The first week of this Festival focuses on the people of the Northern Plains (North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska and Kansas), particularly on the occupational life-styles related to agriculture and livestock. This is the region that is called the "breadbasket" and includes the beautiful but lonely prairie. The economy of the area is based on grain crops, feed crops, and livestock production. The geography of the area is wide, flat expanses blanketed by long, deep winters. The settlers of this region learned to be self-sufficient, skilled users of every shred of available material; e.g. they constructed houses from prairie sod and baled hay