Death Wind for My People: The Societal Response to the Slaughter of the North American Bison
Open AccessStructral changes in American society following the Civil War in 1865 led to the ascendance of a lucrative market for the hides of the North American bison. Once the most prolific large mammal in North America, the wild bison herds were quickly decimated, suffering a near 100% reduction in size from 1866 to 1890--a period of only 24 years. The ecological devastation and environmental harm stemming from the wanton slaughter of the bison was matched by the grievous social harms that reverberated through the Native American community as a result of it. More than 24 Native American tribes were dependent on the bison for food and other vital resources. Over the course of hundreds of years, the bison had become integral to each tribe's culture, especially their religious beliefs, rituals and practices. The bison slaughter destroyed an important part of these tribe's identities. Because the near extinction of the North American bison represents a social, as well as an environmental harm, and because so many of the driving forces behind the bison slaughter are often examined within the sociological disicpline, I have chosen to explore the story of the bison extirpation in depth. By conducting a historiographical analysis of the bison slaughter, I trace the major factors leading to and sustaining it, including those associated with industrialization, technological innovation and power. I also explore the attitudes of numeorus federal officials towards the bison slaughter and detail the legislative efforts to protect both the bison and the northern fur seal. I then extend the research on the near extinction of the North American bison in a new direction by conducting a content analysis of newspaper articles from between 1866 and 1890, in order to uncover more information about how the bison slaughter was perceived and discussed within the broader American society at the time it occurred. It is hoped that an analysis of the themes and attitudes uncovered through this secondary data analysis will shed more light on the most intriguing question stemming from the bison slaughter: Why, and how, was it allowed to continue?
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