|
FOOD FOR THOUGHT
Coming soon...
|
|
|
BUFFALO TRIVIA
Metis Buffalo
Hunting
During the thousands of years that the native peoples roamed the
plains, the buffalo was the single most important food source. When
the European explorers, fur traders and settlers began coming to
the prairie this trend continued. The buffalo made this possible.
In Canada most of the provisions for the explorers, the fur traders
and the settlers in the early settlements such as the Selkirk Colony
came through trade with the native peoples. As time progressed into
the late 18th and 19th century this trade became an industry dominated
by the Metis people, who were descendants of the French Canadian
voyager and native wives. The Hudson Bay Company became the largest
buyer, purchasing fresh meat and pemmican by the ton. At this time
there was very little cultivated food on the plains, only a few
vegetables and a bit of grain might be grown near some of the posts
and settlements. Buffalo meat was the staple diet. Up 10 lbs of
meat a day was required to give enough energy to the voyagers who
would paddle heavy canoes upstream, portage rapids and carry heavy
loads in often freezing cold weather from sunrise to sunset.
The Metis buffalo hunt was a highly organized event under the command
of an elected Chief Captain and about ten field captains who organized
brigades of hunters. One of the biggest hunts occurred in 1840 when
a total of 1630 people set out with 1210 Red River Carts. The entourage
included over 400 hunters and 542 dogs. On the first day of the
hunt, the hunters brought 1375 buffalo tongues into the camp. The
hunters would pursue the herds with their prized ‘buffalo
runners’ , extremely fast and daring horses that would run
right up to the charging buffalo. The hunters would not shoot until
they were within 3 to 4 yards of the bison. A single neck shot would
drop the animal and the horse would instinctively jump to the side
as the bison fell. In short order, the prairie would be covered
with hundreds of dead and dying buffalo. Now the real work would
begin as the rest of the Metis would descend on the kill site to
butcher, skin and preserve the meat as pemmican. Hides were tanned
for trade with the fur traders. These hunts lasted into the 1870’s
by which time the plains bison became extinct on the Canadian Plains.
 |
|
|
