Geography and Climate of the Great Plains essays

Geography and Climate of the Great Plains essays The geography and climate of the Great Plains area of the United States has seen some changes in the past, and will assuredly see changes in the future. These changes have affected the people and land of that area, and forced them adapt, improvise and overcome. As a primary example, the native Indian tribes of the Great Plains area would have to adjust their lifestyle due to a climate or geography changes and the impact upon varieties of plants, animals and sacred sites used for traditional economies and religious purposes. Cultural and ceremonial traditions often require specific indigenous species and access to specific locations, and if said locations or species of plants etc are disturbed, the Great Plains Indians have a cultural problem. Tribal obligations between the peoples of the area raise the relationship between what might happen to distant regional environments and the local reservation. Many members have therefore left the reservations to look for work in urban areas once a climate or geographical change has occurred. This was dramatically seen in the extreme weather conditions of the winter and spring of 1997. Many northern Plains tribes, such as Standing Rock and the Cheyenne River Reservations, were hit with extreme snowfalls which paralyzed transportation and communication for weeks at a time. As the weather warmed, localized flooding caused problems with homes and crops on some of these reservations. Both situations taxed the limited financial resources of area tribes. However, the extreme flooding and evacuation of cities like Grand Forks, North Dakota caused further strain on reservation resources, because family members who had left for urban areas would come home to reservations like Standing Rock a nd Turtle Mountain in order to help. Another example would be the current melting of Rocky Mountain glaciers, which has critical consequences on the Northern Plains water resources and Indian water rights. Genera...