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American Bison are now bread in capivity, with numerous plans to reintroduce them in protected environments.

Cattle grazing on the golden plains where the buffalo once roamed.

A vast dust storm caused by winds of up to 50kmph covers parts of Colorado and Kansas. The continental climate on the Plains causes extreme changes in weather.

Buffalo were hunted to near extinction. Herds are slowly being reintroduced back onto the Great Plains.

1845 - This painting by John Mix Stanley depicts Plains Indians hunting buffalo on horseback.

1897 - A dried-up buffalo wallow on the Kansas plains. Buffalo would roll in these shallow ponds to cool off and get rid of pests.

1800s - Plains Indian women similar to the Potawatomi preparing a meal and dressing a buffalo hide for use in clothing and shelter.

Native American cultures were divided by geophysical regions. The Great Plains is one of the largest.

1847 - Herman H. Powell's depiction of the Spanish conquistadors who reintroduced horses to America.

Bison, which once roamed the plains in their thousands, are now part of carefully managed schemes to reintroduce the species across America.

Bison were once present throughout most of North America: plains bison (dark), wood bison (mid) and Holocene bison (light) existed in huge numbers.

A famous 1901 edition of the ten dollar note, featuring a bison.

Cimarron National Grassland in Kansas is typical of grassland on the Great Plains that sustained staggering numbers of buffalo for millenia.

1891 - The desolate poverty on the Indian reservations.

The Great Lakes region from where the Potawatomi originated.

The Tallgrass Prairie National Reserve in Kansas is the best example of how the Great Plains used to look.

1921 - Indian villages on reservations were a mix of tipis, reminiscent of their nomadic lifestyle, and permanent buildings.

Native tribes were moved onto land unsuitable for farming. This is the state of the soil on the Navajo reservation.

1909 - A native family sit with their wagon after being moved onto a reservation.

1914 - Even though Indians moved into permanent housing, they still preferred to have traditional wigwams nearby.

The Lower Brule reservation on the Great Plains. Tribes uphold their own laws on their reservations.

c.1900 - A Plains tribe with tipis made of buffalo hide.

The big skies of the Great Plains contrast with the patchwork farmland of Kansas.

Reminders of Native American culture are apparent across modern America.

Traditional native crafts such as totem pole carving are still practiced today.

An elaborately decorated example of one of the approximately 330 Indian casinos in North America.

Sculptures exist to commemorate Native American culture.

For most tribes on the reservations, life carries on as it has since removal. These children have grown up on their reservation on the Great Plains.

Native Americans maintain their cultural practices despite being removed from their homes.

The buffalo is used as the symbol for Kansas on the new US quarter coins.

Maize remains an important symbol of the Native American tradition.