Monday, February 27, 2012
UMBC HIST355: The Extermination of the American Bison
Isenberg identifies a number of critical forces that conspired to nearly wipe out American bison through the nineteenth century--what were some of these forces? We're you surprised? In our own popular culture today, how do we typically understand the factors that nearly destroyed the continent's bison populations? Does Isenberg solidify or further destroy the ecological Indian myth?
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As the ice age ends, global warming as well as human predation conspired to kill off the giant mammals like bison. Bison became the largest mammals in North America. Spanish conquistadors brought with them horses into the new world. The nomads had pressure because they had the capacity limit to sustain of the prolific herds. There were many ecological factors involved like wolf predation, fire, habitat degradation, and drought that effected the bison's increase.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised when the nomads were conspired to kill off the large mammals especially mammals because it gave off the perspective that the nomads needed the bison to survive. The bison helped the nomads to feed off of them, provided to be part of the beaver belt trade, most cooperative and social of the North American mammals, and helped the nomads adapt to the land. It was quite surprising to see that the bison were used to the market for profit. As money came into play, the bison were not in the nomads minds.
In our populations today, I think we would "blame" the ecological factors like diseases, climate, as well as predators that live off bison (like wolves).
I think that Isenberg solidifies the ecological indian myth since the environment was "destroyed" because of the arrival of transportation, markets, cities and mass manufacturing. Environments were least of the priority; profits and being able to grow was the most important. Although, nomads were pleased to have both horses as well as bison since they both provided a definite amount of pros, every mammal or thing is now going to be involved in the market as a commodity.
During the nineteenth century in America, the bison population encountered a number of changes that snowballed into what became near extinction of the once populous species. Although Europeans can be blamed for perpetuating this population decline, they are not by any means the sole contributors to the problem as Amerindian populations as well as natural factors played a pivotal role as well. Isenberg introduces the book describing the ingenious hunting methods successfully used by Amerindians for generations allowing the bison and Amerindian populations to continue alongside one another relatively in balance even through natural occurrences like ice ages, natural fires, droughts and other predator species such as the wolf. However, with European settlement came the arrival of the horse allowing faster, easier, and more prolific hunting of bison forever changing this balance.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised at the actual number of factors conspiring against the bison. I thought the introduction of the horse was the cause for bison decline, but as Isenberg describes, the nineteenth century brought a plethora of dangers to the species. Today, it is the common belief that bison populations were, like so many other species in North America during this period, over hunted due to a lack of understanding or care for the bison species or the ecosystem in general.
Isenberg does not go out of his way to portray the Amerindians as an ecologically friendly people, but I did notice that with the arrival of Europeans and the introduction of their ways and methods came a change in Amerindian’s treatment and views on the environment that had sustained their people for hundreds of years.
In his book The Destruction of the Bison, Isenberg identifies many different forces that contribute to the massive destruction of the bison population in the nineteenth century. One of the natural causes of their destruction not induced by humans is periods of harsh drought on the plains, which decreased the carrying capacity of the bison's great plains habitat. Little water left smaller amounts of food, and therefore the grasslands could not support as many bison as it had in more rainy years. This lowering of the carrying capacity led to a natural decline in the bison population.
ReplyDeleteThe majority of the other reasons for the decline in the population are all part of the snowball effect the European colonizers had on the plains bison populations. Isenberg notes the exotic diseases that Europeans brought with them (and their livestock) that killed a lot of the bison. One such disease was anthrax caused by a bacteria brought over on French livestock. Diseases were not the only ways that livestock contributed to the declining bison populations. The livestock would eat or trample a lot of the plains where the bison graze for food. They took away a lot of the food source in the plains, which were already experiencing lower than normal carrying capacities.
The human settlers also induced a lot of destruction on the bison populations aside from just bringing their livestock. They were not necessarily the ones killing the bison with their own hands, but they inspired the Amerindians to kill the bison for the valuable things that they could receive in trade from the settlers. For instance, the settlers would bring alluring items that the Amerindians would want to trade for, such as guns and ammunition. The Amerindians would then go out and hunt the bison in order to bring back their pelts and trade them for all the new and exciting goods that the settlers had. The settlers also contributed to the decline of the bison population by leading their livestock to and allowing them to ruin lands that the bison grazed, and deforesting areas which took away the bison's winter habitat.
I was not surprised by what I read because this is a familiar topic in many classes, but I feel as though in popular culture today this is probably new for a lot of people who only see the Amerindians killing all the bison without thinking about the motivation behind their actions, which was provided by the settlers.
