The Buffalo Hunter

.

Hunting Bison: George Catlin, 1844 (Library and Archives Canada)

If God was the creator and overseer of life, if the morning star, the moon, and Mother Earth combined their talents to give birth and hope to the Indians, if the sun was dispatcher of wisdom and warmth, then the buffalo was the tangible and immediate proof of them all, for out of the buffalo came almost everything necessary to daily life, including his religious use as an intermediary through which the Great Spirit could be addressed, and by which the Spirit often spoke to them. In short, the buffalo was life to the Plains Indians until the white man's goods and ways first eliminated and then replaced the animal.

Understandably, then a major part of Indian life was oriented in and around the buffalo herds. They moved with them during all but the winter months. The buffalo's habits and kinds were studied intensely, and in time the Indians put virtually every part of the beast to some utilitarian use. In fact, it is almost astounding to see a graphic breakdown of the uses made of him, of his hide, of his organs, of his muscles, of his bones, and of his horns and hoofs. It is slight wonder that the Indians reverenced the buffalo, related him directly to the Great Creator, and believed him to be a natural symbol for the universe, and no doubt the other tribes accorded him a like honor.

--from Thomas E. Mails: The Mystic Warriors of the Plains: The Culture, Arts, Crafts and Religion of the Plains Indians, 1972

American Pasturage -- Prairies of the Platte: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Hunt under the Wolf-skin Mask: George Catlin, 1832-1833 (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.)



Dying Buffalo, Shot with an Arrow: George Catlin, 1832-1833 (Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.)



After the Buffalo Chase -- Sioux: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Chase: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Chase -- Bulls Protecting the Calves: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Chase in the Snow Drifts -- Ojibbeway: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Chase, Sioux Indians, Upper Missouri: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Chase, with Accidents: George Catlin,1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Lancing in the Snow Drifts -- Sioux: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Buffalo Wallow: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Camanchees Lancing a Buffalo Bull: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)



Catlin and Indian Attacking Buffalo: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)

Catlin and Two Companions Shooting Buffalo: George Catlin, 1861/1869 (Paul Mellon Collection, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.)