Editing American bison (section)

==Hunting==
{{Main|Bison hunting}}
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin-left: 10px;"
|-
! Year !! American<br>bison (est)
|-
| Pre-1800
|align="right"| 60,000,000<ref name="BSFW">{{cite journal|author=Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife|title=The American Buffalo|journal=Conservation Note|date=January 1965|volume=12}}</ref>
|-
| 1830
|align="right"| 40,000,000<ref name=BSFW />
|-
| 1840
|align="right"| 35,650,000<ref name=Roe51>{{cite book|last1=Roe|first1=Frank Gilbert|title=The North American Buffalo|date=1951|publisher=University of Toronto Press|location=Toronto Canada}}</ref>
|-
| 1870
|align="right"| 5,500,000<ref name=BSFW />
|-
| 1880
|align="right"| 395,000<ref name=Roe51 />
|-
| 1889
|align="right"| 541 (U.S.)<ref name=hornaday>{{cite book|last1=Hornaday|first1=William T.|title=The American Natural History|url=https://archive.org/details/cu31924073178224|date=1904|publisher=C. Scribner's Sons|location=New York}}</ref>
|-
| 1900
|align="right"| 300 (U.S.)<ref name=BSFW />
|-
|rowspan="2"| 1944–47
|align="right"| 5,000 (U.S.)<ref name=Caha>{{cite book|last1=Cahalane|first1=Victor H.|title=Mammals of North America|url=https://archive.org/details/mammalsofnortham0000caha|url-access=registration|date=1947|publisher=The MacMillan Company|location=New York}}</ref>
|-
|align="right"| 15,000 (Canada)<ref name=Roe51 />
|-
| 1951
|align="right"| 23,340<ref>{{cite book|last1=Collins|first1=Henry H.|title=Complete Field Guide to American Wildlife|url=https://archive.org/details/completefieldgui0000coll|url-access=registration|date=1959|publisher=Harper & Row|location=New York}}</ref>
|-
| 2000
|align="right"| {{circa}} 30,000<ref>{{cite book| title = Exploring Life Sciences| date = 2000| volume = 6|pages = 474–475|isbn = 0-7614-7141-3|publisher = Marshall Cavendish}}</ref>
|-
|2017
|align = "right"| 500,000<ref name="auto"/>
|}

Buffalo hunting, i.e. hunting of the American bison, was an activity fundamental to the [[Plains Indians|Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains]], providing more than 150 uses for all parts of the animal, including being a major food source, hides for clothing and shelter, bones and horns as tools as well as ceremonial and adornment uses.<ref name="nps bison">{{cite web | title=Bison Bellows: A day to thank the bison (U.S. National Park Service) | website=NPS.gov Homepage (U.S. National Park Service) | date=November 6, 2017 | url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/bison-bellows-11-25-15.htm | access-date=June 16, 2023 | page=}}</ref><ref name="nps bison 2">{{cite web | title=People and Bison | website=Bison (U.S. National Park Service) | date=November 1, 2018 | url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/bison/people.htm | access-date=June 16, 2023 | page=}}</ref> Bison hunting was later adopted by American professional hunters, as well as by the U.S. government, in an effort to sabotage the central resource of some [[Plains Indians|American Indian Nations]] during the [[Sioux Wars|later portions of the American Indian Wars]], leading to the near-extinction of the species around 1890.<ref name="Smits1994">{{cite journal |last=Smits |first=David |date=Autumn 1994 |title=The Frontier Army and the Destruction of the Buffalo: 1865–1883 |url=http://history.msu.edu/hst321/files/2010/07/smits-on-bison.pdf |journal=The Western Historical Quarterly |volume=25 |issue=3 |pages=312–338 |jstor=971110 |access-date=March 30, 2015 |doi=10.2307/971110 |archive-date=July 6, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200706150320/https://history.msu.edu/hst321/files/2010/07/smits-on-bison.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> For many tribes the buffalo was an integral part of life—something guaranteed to them by the Creator. In fact, for some Plains indigenous peoples, bison are known as the first people.<ref name="buffalo genocide">{{cite book|title=Colonial Genocide in Indigenous North America |last=Hubbard |first=Tasha |date=2014 |chapter=Buffalo Genocide in Nineteenth Century North America: 'Kill, Skin, Sell' |publisher=Duke University Press |page=294 |isbn=978-0-8223-5779-7 |doi=10.1215/9780822376149-014}}</ref> The concept of species [[extinction]] was foreign to many tribes.<ref>{{cite book |last=Harjo |first=Suzan |title=Nation to Nation: Treaties Between the United States and American Indian Nations |publisher=Smithsonian Books |page=101 |isbn=978-1588344786 |year=2014 }}</ref>

Thus, when the U.S. government began to massacre the buffalo, it was particularly harrowing to the Indigenous people. As [[Crow Nation|Crow]] chief [[Plenty Coups]] described it: "When the buffalo went away the hearts of my people fell to the ground, and they could not lift them up again. After this nothing happened. There was little singing anywhere."<ref name="Smits1994"/> Spiritual loss was rampant; bison were an integral part of traditional tribal societies, and they would frequently take part in ceremonies for each bison they killed to honor its sacrifice. In order to boost morale during this time, [[Sioux]] and other tribes took part in the [[Ghost Dance]], which consisted of hundreds of people dancing until 100 persons were lying unconscious.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/resources/archives/eight/gddescrp.htm |title=The Ghost Dance Among the Lakota |last1=Parker |first1=Z. A. |date=1890 |website=PBS Archives of the West |publisher=PBS |access-date=March 30, 2015}}</ref>

Many [[Bison hunting#Native American bison conservation efforts|conservation measures have been taken by Native Americans]], with the Inter Tribal Bison Council being one of the most significant. Formed in 1990, it comprises 56 tribes in 19 states.<ref name="UC Irving">{{cite web |url=http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/sustain/global/sensem/patel97.htm |title=Restoration of Bison onto the American Prairie |last1=Patel |first1=Moneil |date=June 1997 |website=UC Irving |access-date=April 7, 2015 |archive-date=April 15, 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150415141431/http://darwin.bio.uci.edu/sustain/global/sensem/patel97.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref> These tribes represent a collective herd of more than 15,000 bison and focus on reestablishing herds on tribal lands in order to promote culture, revitalize spiritual solidarity, and restore the ecosystem. Some Inter Tribal Bison Council members argue that the bison's economic value is one of the main factors driving its resurgence. Bison serve as a low-cost substitute for cattle, and they can withstand the winters in the Plains region far easier than cattle.<ref name="UC Irving"/>

<gallery mode="packed" heights="150px" style="text-align:left" class="center">
File:Alfred Jacob Miller - Hunting Buffalo - Walters 371940190.jpg|Bison being chased off a cliff as painted by [[Alfred Jacob Miller]]
File:Ulm Pishkun. Buffalo jump, SW of Great Falls, Montana.jpg|Ulm Pishkun. Buffalo jump, SW of Great Falls, Montana. The [[Blackfoot Confederacy|Blackfoot]] drove bison over cliffs in the autumn to secure the winter supply. The Blackfoot used pishkuns as late as the 1850s.<ref>Ewers, John C. (1988): "The last Bison Drive of the Blackfoot Indians". Indian Life On The Upper Missouri. Norman and London, pp. 157–168</ref>
File:BuffaloHunters.jpg|Bison hunt under the wolf-skin mask, 1832–33
File:Buffalo Hunt.jpg|A bison hunt depicted by [[George Catlin]]
</gallery>