Buffalo and the Plains Indians

The buffalo were essential to the Plains Indians, and other Native American nations, as they were not only a vital food source but were regarded as a sacred gift the Creator had provided especially for the people. Buffalo (bison) supplied Native Americans with the resources that sustained them physically, culturally, and spiritually.Among Plains Indian nations including the Sioux, Cheyenne, Arapaho, Blackfoot, Pawnee, Kiowa, Mandan, and Comanche – as well as over 20 others – the American bison (commonly referred to as buffalo) was essential to every aspect of their daily lives, and today it is still honored by these nations in the same way. Commenting on the importance of the buffalo to Native Americans, historian Richard B. Williams notes:Between c. 1840-1890, with the approval and encouragement of the US government, millions of buffalo were slaughtered primarily to deprive the Plains Indians of their major resource and allow for the westward expansion of Euro-American settlements. The large herds of buffalo, and the nomadic Plains Indians, impeded initiatives such as the transcontinental railroad and so were regarded as obstacles to be eliminated. White buffalo hunters, US military, merchants, and white settlers all engaged in the systematic slaughter of the buffalo to deprive the Plains Indian nations of their livelihood and drive them, along with the buffalo, to extinction.

At the height of the Plains Indians culture, there were over 60 million buffalo in the region now known as the United States, but by 1900, there were less than 300 (no more than 1,000) due primarily to the orchestrated slaughter of the animals by the US government and east coast business concerns to eradicate the Plains Indians or, at least, to "manage" them on reservations. Both the buffalo and the Plains Indians nations survived, however, and today these nations and others work constantly to repopulate their regions with buffalo herds.

Origin Tales & Rituals

Every Plains Indian nation has an origin story concerning the buffalo, and in each one, the animal is recognized as a sacred gift from the Creator. Cheyenne legends of the buffalo relate how the first herd was given to the people by the supernatural savior figure of Grandmother (who appears in many stories concerning the gifts of the spirit world) after a show of exceptional bravery by three Cheyenne hunters in entering a mysterious cave. In the Cheyenne story Falling Star, the hero Hotoketana'ohtse ("Falling Star") provides the people with buffalo after tricking and defeating the spirit-bird, who always warned the herds away from the seasonal hunt.Although the Plains Indians regularly hunted the buffalo, they honored the animal as a close relation who generously gave of itself for their survival. There are many stories concerning the buffalo from all different nations highlighting this relationship as well as the rituals that developed from the spiritual connection between the people and the buffalo. The Mandan Buffalo Dance is one such ritual – still performed today – but the best-known is probably the Sun Dance, observed by many different nations, in which the skull of the buffalo features prominently, and the spirit of the animal informs the ceremony.

Famous figures such as White Buffalo Calf Woman embody this spirit of generosity as she is understood by the Sioux as an intermediary who gave the people the rituals necessary for communing with the Great Mystery, the Creator God. After giving the people the seven sacred rites of the Lakota Sioux, White Buffalo Calf Woman departed, but, as she left, she transformed into her true form of a buffalo. To the Sioux, the buffalo was therefore this intercessor between them and the spirit world. The Sioux legend, The Mysterious Butte, shares similarities with the Cheyenne legends and those of others in having the arrival of the buffalo prophesied by images appearing outside a chamber of the butte.