Buffalo and the Plains Indians

We Indians of the Plains had reverence for all living things, especially the American buffalo, or bison. He was part of our religion. He was mysterious and powerful.

Among the Mandan, a white buffalo skin was the best thing a man could own. He would trade many horses for one.

Whenever the great herds approached, special songs were sung and dances held. It was believed this would make the buffalo come close to the camps. Karl Bodmer painted these scenes of the buffalo calling dance of Mandan. Dancers wore huge masks of the entire buffalo heads. Each dancer imitated all the movements and sounds of the animal.

Hunting buffalo was an important part of our lives. We killed only as many as we needed, and afterward, we divided the animals evenly among one another. Very little of the animal was left behind.

Buffalo skins were used for tipis, also as blankets. From them we also made robes and moccasins, shields, snowshoes, and carrying bags called parfleches. Boats were made by stretching a buffalo hide over bent willow branches. Sinew, from the long muscles from the backbone, served as sewing thread. Shorter tendons used for bow strings. Spoons were made from buffalo horns, and hooves were used to make glue. Nothing was wasted, every part of the buffalo was used. Even the buffalo's skull was used in religious ceremonies as an altar, a reminder of the buffalo's gift.

Pioneers, hunters and trappers almost wiped out the great herds of buffalo. Hunters and fur traders shot millions for their hides, many merely for sport. Sometimes only the buffalo's tongues were cut out and sold. This needless killing made life very hard for our people.

By 1889, there were only 550 buffalo left alive in all the United States. All the buffalo would soon be gone unless something was done to save them. The first conservation laws ever formulated were made to protect this magnificent animal. Today, there are over 150,000 bison across this country and in Canada. Several tribes in North Dakota have also acquired their own buffalo herds.

The buffalo were free, we were free. Those were good years. Although the buffalo no longer cover these hills, we Indians still remember and practice a brotherhood with all living things. As Black Elk said "Once we were happy in our own country and we were seldom hungry. For the two leggeds and the four leggeds lived together like relatives."

This introduction was adapted from the United Tribes Educational Resources' program "Tatanka"