The range of the American buffalo (or more accurately, bison) used to stretch from the Canadian Great Bear Lake down to Nuevo León in Mexico and east to the western edge of the Appalachian Mountains on the East Coast of the United States. There were truly massive herds of bison roaming this huge tract of land before the 17th century; many of the so-called Indians hunted them almost exclusively and, indeed, based much of their culture around the traditional hunt.
Almost all bison alive today are held in captivity. To be sure, there are many in zoos or on preserves. The majority of all bison, though, are raised for human consumption: 250,000 of the 350,000 remaining buffalo are farmed for food. There is also a large population of "beefalo" - a genetic cross between bison and domestic cattle. Of the 100,000 non-farmed bison, only about 15,000 are considered "wild buffalo." Yes, down from the hundreds of millions of American buffalo that once ranged the land of the Americas and fed the Native Americans, there are only a few thousand left in the wild.
Admittedly, it's better than "a few hundred," but barely. Once there were more American buffalo than people in the North American continent. Even if scavenging was unsuccessful, if the season was unproductive, if other forms of hunting proved a failure, if a drought destroyed any crops the Natives might plant, the bison on the range offered some solace. A skilled group of warrior-hunters could reliably bring home bison meat to feed their families and their community. Admittedly, the American buffalo played little role in the day-to-day nutrition of most Native American peoples, but they often played a great role in the culture and lifestyle of many Native communities. The culture of the hunt was more important than any other singular activity in defining tribes like the Sioux, the Arapaho, and the Cheyenne which depended heavily on the bison population.
As a part of the Indian Wars in the 19th century, when American troops couldn't defeat the Native American tribes allied against them outright, they rounded up and exterminated the buffalo herds for sport and as a form of subjugation. Without the bison herds, Natives could no longer be defiant; they would be forced to depend on Indian agents and their rations. Tied to the reservation, they would be unable to defend themselves proactively. It gave further force to the American theory that Indians needed to be restrained, pacified, civilized, and educated. Deprived of their traditional hunting means and gathering grounds, the reservation system and the Indian bureau could force Indians who had never farmed to learn the "civilized skill."
Then, in 1880, there were literally only "a few hundred of them left." The American buffalo were near extinction, and so were the Native people. Confined to the reservation, and with their children shipped off to re-education boarding schools, the traditional ways of the American Indians were being deliberately erased. The myth of the vanishing Indians ran rampant. Just as there is evidence of a comeback for the American buffalo in recent years, there has been a reclaiming of Native identity in the past century. Thankfully.
You wouldn't know that from quotes like the one that titles this page. A very dear friend uttered this phrase, and I was livid. I simply could not find a way to express it. In many ways, the buffalo is equivalent to the Native, especially to those whose heritage traces to the Plains Indians. To disregard the animal is to disregard the people, not my people necessarily (the Eastern Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Lumbee never really hunted buffalo; we're east of the Appalachians), but definitely those in the heart of Indian Country.
Almost all bison alive today are held in captivity. To be sure, there are many in zoos or on preserves. The majority of all bison, though, are raised for human consumption: 250,000 of the 350,000 remaining buffalo are farmed for food. There is also a large population of "beefalo" - a genetic cross between bison and domestic cattle. Of the 100,000 non-farmed bison, only about 15,000 are considered "wild buffalo." Yes, down from the hundreds of millions of American buffalo that once ranged the land of the Americas and fed the Native Americans, there are only a few thousand left in the wild.
Admittedly, it's better than "a few hundred," but barely. Once there were more American buffalo than people in the North American continent. Even if scavenging was unsuccessful, if the season was unproductive, if other forms of hunting proved a failure, if a drought destroyed any crops the Natives might plant, the bison on the range offered some solace. A skilled group of warrior-hunters could reliably bring home bison meat to feed their families and their community. Admittedly, the American buffalo played little role in the day-to-day nutrition of most Native American peoples, but they often played a great role in the culture and lifestyle of many Native communities. The culture of the hunt was more important than any other singular activity in defining tribes like the Sioux, the Arapaho, and the Cheyenne which depended heavily on the bison population.
As a part of the Indian Wars in the 19th century, when American troops couldn't defeat the Native American tribes allied against them outright, they rounded up and exterminated the buffalo herds for sport and as a form of subjugation. Without the bison herds, Natives could no longer be defiant; they would be forced to depend on Indian agents and their rations. Tied to the reservation, they would be unable to defend themselves proactively. It gave further force to the American theory that Indians needed to be restrained, pacified, civilized, and educated. Deprived of their traditional hunting means and gathering grounds, the reservation system and the Indian bureau could force Indians who had never farmed to learn the "civilized skill."
Then, in 1880, there were literally only "a few hundred of them left." The American buffalo were near extinction, and so were the Native people. Confined to the reservation, and with their children shipped off to re-education boarding schools, the traditional ways of the American Indians were being deliberately erased. The myth of the vanishing Indians ran rampant. Just as there is evidence of a comeback for the American buffalo in recent years, there has been a reclaiming of Native identity in the past century. Thankfully.
You wouldn't know that from quotes like the one that titles this page. A very dear friend uttered this phrase, and I was livid. I simply could not find a way to express it. In many ways, the buffalo is equivalent to the Native, especially to those whose heritage traces to the Plains Indians. To disregard the animal is to disregard the people, not my people necessarily (the Eastern Cherokee, Chickasaw, and Lumbee never really hunted buffalo; we're east of the Appalachians), but definitely those in the heart of Indian Country.
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