The continued preservation of bison is one of Parks Canada’s greatest success stories. Canadian parks have been actively involved in protecting bison for over 100 years. While much has been written about the history of bison and... more
The continued preservation of bison is one of Parks Canada’s greatest success stories. Canadian parks have been actively involved in protecting bison for over 100 years. While much has been written about the history of bison and Indigenous peoples, the destruction of the great bison herds in the nineteenth century, and individual conservation herds, there are few works that speak of the history of the Parks Canada bison herds as a whole. Like Distant Thunder combines these disparate threads to form a cohesive narrative of the bison herds managed by Canada.
The fall hunt of the Metis from St. Francois Xavier and Baie St. Paul in 1845 is described by their parish Priest Father George Antoine Belcourt. This hunt traveled south west to the Missouri Coteau in the vicinity of Dog Den Butte in... more
The fall hunt of the Metis from St. Francois Xavier and Baie St. Paul in 1845 is described by their parish Priest Father George Antoine Belcourt. This hunt traveled south west to the Missouri Coteau in the vicinity of Dog Den Butte in what is now North Dakota.
This is a pictorial essay on the steps taken to brain tan two bison hides. This document was originally a Power Point Presentation on how to brain tan bison hides. The Winnipeg Flower Beadwork Circle funded this workshop, and Carl Froese... more
This is a pictorial essay on the steps taken to brain tan two bison hides. This document was originally a Power Point Presentation on how to brain tan bison hides. The Winnipeg Flower Beadwork Circle funded this workshop, and Carl Froese of Manitoba Buckskin was the teacher. The work was done in his shop.
Henry Youle Hind's account from, "Narrative of the Canadian Red River Exploring Expedition of 1857 and of the Assiniboine and Saskatchewan Exploring Expedition of 1858," Vol. II (London: 1860), Chapter XXVIII.
This group of Metis buffalo hunters were one of the bands who were part of the great assembly of the Nehiyaw Pwat alliance which was also known as the Iron Alliance — a historic poly-ethnic group that hunted, fought enemies, and married... more
This group of Metis buffalo hunters were one of the bands who were part of the great assembly of the Nehiyaw Pwat alliance which was also known as the Iron Alliance — a historic poly-ethnic group that hunted, fought enemies, and married between each other, creating a ‘Iron’ alliance of peace and mutual prosper.
An account from Laura Thompson Law’s book "History of Rolette County North Dakota and Yarns of the Pioneers". The Metis Buffalo Hunt trail from Red River west is described as the oldest and most used trail that crossed Rolette County. It... more
An account from Laura Thompson Law’s book "History of Rolette County North Dakota and Yarns of the Pioneers". The Metis Buffalo Hunt trail from Red River west is described as the oldest and most used trail that crossed Rolette County. It went south from the Red River Settlement near the present location of Winnipeg. The Half Breeds would arrange to meet, usually along the Pembina River in the general area of Pilot Mound or Calf Mountain, in Manitoba or near Pembina, a large camp would assemble and on an agreed date would start out on the buffalo hunt to the southwest, to Devil’s Lake, the Turtle Mountains, or across to Mouse [Souris] River. Eventually, with scarcity, they would go further west, even to the Missouri River and finally into Montana.
The Wold Bison Jump in Johnson County, Wyoming, is one of many prehistoric, mass kill sites scattered across the Plains. At Wold, a foraging basin of prime ungulate grazing habitat abuts the gently sloping backside of a bluff.... more
The Wold Bison Jump in Johnson County, Wyoming, is one of many prehistoric, mass kill sites scattered across the Plains. At Wold, a foraging basin of prime ungulate grazing habitat abuts the gently sloping backside of a bluff. Funnel-shaped drive lines of cairns extend across the top of the bluff towards a treacherous cliff. The drive was configured to constrain stampeding bison (Bison sp.) as prehistoric hunters communally drove them from the foraging basin to the precipice. Previous GIS analyses of bison jumps inductively analyze surrounding landscapes by classifying jump locations as known, unvarying focal points of analysis. While this approach can be informative, at Wold we attempt to obtain a more general understanding of how bison jumps operate. Using iterative models of least cost paths, topographic cross-sections, and visibility analysis, we test which landscape-embedded variables are optimized at Wold as compared to other potential localities across the study area. We find that this site’s placement is primarily explained by minimizing the distance at which the cliff face is visible and secondarily by minimizing the cost of slope and curvature routes ascending into the drive lines. Our procedure could hypothetically be used to predict optimal jump locations on similar landscapes.
