Buffalo, the lifeblood of the great Plains
The buffalo were in abundance, sitting at a total of around 40-60 million in numbers during pre-Columbian times. However, despite the abundance of buffalo, Native Americans had to be very resourceful with every buffalo that they killed. Native Americans made use of every part of the Buffalo for food, tools, and even housing. One of the most important aspects of the buffalo was food. Native Americans made sure to eat every part of the buffalo, eating not only the meat, but also the heart, liver, tongue, and bone marrow, which were very nutritious. Native Americans also made use of the buffalo’s skin. Buffalo skin would have its hair removed and would be dried in order to make parfleche. Parfleche was an extremely important resource that was used for carrying belongings and for storage. It was also used for clothing and as tipi coverings. Native Americans also made use of the discarded hair by using it to stuff pillows. Other parts of the buffalo were used to make a vast array of tools from needles to farming equipment. Weapons, such as clubs and arrowheads, were also made from the bones of the buffalo. Making sure not to put any part of the buffalo to waste, Native Americans even used buffalo manure as fire fuel.
Although the buffalo was great for practical purposes, the animal also had an important role in Native American spirituality. Buffalo were a prized animal that were hunted by Native Americans, so naturally, religious festivals were utilized as a means for a good hunting season. Some tribes would use Buffalo skulls as religious altars. Buffalo skin was also used as canvases for art and special skins were used to communicate a message. For example, a warrior might wear a skin which had art on it depicting a moment of heroism, or someone might wear a skin with symbols of healing if they were sick. The Buffalo was an extremely important animal for many NativeAmericans living in the Great Plains that allowed for the nomadic lifestyle that many of the Great Plains Native Americans had.
Unfortunately, buffalo populations in the modern day have decreased significantly since their pre-Columbian days. Currently, there are 530,000 buffalo on private and public land, and only 15,000 roaming the wild. Although it sounds like a considerable amount of buffalo, 545,000 buffalo is still a far cry from its pre-Columbian population of 30 million. However, the situation for buffalo used to be even worse. In 1902, there was an estimate of only 702 buffalo in the United States. This was caused by the mass hunting of buffalo, which was encouraged to make way for expansion of railroads in the United States. This gave easier access to America’s frontier, but would lead to the over-hunting of the buffalo population. This resulted in a staggering 1.5 million buffalo being killed every year during the mid 1800s. However, the situation for the buffalo has been improving. The American Buffalo was put off of the endangered list in 2011 and conservation efforts have helped improve the buffalo population.
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