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The Plains Indians had several religious items that held a meaning to them. One of them was this ceremonial peace pipe. This smoking pipe was considered a sign of peace in their rituals. Herbal tobacco was put smoking during these special rituals.

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The Buffalo Dance was a spiritual celebration that took place annually in winter. The celebration took place at around the time the bison herds returned and many aspects were a reflection of this. A feast was typically held and dancing  occurred with a number of men wearing animal skins(usually buffalo)

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Feathers are a major part of Plains Indian Culture. Respected warriors and leaders of the Plains Indian tribes wore a type of headdress called a war bonnet, which they added a feather to for each selfless act committed. Eagle feathers are seen as the highest honor, as they're regarded by the Plains Indians as the most powerful of birds. Their feathers are earned trough extremely honorable and courageous acts, usually in battle.

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This is an image of a Plains Indian Shaman. In order to become a Shaman, the person's prayers had to be answered by the Wakan Tanka.

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1.)https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Plains_Indians#:~:text=The%20Plains%20Indians%20followed%20no,Tanka%20(the%20Great%20Spirit).

2.)http://firstpeoplesofcanada.com/fp_groups/fp_plains5.html

3.) https://www.britannica.com/topic/Sun-Dance

4.)http://plainshumanities.unl.edu/encyclopedia/doc/egp.rel.001

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The Plains Indians had several interactions with European Christian settlers and their missionaries, though the European settlers would tend to disrupt their religious lifestyle and result in conflict. Countries like Spain and eventually, the United States, would attempt to convert these Plains Indians to Christianity and put them into agricultural fields. This agricultural lifestyle disrupted their nomadic lifestyles completely. This would've prevented many connections with spirits and made rituals difficult to perform. This is what would eventually cause armed conflicts, such as the fights between the Sioux Tribe and US Forces in 1862. When the US won, the Sioux considered this so disruptive to their religious life and beliefs, that they claimed that Christianity was the more powerful religion and were forced to convert.

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Before the Spanish's exploration of the America's, Plains Indians used dogs to transport their belongings on sleds. After obtaining Spanish horses, their culture quickly changed to accommodate the new species , and they fully adopted a horse culture in the eighteenth century.

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The Sun Dance is one of the most sacred ceremonies to the Plain Indians of North America. The ceremony was held by each tribe and usually was held in late spring or early summer. This was due to the grouping of buffalo that occurred at this time, which provided more than enough food for the attendees.
The initiate the ceremony, a large dance structure with a large pole in the center was erected and symbolized a connection to the divine as embodied as the sun. Those who pledged to do the Sun Dance, were to begin dancing at the appointed hour and do so for several days and several nights, all without eating or drinking. Only accomplished by the most committed of individuals, Piercing involved placing skewers into the supplicants upper chest or upper back after which a mentor would tie a heavy object such as a buffalo skull to the skewers using leather thongs. The dancer then dragged the object along the ground, only stopping when they fell to exhaustion or tore themselves free.
The ultimate purpose of the ritual is to ensure tribal well-being.

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The Plains Indians held heavy animistic beliefs of the world around them, believing that everything was possessed by a spirit of some sort. While because of this, their beliefs may have varied depending on the tribe, most Plains Indians did believe in a central spirit/god, the Wakan Tanka. Those blessed by the Wakan Tanka were shamans that could decide hunting times, heal the injured, and lead their tribe. They also believed in the power of the Earth, the mother of all spirits. Besides the Wakan Tanka and the Earth, the Plains Indians did their best to please many other spirits for their aid. One way they did this was through "Vision Quests," which involved going to an isolated place of some sort, fasting, and asking the spirits for help. The spirits would appear in their dreams and grant guidance to them. These Vision Quests were seen as rights of passage into the tribe life. The religion of the Plains Indians, overall, is very animistic and ritualistic in nature. A lot of their arts and crafts reflect this, which are based on their religion and way of living.