I don't think that Isenberg really propagates the idea of the ecological Amerindian. In the beginning of the book, even before the Europeans arrive, he describes how the Amerindians killed a lot of bison at once by lining an area with logs and then starting a fire to scare them all into one place. He also does not seem sympathetic to the Amerindians and does not imply that it wasn't their fault for getting greedy and doing whatever they could to get the goods they wanted from the Europeans.
There were a number of critical forces that cause the decline and near extinction of the bison. One major force was the environment itself there were many droughts which killed what little plant matter that grew on the plains and little water. This caused a decline in the buffalo because there was not enough water and food for the herds.
ReplyDeleteAnother force was horses, horses played a pivotal role in causing the decline and the near extinction of the bison for a couple reasons. First reason is the amerindians adopted the horses and started to use them as a way to hunt bison. As a result of adopting horses and the factors of disease and encroachment of the euroamericans caused a dynamic shift in the ameriindians lifestyle. The ameriindian lifestyle shifted a somewhat sustainable harvest of bison to an uncontrollable harvest. This was in part, due to the higher dependence on the bison by the ameriindians change to the nomadic lifestyle. Another reason is that horses caused competition between the bison for food and water.
Another major factor that lead to the decline in bison was the tanning industry in which fueled the hunting of bison for their hides.
I was surprised that there were insurmountable factors against the survival of the bison.
I believe that today the view of what cause the near extinction of the bison was the people pushing west and overhunting the bison in an unsustainable way.
Isenberg, in my opinion does not portray the Amerindians as an ecologically friendly people rather, a lesser evil of the bison than the euroamericans. For starters at the beginning of the book he shows that with the ameriindians ancestors kill all of the bigger mammals of the ice age and therefore create a niche for the bison to proliferate and prosper.
One of the most important factors that lead to the destruction of the American Bison was uncontrolled hunting and trading. Even though the American Bison was known to be able to run fast for long periods of time, tribes and nomads, from the very beginning, learned new techniques to help capture and kill the Bison. They would stampede bison over cliffs. This provided tribes with nutritious meat and warm hides that allowed them to survive the region’s harsh winters.They also learned to use virtually every part of the animal, from horns to tail hairs. This started making the animal worth more money to nomads of the land.
ReplyDeleteThe arrival of white settlers in the 1800s and their problems with the Native Americans on the prairies helped put an end to the American Bison. Among the earliest waves of settlers were trappers and traders who made a living off of selling meat and hides from the Bison. The unrestrained trading is what caused the destruction of the American Bison.
Upon reading "The Destruction of the Bison," it is apparent that there were many factors contributing to the decline in the bison population of North America during the 19th century. Some of the factors that Isenberg references include natural brush fires, predatory wolf populations, iced-over river crossings, livestock and horses competing for food/water, the spread of disease via livestock and prolonged droughts in the plains region.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by the number of forces that attributed to the decline of the bison. Our popular culture had led me to believe that the American bison's near-extinction was solely the fault of those involved in the building of the transcontinental railroad. I understand that railroad expansion and the introduction of European "biota" and technology (horses and guns)were the driving forces that pushed the Amerindians to hunt the bison more vehemently, but I was unaware of the multitude of "natural" causes which attributed to the decline in bison populations.
I felt that Isenberg further destroyed the myth of the ecological indian. Isenberg was able to humanize the Amerindians and presented to the reader the "push factors" that led the Amerindians to choose to lead the nomadic lifestyle and take part in the mass killing of bison for trade. In this book the Amerindian is not descibed as the larger-than-life character of history, living in harmony with nature, that we have come to expect. Instead, we learn about a society of people that were adapting to new technologies presented to them and were trying to survive despite the cost to the environment around them.
Some of the critical factors that Isenberg identifies that nearly wiped out the American bison during the nineteenth century were the natural aspects of the environment of the Great Plains, such as fires, wolves and diseases. Although these factors contributed to the near extinction of the American bison, these were not the major factors. It was the economic greed of the Euroamerican to expand the hunting of bison for (hides and meat), and the domestication of the Great Plains for the purpose of raising cattle, who competed with the bison for food sources, which resulted in the near extinction of the American bison. In addition, the invasion of the Euroamericans to the Great Plains brought about a change to the nomadic Indians cultural concerning the hunting of bison. For example, the Eruoamericans economic influence concerning the harvesting of bison persuaded the nomadic Indians to adapt to a more commercial purpose for killing bison focusing more on the accumulation of wealth and profit instead of mainly for the purpose of survival.
