5C9 BUFFALO HUNT

CHARACTERS:
the native American Indians
the Buffalos in the Plains


The story tells about the relationship of the Indians with the buffalos or the American bisons. Not all Indians are farmers. Not all of them depend only in corns for survival. There are Indian groups who became huntsmen. They hunt for different animals like elks, bears, deer, etc. However, the major animal that they hunt for is the Buffalo. At one point of time way back in the early 1800’s, Buffalos roam in packs in the low plains. The Indians depend on them for everything they need to survive. They use their hides to make tipis, robes, moccasins, etc. The meats are preserved to serve as their staple food. They dry it under the sin. It could last for years. Nothing goes to waste from head to foot, even the dropping or the dung of the buffalo. It is used for fuel to cook their food and to warm the inside of their tipis. The floor area of the tipi can measure 15 feet across. The space is big enough to house the whole family.
The Indians also own a great deal of horses. The horses are used not to assist them in their domestic needs but for hunting. The horses are trained well enough to gallop and run fast and go directly to the right side, not to the left side, of the buffalo so the Indian rider can pierce its arrow on the left. They have mastered this skill magnificently and artfully and men who are good in it are revered in the community.
The buffalos started to dwindle in the late 1800’s and the late 1900’s when the white men started to demand Buffalo hides for fashionable cloaks. Others did it for mere sports. And this once proud Indians had no choice but to receive the US rations to survive. However, the story is worth reading to know the ancients lives of the Indians with the buffalos in the Great Plains.