• Native Americans relied on the buffalo for their basic needs.Paul E Tessier/Photodisc/Getty Images
  
  Native American tribes who lived on the Great Plains, such as the Kiowa and Sioux, relied on the buffalo, or bison, for their survival. The buffalo provided food, clothing, shelter and the materials to make tools. These tribes used every part of the animal. Since the bison were so important, Native Americans led a nomadic life and followed them across the Plains.
  
  

Weapons

• Native Americans created most of their weapons out of the parts of the buffalo. They used bones to make arrow heads. They would fashion the bone into a triangular form and sharpen the edges. Buffalo sinew was used as bow strings. A warrior's shield was an important protective tool during battle. They made shields by tying a thick piece of buffalo hide to a large hoop and decorating it with designs and feathers. The warrior used his shield to deflect bullets and arrows. In addition to warfare, these tribes also used these weapons to hunt buffalo and other game.
  
  

Awls

• Bones were trimmed and sharpened into needles and awls for sewing. Women used needles to sew clothing. When making tepees, they used awls to punch holes in the thick rawhide to make sewing easier. The thread was made from buffalo sinew.
  
  

Knives

• Plains tribes used the hooves, horn and bones of the buffalo to make knives. They boiled the hooves to make glue. The horn served as the handle of the knife. After sharpening the bone to fashion a blade, the Native Americans used the glue from the hooves to attach the bone inside the open end of the horn.
  
  

Gardening Tools

• In many Native American tribes, women worked gardens. They fashioned tools, such as hoes and shovels, from the bones of buffaloes. A shovel, or spade, was created by tying a long wooden handle to a buffalo shoulder blade. People made hoes by attaching smaller bones to a wooden handle. Women used spades to dig holes to plant corn. They used hoes to tend and cultivate the crops as they grew.
  
  

Scrapers

• Native Americans made scraping tools out of buffalo bones. They fashioned scrapers of all sizes and sharpened the edges. People used scrapers to stretch the hide when tanning buffalo skin or making weapons.