ReplyDeleteAfter reading the factors that nearly caused the extinction of the bisons, I was not surprised that the Euroamericans had such a big impact on the near extinction of the bison. It is a normal occurrence throughout the history of mankind, that a larger and more powerful group like the Eruoamericans, to convert a weaker and smaller group of people, like the nomadic Indians, to adapt to their culture. The hunting of bison for profit is a good example of this. It’s just part of our American culture for a the dominant group to influence change on a subordinate group whether intentionally or unintentionally.
Society today understands that environmental issues are major factors, which affects the population of wildlife. Wildlife populations such as bisons need to be preserved and protected by society so that they do not become extinct. Laws must be enacted and enforced to protect wildlife. Conservation measures must be taken to insure their survival. Our society now acknowledges that wildlife does not solely exist for economic profit.
I believe that he destroyed the ecological Indian myth because after the Euroamericans invaded the Great Plains the Indians seemed to have to adopted the Euroamericans economic cultural of hunting bison for profit. Obtaining wealth by hunting bison seemed to be a motivating factor for the Plains Indians. Hunting bison for survival was important to them, but it was not the only reason they hunted. Hunting for profit seems to have subverted the ecological Indian myth of the bison hunt.
By: Matt Shutz
Isenberg really laid out an abundance of forces that when combined led to the destruction of the bison. One such force was environmental issues which occured throughout history such as periods of drought which in turn resulted in a depletion of food supply for the bison and fires which kill some bison and more of their food supply. As Euro-americans began "invading" the west; many Indian tribes left their former lives as villagers relying on bison meat in combination with agriculture and etc. to become nomadic hunters. The Indians who were nomadic were more dependent on bison for food, clothing, shelter, and trade. Then with the introduction of the horse the hunting became more productive if you will. The increase of hunting and the further competition of food from the horses and other livestock began taking its toll on the bison population. In the mid 19th century fur trade posts along the Mississippi River and other rivers in the west became a huge lure for Amerindians to trade hundreds of thousands of bison furs for European goods. Then in the late 19th century Euroamerican hide hunters seemed to finish off the already depleted bison population. Diseases from other invasive livestock such as anthrax was also a force that contributed to the bison's near extinction. I am not necessarily surprised by these forces but appreciate the way Isenberg really details the many factors of the destruction of the bison especially the history of how Native Americans participation evolved. Popular culture today seems to generally blame hunting for the bison's fur by Native Americans and Euro-americans as the main reason for the bison's demise but we hardly consider all the factors involved. I think Isenberg buys into the ecological Indian before the arrival of the Europeans. He does mention that they did waste somewhat in times of plenty but did not abuse the ecological system and were somewhat in harmony with nature. As time went on and trade with Euro-americans became tempting enough and the Amerindians are guilty of the destruction and waste of bison and were therefore not ecologically friendly as they once were. In my opinion, the European colonization and their ideas of civilization is what helped destroy the ecological Indian. If disease had not killed so many Indians and the forced migration by the Europeans had allowed Indians to live as they always had, I believe there is no question that Indians were more ecologically friendly than many societies and would probably have remained so if left undisturbed.
ReplyDeleteIsenberg mentions some environmental factors such as overgrazing and diseases that could have influenced the extermination of the American Bison. However he also says in the beginning “the influence of the environment was not by any means the sole or even primary cause of the near extinction of the herds.” This comment leads me to believe that root of the near extinction would be found in how the Indians and Euroamericans interacted with the bison. One major factor would be the “unsustainable exploitation of natural resources” by the Indians, meaning that they were compelled to kill the bison not only for personal consumption but for trade which meant killing many more than they really needed to. Another critical factor would be the invention of equestrian nomads in the high plains who were extremely dependent on the bison and moved around constantly with the bison instead of staying in one place and only killing the bison when they were around.
ReplyDeleteI am not surprised at all that some of the instrumental forces in the extinction of the bison were the Indians, however I am surprised that the environment wasn’t the primary cause. I have typically understood that the environment was the primary reason that the bison reached near extinction so hearing otherwise was a bit of a shock to me. Personally, I feel like Isenberg completely destroys the ecological Indian myth by pointing out some of the things the Indians did to “encourage” the extinction. The ecological Indian only killed what they needed, used everything they killed, etc., but as Isenberg points out the Indians got a little greedy with trading parts of the bison and they even changed their way of living just to be able to follow the bison and kill more of them.
