Importance of the Buffalo to the Plains Indians

To the Indians living on Great Plains (Plains Indians) the buffalo was one of their most precious resources. Most of these Indians were nomadic and followed the buffalo because of this reason. The Indians hunted the buffalo with many techniques. One of these was dressing in fox and buffalo skins and surrounding them very slowly and then in one quick move they would target a couple and take them down with spears and bows. Another way was to drive them off a small cliff where some would be waiting at the bottom to kill the buffalo who were only crippled.To these Indians it was considered dishonorable to waste parts of any animal and the buffalo was no exception. When a buffalo was killed it was dragged back to where the Indians were camped. From there the women would prepare all parts of the buffalo from its horns to its meat. The meat would be dried and saved for winter. The hide would be made into clothing and hair into rope and stuffing. They also used the organs and everything else for various purposes.This was how the Indians lived up until settlers started pushing west into the Great Plains. These people didn’t like the Indians at all and hunted the buffalo for sport and for fun. However they overhunted them and caused the buffalo population to plummet. One theory why this was allowed was because of the fact that it would force the Indians to adopt the new culture and submit to the Europeans. However they just destroyed one of the most environmentally oriented tribes.Site 1Site 2Buffalo Population

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