Watch the following clip What does it tell you about the buffalo hunt?

Lesson Objectives To investigate the nature of the relationship between the Native Americans of the Plains and the buffalo To identify the crucial role of the horse in hunting the buffalo, and how this turned Native Americans into nomadic hunters. To explain why the buffalo was sacred to the Native Americans

What is happening in this picture?

Hunting before Horses

The BUFFALO POUND method The bison were lured into a coulee (ravine) by a hunter who dressed in buffalo robes. Then the other hunters, who were lined along the coulee, stampeded the animals into a log corral (closed-in place). They killed the bison with spears. The BUFFALO JUMP method "Chasers" or "runners" would lead the animals towards a cliff where others waited behind rocks and trees. People waved blankets and shouted forcing the animals over the edge of the cliff. Others waited at the bottom of the cliff to kill the crippled animals. The CHASE method This method was sometimes used if the hunters had horses. A hunting party would charge the herd and get as close as they could to a bison, then shoot it with a bow and arrow or gun.

Horses made moving camp easier

Horses became a status symbol

Dog Soldiers Kept law and order in the tribes Every year, 4 of the bravest Dog Men were chosen and took suicide vows promising to protect their tribe and defend their people to the death Supervised following buffalo Made sure right amount of Buffalo were killed

Uses of the Buffalo

The Role of Women in the Hunt

How would the whites view the Indian’s dependence on the buffalo?