Some of the forces Isenberg identifies as key elements in wiping out the population of Bison are people, in general not just the Europeans, natural disasters such as drought, and animal predators such as the wolf. I was a bit surprised, to be honest, because the perception, at least from what I had learned whenever the subject of Native Americans were brought up in school, is that the European settlers were to blame. The Europeans were though of as these ignorant foreigners who not only sought to take land from the previous inhabitants, but to rid of the "savages" and take what they wanted, when they wanted, whether it was land, animal, etc. However, in reading Isenberg's book, he instead describes that it wasn't just the Europeans but the Amerindian's were just as guilty because they were overhunting the Bison in order to trade with the Europeans for items they wanted, such as horses, which also allowed them to hunt the Bison in a faster, and more efficent manner. It was no longer about the need to eat and clothes oneself. Now, it was about "greed" and what can I get for this meat, or this skin? It's sort of like the early settelrs and their over use of cash crops, thus depleting the land over and over.
ReplyDeleteIn popular culture, it is largely portrayed as the "white man's" fault that the Bison were destroyed, and that the animal was another victim to the "white man's" ignorance just as the Amerindians were victims as well. The Bison are preceived as dying out due to settlers over taking the land and shoving Amerindians, and their animals, farther and farther from their adapted environment.
Some of the critical forces that contributed to the decimation of the Bison in North America were not only the overgrazing of important short grasses but largely the influence of other species including wolves and the Human population present. Along with these was the drought and decline of plant species leading a large amount of bison to die.
ReplyDeleteI was not all that surprised that these forces were the cause of the large extinctions of the Bison. I was surprised more at the fact that a large bison could survive on a plant like the shortgrass. This is a testament to the region and the adaptations of the species.
I think that popular culture has led many to believe (including myself) that the bison became extinct due to the overhunting and unsustainable practices by humans and the carelessness of the time.
Isenberg does not go out of his way to show that the Amerindians were ecofriendly and that they became involved with the trade of animal commodities. This is a strange view as many believed that Amerindians used every aspect of the bison and respected it for this. This was initially brought about by the Euroamericans but was carried out by the Amerindians.
Prior to the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors, Native Indian's used environmental methods to push hoards of wild Bison to a specific location. When they Bison entered the targeted location, Indian's crippled the bison with arrows. There were different methods used to capture bison; controlled fires, "fallen" trees, thicket. But the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors brought the introduction of horses to an entirely new land. Native Indians developed new methods of hoarding and capturing wild Bison. But what pushed the Bison to the brink of extinction was not the Native Indians alone. Isenburg believes that natural predators, diseases, blizzards and droughts also contributed towards the tail-end of downfall of the Bison. The major cause of the downfall was economic greed. Fur from bison were used to trade for goods from Euroamericans. Bison's were also hunted as a source of food. Indians adopted a new lifestyle which revolved around killing Bisons for economic profit.
ReplyDeleteNature and our surrounding environment can bring about many intresting findings. Likewise as Isenberg mentions Bison where also plagues of the environment itself. Today one may also believe bison where hunted and killed of by natives or dwellers of that land during that time period. On the contray that belief euroamericans and idians both contributed to the destruction of the bison. Idians of the western plains produced bison robes for the market. Its was a means of monney making; men hunted and women dressed in the decorative skin or robes. There were also bison hunting societies and some of the bison were also killed of by overgrazzing and disease. Likewise the only thing that surprised me some that the Indians marketed to the euroamericans during that time for social profit.
ReplyDeleteIn “The Destruction of The Bison,” Andrew Isenberg identifies forces that nearly wiped out the American bison in the nineteenth century, including Indian predation, grassland ecology, environmental changes such as droughts, the increased presence of Europeans and their livestock, resource competition, the fur trade, Old World diseases, and settlers hunting the bison to force Indians onto reservations.
ReplyDeleteI was surprised by the role the Amerindians played in the destruction of the bison. In popular culture, the perception seems to be that the European settlers’ wasteful, short-sighted destruction of the bison (“overkill bonanza”) is the only major cause of their near-extinction. Isenberg authoritatively makes the case that the changing calculus caused by the arrival and spread of Europeans led to Amerindians unsustainably hunting the bison population, further destroying the ecological Indian myth.
