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Much of the Plains are now converted land use-wise to farming. While these states are for the most part relatively flat, consisting either of plains or of rolling and small hills, there is a measure of geographical variation. In particular, the eastern Midwest near the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains ; the Great Lakes Basin ; the Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri; the rugged topography of Southern Indiana and far Southern Illinois; and the Driftless Area of northwest Illinois, southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, and northeast Iowa exhibit a high degree of topographical variety.
Proceeding westward, the Appalachian Plateau topography gradually gives way to gently rolling hills and then in central Ohio to flat lands converted principally to farms and urban areas.
This is the beginning of the vast Interior Plains of North America. As a result, prairies cover most of the Great Plains states. Iowa and much of Illinois lie within an area called the "prairie peninsula", an eastward extension of prairies that borders conifer and mixed forests to the north, and hardwood deciduous forests to the east and south. The Lowlands are mostly below 1, feet above sea level whereas the Great Plains to the west are higher, rising in Colorado to around 5, feet.
Missouri and Arkansas have regions of Lowlands elevations but in the Ozarks within the Interior Highlands are higher.
Those familiar with the topography of eastern Ohio may be confused by this; that region is hilly but its rocks are horizontal and are an extension of the Appalachian Plateau. These rivers have for tens of millions of years been eroding downward into the mostly horizontal sedimentary rocks of Paleozoic , Mesozoic , and Cenozoic ages.
The modern Mississippi River system has developed during the Pleistocen Epoch of the Cenozoic Eraut its rocks are horizontal and are an extension of the Appalachian Plateau. Rainfall decreases from east to west, resulting in different types of prairies, with the tallgrass prairie in the wetter eastern region, mixed-grass prairie in the central Great Plains , and shortgrass prairie towards the rain shadow of the Rockies.
Although hardwood forests in the northern Midwest were clear-cut in the late 19th century, they were replaced by new growth. Ohio and Michigan 's forests are still growing. The majority of the Midwest can now be categorized as urbanized areas or pastoral agricultural areas.
American Indians came to North America through the Beringia land bridge between Asia and North America anywhere from 12, to , years ago. According to the study of ancient Indian skulls by scientists, these people display affinities with populations as diverse as the Ainu of Japan , peoples of central Asia, Australasia , India , southwest Asia, and the Neandertals of Europe.
Prior to European colonization in North America, Native Americans had developed a large population in this vast land, estimated as between 1 million to 18 million, scattered across all of North America. There were many different tribes which belong to several main cultures and societies. In Midwestern America, the American Indians had experienced three main periods before the arrival of Europeans in the 17th century. Paleoindian cultures was the earliest one, occupied North America, with some restricted to the Great Plains and Great Lakes of the modern United States and Canada, as well as adjacent areas to the west and southwest from about 12, B.
These people moved into North America when the continental glaciers of the last great ice age, the Wisconsin glaciation, began to melt. Following the Paleo-Indian period is the Archaic period 8, B. Archeological evidence indicates that Mississippi culture probably began in the St. Louis , Missouri area and spread northwest along the Mississippi and Illinois rivers and entered the state along the Kankakee River system. The Mississippi period was characterized by a mound-building culture. The namesake cultural trait of the mound builders was their construction of large, truncated earthwork pyramid mounds, or platform mounds , and other earthworks.
These burial and ceremonial structures were typically flat-topped pyramids or platform mounds , flat-topped or rounded cones, elongated ridges, and sometimes a variety of other forms.
Domestic houses, temples, burial buildings were usually constructed on the tops of such mounds. Prehistoric mounds are common from the plains of the Midwest to the Atlantic seaboard , but only in this general area was there a culture that regularly constructed mounds in the shape of mammals, birds, or reptiles. Among the most well known are found at Effigy Mounds National Monument in northeastern Iowa, the largest known collection of mounds in the United States.
The monument contains 2, acres The others are conical, linear and compound. Woodland period Indians built mounds from about BC until the early European contact period.
When the American prairies were plowed under by European settlers for agriculture, many mound sites were lost. They were built as part of complex villages that attracted more dense populations, with a specialization of skills and knowledge.
The best-known, flat-topped pyramidal structure, which at over feet 30 m tall is the largest pre-Columbian earthwork north of Mexico , is Monks Mound at Cahokia Indian Mounds in Collinsville, Illinois. The mound builders included many different tribal groups and chiefdoms, involving an array of beliefs and unique cultures over thousands of years. The general term covered their shared architectural practice of earthwork mound construction. This practice, believed to be associated with a cosmology that had a cross-cultural appeal, may indicate common cultural antecedents.
