaptation and change. It reveals year-round home bases for CPt households. the diversity of adaptations developed by dif­ New houses were built nearby or in other lo­ ferent populations and the factors involved in calities as social situations changed or the DRAWN BY THE BISON 261 structures deteriorated or were destroyed (for that hunting was done with the bow and ar­ example, by fire).8 row. Although tools made of bison bone show These habitations are scattered along ma­ that bison were hunted, their remains are not jor and tributary stream valleys throughout abundant at CPt sites. Various explanations much of the Central Plains. On the smallest can be hypothesized for this low density. Bi­ scale, typical CPt settlements consisted of one son may have been butchered away from liv­ or two households, likely composed of close ing sites so that only meat removed from the kin. Other households were nearby in similar bone was returned to the site. The rarity of settlements along the same or neighboring CPt hunting camps does not lend support to valleys. Individual houses appear to have been this hypothesis. Environmental conditions occupied for relatively short periods of time may have resulted in low bison populations in (an estimated five to ten years). Larger sites the Central Plains at this time, limiting the containing as many as two to three dozen availability of bison. Cultural patterns may lodges have been identified, but rather than also explain the limited presence of bison re­ villages, these were localities reoccupied by a mains at CPt sites. Faunal studies indicate that series of families over an extended period of locally available resources were harvested, time. including a wide variety of large and small The location of CPt settlements along the animals.9 This finding is supported by the di­ stream valleys of the Plains provided easy ac­ versity of faunal remains at five CPt sites in cess to a wide variety of resources. Rich soils the northern Flint Hills of Kansas. 10 The oc­ allowed the natural growth of diverse wild cupants of these sites hunted the large game plants and the raising of corn, beans, squash, animals bison, elk, deer, and pronghorn. In and sunflowers. Hoes made from bison scapu­ addition, they hunted or trapped cottontail, lae (shoulder blades) or large mussel shells raccoon, squirrel, and other mammals and birds and picks made from bison leg bones were used of the riparian forests and adjacent grasslands. to dig roots and tubers and work the soil. Af­ Aquatic resources were harvested through ter harvest, wild seeds, roots, tubers, and gar­ hunting, trapping, and collecting beaver, wa­ den produce were processed with various tools. terfowl, turtles, mussels, and possibly frogs and Deer jaws or mussel shells were used to re­ toads. Fish such as catfish, gar, and bullhead move corn kernels from the cob, while lime­ were obtained using fishhooks and possibly stone and sandstone slabs and handstones were other means. All these animals were available employed for grinding seeds and cracking nuts. in habitats located within easy walking dis­ Scapulae were also shaped into knives for cut­ tance of the occupation sites and likely in suf­ ting relatively soft materials such as squash, ficient quantities to support the limited which could then be dried for future use. Dried number of individuals occupying each habita­ produce was stored below ground in pits. Much tion. The faunal assemblage of the Hulme site of the cooking was done in ceramic vessels. in south-central Nebraska also reflects a lo­ Clay for the manufacture of these pots was cally focused and diversified subsistence base. readily available in the stream valleys, as well The most prevalent animal remains here were as in some upland areas of the region where those of pronghorn and deer. Nonetheless, residual rather than alluvial clays were present. numerous other species and types of animal The stream valleys and adjacent uplands are represented in the assemblage from this were rich in animal resources.