Isenberg identifies a number of critical forces that conspired to nearly wipe out American bison through the nineteenth century--what were some of these forces?
ReplyDeleteThey were the consequences of the interactions of human societies with a dynamic environment. Some of the interaction were the reintroduction of horses; diseases to Amerindians; technology such as firearms, trains, steamboat, manufacturing plants; deforestation; cattle; alcohal; drought; war such as the civil war, warring tribes, and between Euroamericans and Amerindians; bison seen as a commadity to the nomads; diseases to the buffallo; human westerward emigration; blizzards; grass fires; and etc.
We're you surprised?
No. Not one bit.
In our own popular culture today, how do we typically understand the factors that nearly destroyed the continent's bison populations?
It was the Indians fault and that the environment were the only causes for the extinction of the bison. This, however, is only partially true.
Does Isenberg solidify or further destroy the ecological Indian myth?
I would say he solidified by blaming the European human, animal, pathogen, ecological, and economical imperialism as the Indian fall from their ecological harmoneous past. He does show that the Indians are human and they did too waste from time to time but the respect for nature is uncomparably higher than the human invaders form across the ocean.
Several factors led to the American bison's annihilation, from natural forces like drought and habitat destruction, to the human forces of over hunting. It was the arrival of the horse that really tipped the scale out of the bison's favor. With the horse, both settlers and Amerindians could more easily hunt bison.
ReplyDeleteI was not too surprised by these facts. Perhaps I would've been more stunned before starting this course, but having learnt that Amerindians weren't as ecologically friendly as popular culture portrays, it wasn't shocking to learn they had a heavy hand to play in the bison's downfall.
Popular culture typically blames the White man as the antithesis of nature, and that it is he who is the primary cause of our world's environmental damage.
Isenberg does not really perpetuate the myth of the ecological Indian. For example, he points out how the ancient Amerindian populations were instrumental in the extinction of other large mammals on the North American continent.
Per Nick Urick:
ReplyDeleteAfter the ice age the large mammals known as the bison were amongst the largest species both in size and population in the North American region. Eventually this species met its demise due a few different factors. First the nomadic tribes viewed the bison as their main source of food. The nomads moved with and were constantly hunting these creatures and in time learned how to use every part of the bison to their advantage. Such advantages are portrayed in many movies and cartoons when “Indians” are
depicted as living in teepees.
I was surprised that the Amerindians were conspired to have caused the demise of the bison population. These nomads had been hunting bison for a while and the animal populations were still able to find a way as nature does. In relation to current beliefs I think that expansion on a whole caused not only the demise of the bison population, but many other animal species and ecological populations as we discussed in class. Expansion westward brought
along the destruction of forests, grazing grounds, railroads as we
discussed, and the introduction of the horse. Horses played a major role allowing Amerindians to easily track and hunt down the bison but I do not believe it was the primary cause.
Isenberg does not exactly solidify the ecological Indian myth. He doesn’t portray Amerindians as the most nature friendly people but at the same time does not blame them for the destruction of ecological systems. I believe it was expansion on the whole that brought about these problems.
I break them down as...
ReplyDelete1) Indians after commercial profits.
2) Unstable environment.
3) Americans deliberately exterminating the bison.
I was really surprised by number one. In popular culture, number three is the primary factor. I certainly believed it. If anyone asked me what Indians had to do with the bison being pushed towards extinction, I would had said that they were simply there. Apparently, the Indians are just as bad as the white settlers.
With the extinction of the Bison there are some few key elements that could have contributed to that. Like the people (hunting), natural droughts, habitat destruction, and wolves. The Bison was hunted because it provided tribes with nutritious meat and warm hides that allowed them to survive the region’s harsh winters. When horses came in the picture it made it even more easier for hunters to capture the Bison. I feel that Isenberg stiffens the ecological indian myth since the environment was "destroyed" because of the arrival of transportation, markets, cities and mass manufacturing.
ReplyDeleteI believe Isenburg does further destroy the myth surrounding Amerindian's and their harmony for nature.There were many factors and forces which caused the American Bison to almost become extinct such as; droughts, over-hunting, horses, ect. The arrival of the horses from the Spanish Conquistadors set the balance of the scale in favor of the hunters. Increases mobility heavily affected and changed how Amerindians hunted and gathered their food. Over-hunting became prevalent simply due to the increased mobility allowing an increase in meat produce. Droughts diminished food sources for the American Bison and nature played it's part without human involvement.
ReplyDelete