One hundred thousand years ago, the world was increasingly derailed by the ice

age; consequently, dropped temperatures caused polar caps expansion and freezing

oceans. Thus, there was the Beringia land bridge, in which humans and multiple animals

could spread through Asia and North America. The buffalo, a symbol of North America,

arrived through migrations. The animal was a relevant creature for indigenous men and

women, who were the first humans to settle in North America around thirty thousand

years BC. Anyway, North America established bison and indigenous in the central strip,

which presents an enormous variety of flora and fauna. However, the indigenous and

buffalos were exterminated from their natural habitat during the European invasion.

Therefore, the essay will examine the buffalo's importance as a source of food and textiles

for men and women in the ancient American civilizations. Also, this essay will analyze

diminished indigenous and buffalo during the invasion of Europeans.

Many ancient Americans depended on the existence of the buffalo for their daily

needs, such as food, shelter, and clothing on the great plains. For example, native women

used to build their tipis through 18 buffalo hives sewn together. Buffalo skin protected

them against extreme weather during the winter. Therefore, buffalo skin was essential for

making their pillows, clothing, and rugs. Also, Native Americans used to scrape the grass

using buffalo horns inside the tipi. On the other hand, the native men hunted buffalo

through effective tactics. For example, they could lead them over cliffs, where bison

instantly fell to their deaths; additionally, they shot the buffalo with extreme caution.

Hunters camouflaged themselves with animal skins to go unnoticed. Thus, buffalo was

essential for the existence and feeding of indigenous civilizations through basic and

substantial needs in their daily lives. Unfortunately, when European conquested North

America in the 17th century AD, buffalo numbers declined due to land privatization. The
Europeans prohibited access to the nature reserves to the indigenous people, who could

not hunt the buffalo for their primary necessities of food, shelter, and clothing. Thus, the

indigenous population refused to adopt a different and modern lifestyle.

In this essay, buffalos were the most essential alternative for basic and substantial

needs for American endogenous; despite, the civilization found efficient solutions to

technical limitations. The consequence of dropped temperatures was a very significant

challenge for ancient American; consequently, they often depended on buffalo skin

against the extreme weather during the winter. Thus, natives were sedentary because they

all depended heavily on the buffalo in the great plains from North America.

TheChamberlinChannel. (2014). Native Americans People of the Plains [Video].

YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtfwCljzg7g