How wiping out buffalo was a strategy to bring Indigenous people under colonizer control – CBC

Mar 06, 2025

In the 16th century, it’s believed that between 25 and 30 million wild buffalo lived across North America. By 1890, according to some estimates, those once-great herds dwindled to fewer than 300 animals.

During the industrial age, buffalo were a valuable commodity — their bones became fine china and fertilizer, while their hide became military boots and machine belts. Diseases passed on from cattle also contributed to their rapid decline.

But the actions of governments and the military were also a key factor in the removal of the buffalo from the land, says Cree filmmaker Tasha Hubbard in the video above, an extended clip from Singing Back the Buffalo, a documentary from The Nature of Things.

Read More: https://www.cbc.ca/documentaries/the-nature-of-things/how-wiping-out-buffalo-was-a-strategy-to-bring-indigenous-people-under-colonizer-control-1.7475169