Buffalo
“When we talk about buffalo people, we’re not talking about buffalo and Lakota separately. It’s all one.”
— Rosalie Little Thunder (Sicangu Lakota) co-founder of Buffalo Field Campaign
BUFFALO
White Man’s Noises, White Man’s Smells
When steamships replaced the smaller keelboats that fur traders used to transport their traded goods on the inland rivers west of the Mississippi to the Rocky Mountains, some men called the ships’ booming whistles “the sound of civilization,” a blast so long and loud that it startled birds and all wildlife, setting their hearts racing.
BUFFALO
The Bone Stealers
First the vultures descended. The wolves and coyotes dragged off pieces of flesh or ribs into the tall grasses and shallow valleys. Up from the soil, past deep roots, crawled the decomposers: hungry earthworms, ants, and beetles. Prairie winds polished the remains.