The artwork of Northern Plains Indian Tribes reflects both the ecological and cultural environments in which the Northern Plains Indians live.

Materials used, such as buffalo, deer, and elk hides, deertail hair and porcupine quills and earth color paints, were what was available. Artwork was applied to every utilitarian and ceremonial article that could be decorated.

Traditional artistic expression was not formalized into 'art for art's sake,' but developed from esthetic origins of a more functional nature. It is difficult, if not impossible, to separate a piece of Indian artwork from its cultural environment. Such work can be admired for its technical complexity and its mastery of the media. However, it cannot be fully appreciated without a knowledge of the culture that produced it.

The horse-pastoralist-buffalo hunting economy of the Plains required that the Indian camps move every week or ten days in order to find sufficient grazing land for the horse herd, which might number close to 2000 horses for a single camp.