Native Americans
and the Buffalo (American Bison)

To the Indians of the great plains the buffalo was a sacred animal.
Indians depended on its meat, hide, and bones for nearly everything they needed to stay alive. When white men came to the plains to hunt, the buffalo dwindled to near extinction. From sixty or seventy million strong, they were reduced to a mere 750 in 1890. You can learn more about the buffalo using these books and websites.

• Bison and their influence on the Plains Indians

READ:
Buffalo Sunrise: the Story of a North American Giant, written by Diane Swanson, Sierra Club Books, 1996

CHECK THE WEB:
American Bison from the Oakland Zoo in California
Buffalo Hunting in the Alberta Plains Museum of Alberta, Canada

• Buffalo jump to their death

READ:
The Buffalo Jump, written by Peter Roop ; illustrated by Bill Farnsworth, Northland Publishing, 1996

CHECK THE WEB:
Head-smashed-In Buffalo Jump A Unesco World Heritage site.

• Interpretive center has facts and statistics about the American Bison.
• Archelogical Facts has photos or remains and an anatomy of the site.

• Tribes hunt for survival ; white men kill for sport

READ:
Buffalo Hunt, written by Russel Freedman, Holiday House, 1988

CHECK THE WEB:
Buffalo Hunter American Western History

• The buffalo today

READ:
Buffalo Days, written by Diane Hoyt-Goldsmith, Holiday House, 1997

CHECK THE WEB:
Billings Gazette News Articles about modern day Buffalo Hunting.

• Buffalo Folktales

• The Return of the Buffaloes by Paul Goble
• Crow Chief by Paul Goble
• Buffalo Woman by Paul Goble
• Buffalo Dance, A Blackfoot Legend retold by Nancy Van Laan  

  For Teachers

  Lesson Plan : Bison: Their influence on the cultures of the plains

   

  This page was designed for fifth grade library classes by Margarite Bradley,
  Comments are welcome.

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Maria Hastings School Library

Last Update: 10/04/04/MB