While many tribes inhabited the immense tract of land called The Great Plains, interacting with their environment, neighboring tribes, and even European explorers and trappers for centuries, two decades prior to the Civil War brought tremendous changes due to increased tensions in the East and legislation enacted by Washington -- The Homestead Act of 1882. Nancy Gillis will examine why and how these changes occured on the plains for the tribes by looking at changes in foods, clothing, housing, family structure, gender roles, land control and political relationships.