The+Metis+Flee+Westward+\+Metis+in+the+Northwest

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Canadian_History/The_People_of_the_Lands/Metis

We will use the above link to fill in heading: "Food/Hunting". We feel more can be said about the relationship between the Metis and the Buffalo.

What was the relationship between the Métis and the buffalo?

QUESTIONS (Because we did not like Discussion page) Why did the Metis rely on Buffalo over other animals indiginous to the plains? If the Buffalo never existed in the plains, how would the Metis most likely have survived? Would their lives be very difficult without these beasts? Were there any special ceremonies in which the Metis celebrated with/using the Buffalo? Have you (the expert) heard about buffalo cliff jumping sites? What would have been a more ecological and harmonial way of balancing the killing of buffalo and the conservation? What did the Buffalo provide the plains, ecologically?

The Metis relied primarily on the Buffalo over the other indigenous animals, because they were large, easy to spot and easy to hunt.

The Metis were not the first to live off the buffalo of the plains. The First Nations people before them developed techniques to hunt the buffalo, relying on the ability to easily startle the creatures.

The initial way for the First Nations to hunt the buffalo was for a large group of people to herd the buffalo off of a cliff. Even though the buffalo were excellent at navigating the bumpy terrain of the plains, the first nations manged to lure them in a way that where a large amount of buffalo would tumble off the cliff to their death.

This is because the first nations had a simple, but genius way to hunt. Large groups of first nations would run along the plains, clapping and shouting. The buffalo would then become scared and herd up. Once in the herd, they would start to charge away from the loud noises. As time went on, the first nations began to add channels right before the edge of the cliff, so that they could ensure more buffalo jumping off the cliff.

The first few buffalo in front would try to stop, but couldn't because of the wave of charging buffalo following closely behind.

Cliff sites didn't have to be steep. The damage sustained from the fall off the cliff plus the weight of jumping buffalo was enough to kill even the strongest buffalo.

Below is one of the most popular cliff sites, the "Head Smashed In" jumping site.

Below is a picture of a first nation hunting a buffalo with a horse and bow. While it did not produce a surplus of buffalo meat(which could be used for trading), it better to hunt with a horse when the buffalo began to get scarce. A single horse could take a first nation a lot farther than a group of herders would run.

The Metis hunted a little differently. They neither had to use bow and arrow or herding groups. They traded buffalo fur and hide for guns, which were more accurate and easier to fire horseback.



Besides the obvious use for food, the Metis tried to use every part of the buffalo they could. The skin was used for drums and clothing, the fur for beds. The bones were used for tools and arrow/spear shafts and the excess fat was used to keep a fire burning.

If the Metis did not have the buffalo, they would have to rely on small prairie game to fill their stomachs. The buffalo provided a lot more food than one may think. When carved, the buffalo was separted into 16 different cuts:

"1. Dépouilles – the flesh along the ribs from the shoulder to the rump 2. Filets – the sinewy muscle, which connects the shoulder blades to the haunches 3. Bricoles – the bands of fat descending from the shoulder to the lower neck 4. Petits filets du cou – the small sinewy muscles found near the filets’ extremities 5. Dessus de croupe – the parts immediately above the flanks 6. Épaules – the shoulders 7. Dessous d’épaules – the layers of flesh between the ribs and shoulders 8. Pis – the fatty layer from under the belly and up the flanks, including the bladder 9. Ventre – the muscular band of flesh supporting the intestines extending under the belly from the ribs on one side to the other 10.Panse – the stomach which was considered something of a delicacy 11.Grosse bosse – the hump; a delicious morsel composed of a number of thin bones arising from the thoracic vertebrae 12.Gras or Suif – suet from the interior of the carcass 13.Plats-côtes – cutlets 14.Brochet – meat covering the stomach 15.Croupe – rump 16.Langue – tongue"

-http://www.virtualmuseum.ca/Exhibitions/Batoche/docs/proof_en_buffalo_hunt.pdf

If a part of the buffalo was made into cuts, it was made into Pemmican.

Pemmican - A mixture of dried fat and protein. Shown right.

Besides food, the Metis traded the excess buffalo meat with the Hudson's Bay Company for guns, tools and metal.

The Metis were nomadic, solely because of the buffalo. Where the buffalo went, the Metis followed. These trips lasted about a week between trading posts. It may seem like a short time, but considering the sheer volume of buffalo hunted, it isn't so short. The men hunted during the daytime and brought the carcasses back to the camp. The women worked to skin and gut the buffalo between sunrise and twilight.

The Metis made frequent stops at trading posts, because they always had more buffalo material than they could bring along. At the trading posts, they primarily purchased rifles and tools to aid in cleaning and cutting of the buffalo.

While short trips happened regularly, one of the biggest hunts of all time is the 1840 Bison Hunt. The Metis travelled 19 days before seeing the first herd. They set up camp for the day, to resume hunting in the morning. They started at 8:00am and by the end of the day had hunted 1375 bison. The men started skinning the animals until the women caught up with the carts to carry the meat.

By the end of the day, that Metis tribe brought back 500 tons of dried bison meat and Pemmican.



The near extinction of the buffalo was caused by three things.

North American Interior Farming - As more farmers set up crops and livestock, the prairie grass was getting ever shorter.

Railways - Railways cut into the buffalo's grazing land. Worse yet, sport hunters would ride these trains, and shoot at the herds for the fun of it. Trains provided extra mobility. Before trains, there was only so much buffalo meat that the trading posts would buy. The posts only had so much time to cart it out before it went bad. With trains, many tons of buffalo meat could be shipped per day, enabling the natives to hunt more.

Over hunting - Because of trains, the Metis had to hunt more buffalo to keep up with demand. Because the Metis provided bulk buffalo meat, the prices went down. With lowered prices, the Metis had to hunt more buffalo than ever before just to materials for their guns.

Regina, Saskatchewan was once called "Pile O' Bones" because of the sheer number of buffalo bones and carcasses left over from overhunting.

Possible Sources: [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%A9tis_people_(Canada]) [] [] (kinda weird.) [|http://www.saskschools.ca/~gregory/firstnations/bison.html] [] [] [] []