The native peoples of the great plains and mountains in this part of our country are horsemen, hunters and warriors. Some of these Plains Indians tribes include the Cheyenne, Crow, Blackfoot, Arapaho and Shoshoni. A website with lots of information about shields is found at snowwowl.com.

Shields were carried by hunters and warriors. These shields works of art as well as handy weapons to have during a fight. They were made of tough buffalo skin stretched over bent wood, and decorated with special pictures, symbols, feathers, beads and good-luck charms. Traditional shields are shown in museums, highly valued by collectors of native art, and new shields are created by artists today.

You can make a replica of a Plains Indian shield to decorate your bedroom wall. Here's what you'll need:

• Cardboard cut into a circle, square or triangle
• Paint...tempera, poster or acrylic paint...and a paintbrush
• Cloth, like natural colored muslin or burlap
• White glue
• Scissors
• Feathers
• Colored string