What languages were spoken by Plains Indians?

Answer 1

Each tribe spoke its own language or dialect (a variant form of a language), which is the reason for the development of Plains Sign language, so that all the tribes of the region could communicate with each other.

For the purely Plains tribes the languages are:

• Blackfoot, Piegan and Blood tribes.....Blackfoot language (belonging to the Algonquian group)
• Atsina.................................................Atsina language (belonging to the Algonquian group)
• Sarci...................................................Sarci (an Athapaskan language)
• Crow...................................................Crow language (belonging to the large Siouan group)
• Assiniboin............................................Assiniboin (a Siouan language)
• Teton Sioux..........................................Lakota dialect
• Cheyenne.............................................Soo'taa'e and Cheyenne languages (both Algonquian)
• Arapaho................................................Arapaho language (Algonquian)
• Kiowa....................................................Kiowa (unrelated to any other)
• Kiowa-Apache.......................................an Apache dialect (an Athapaskan language)
• Comanche..............................................Comanche (a Shoshonean language)

It is totally wrong to think that every tribe spoke the same language. Each tribe spoke its own language or dialect (a variant form of a language), which is the reason for the development of Plains Sign language, so that all the tribes of the region could communicate with each other.

Answer 2

CADDOAN

• Arikara
• Pawnee
• Kitsai
• Wichita
• Caddo
• Jumano (?)

ATHAPASKAN

• Sarcee
• Kiowa Apache
• Jicarilla
• Lipan
• Jumano (?)

SIOUAN

• Mandan
• Hidatsa
• Crow
• Assiniboine
• Stoney
• Santee-Sisseton
• Yankton-Yanktonai
• Teton
• Iowa
• Otoe
• Missouria
• Winnebago*
• Omaha
• Ponca
• Osage
• Kanza (Kaw)
• Quapaw*

ALGONQUIAN

• Blackfoot
• Arapaho
• Atsina
• Cheyenne
• Sutai
• Plains Cree
• Plains Ojibwa
• Kickapoo*
• Fox-Sauk*
• Peoria*
• Miami*
• Kaskaskia*
• Ottawa*
• Potawatomi*
• Shawnee*
• Delaware*

IROQUOIAN

• Cherokee*
• Seneca*
• Wyandotte*

MUSCOGEAN

• Choctaw*
• Chickasaw*
• Creek*
• Seminole*

UTO-AZTECAN

• Shoshone
• Comanche
• Jumano (?)

TANOAN

• Kiowa
• Jumano (?)

KLAMATH-MODOC

• Modec*

SAHAPTIAN

• Nez Perce*

ISOLATES

• Tonkawa