Mississippi Mound tribes in the Midwest were mostly farmers who followed the rich, flat floodplains of Midwestern rivers. They brought with them a well-developed agricultural complex based on three major crops — maize , beans , and squash. Maize, or corn , was the primary crop of Mississippi farmers. They gathered a wide variety of seeds, nuts, and berries, and fished and hunted for fowl to supplement their diets. With such an intensive form of agriculture , Mississippi Mound culture supported a large Indian population.
The Great Lakes region —stretching from New York to Minnesota — has played a vital role in the lives and histories of Native American peoples who have resided along their shores for millennia. Most numerous were the Hurons and Chippewas. Fighting and battle were often launched between tribes, with some tribes forced to move around. Most Indian groups living in the Great Lakes region for the last five centuries are of the Algonquian language family.
Some tribes—such as the Stockbridge-Munsee and the Brothertown--are also Algonkian-speaking tribes who relocated from the eastern seaboard to the Great Lakes region in the 19th century. American Indians in this area did not develop a written form of language.
In the 16th century, American Indians used projectiles and tools of stone, bone, and wood to hunt and farm. They could made canoes for fishing. Most of them lived in oval or conical wigwams that could be easily moved away. Various tribes had different ways of living. The Ojibwas were primarily hunters and fishing was also important in the Ojibwas economy. Other tribes such as Sac, Fox, and Miami, who wandered in the south and southwestern section of the Great Lakes region, both hunted and farmed to make their living.
They were oriented toward the open prairies where they engaged in communal hunts for buffalo. In the northern forests, the Ottawas and Potawatomis separated into small family groups for hunting. The Winnebagos and Menominees used both hunting methods interchangeably and built up widespread trade networks extending as far west as the Rockies, north to the Great Lakes, south to the Gulf of Mexico , and east to the Atlantic Ocean.
The Hurons reckoned descent through the female line, while the others favored the patrilineal method. All tribes were governed under chiefdoms or complex chiefdoms. For example, Hurons were divided into matrilineal clans, each represented by a chief in the town council, where they met with a town chief on civic matters.
The religious beliefs varied among tribes. Hurons believed in Yoscaha, a supernatural being who lived in the sky and was believed to have created the world and the Huron people.
At death, Hurons thought the soul left the body to live in a village in the sky. Chippewas were a deeply religious people who believed in the Great Spirit. Ottawa and Potawatomi people had very similar religious beliefs to that of the Chippewas. The Plains Indians are the indigenous peoples who live on the plains and rolling hills of the Great Plains of North America. Their colorful equestrian culture and resistance to white domination have made the Plains Indians archetypical in literature and art for American Indians everywhere.
Plains Indians are usually divided into two broad classifications which overlap to some degree. The first group were fully nomadic, following the vast herds of buffalo. Some tribes occasionally engaged in agriculture; growing tobacco and corn primarily. The second group of Plains Indians sometimes referred to as Prairie Indians were the semi-sedentary tribes who, in addition to hunting buffalo, lived in villages and raised crops.
The nomadic tribes of the Great Plains survived on hunting , and the bison was their main source of food. Some tribes are described as part of the 'Buffalo Culture' sometimes called, for the American Bison. Although the Plains Indians hunted other animals, such as elk or antelope , bison was the primary game food source and the chief source for items which Plains Indians made from their flesh, hide and bones, such as food, cups, decorations, crafting tools, knives, and clothing.
See Bison hunting. The tribes followed the seasonal grazing and migration of bison. The Plains Indians lived in teepees because they were easily disassembled and allowed the nomadic life of following game. When Spanish horses were obtained, the Plains tribes rapidly integrated them into their daily lives. By the early 18th century, many tribes had fully adopted a horse culture.
Before their adoption of guns, the Plains Indians hunted with spears , bows , and bows and arrows , and various forms of clubs. The use of horses by the Plains Indians made hunting and warfare much easier. Among the most powerful and dominant tribes were the Dakota or Sioux , who occupied large amounts of territory in the Great Plains of the Midwest. The area of the Great Sioux Nation spread throughout the South and Midwest, up into the areas of Minnesota and stretching out west into the Rocky Mountains.
At the same time, they occupied the heart of prime buffalo range and also an excellent region for furs which could be sold to French and American traders for goods such as guns. To get this broad-based view, we asked SurveyMonkey Audience to ask self-identified Midwesterners which states make the cut.
We ran a national survey that targeted the Midwest from March 12 to March 17, with 2, respondents. We then asked this group to identify the states they consider part of the Midwest. There are a lot of things here worth looking into.
Everybody selected at least one state for the question. But even Illinois — home of the preeminent Midwestern city, Chicago — was identified as Midwestern by just about 80 percent of respondents.
Contrast this with our soon-to-be-released Southern survey, in which people were somewhat adamant about which states make the group.
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