American Indians hunting buffalo after 100 years

For the first time in over 100 years, the Umatilla American Indian tribe hunted bison on 13 February 2011. The hunter Jim Marsh did it on the traditional hunting grounds near Yellowstone National Park. He heard stories about his great-grandmother who had a buffalo-hide tepee and great-grandfather who was the last of the family to hunt buffalo. 

In 1855 the Umatilla, Cayuse and Walla Walla tribes made a treaty with the US government, which included hunting right. They ceded 6.4 million acres of land, equal to 25.900 km² in exchange for 250.000 acres in a reservation in Oregon. They were forced into the reservation and their lifestyle completely changed. In the late 1800s buffalo became near extinct because of the white American commercial hunting. For thousands of years the bison was an important part of the Plain Indian’s way of life. This lifestyle and ritual ended. 

It is almost incredible, but now it is appearing again in a modern form. The state of Montana opened up for buffalo hunting for two other tribes in 2006. Hunting is illegal in the Yellowstone National Park, but when the herd is big, bison migrate outside to find food. The hunt for bison is regulated, and the Umatilla need to travel close to 1.000 km to get there from the reservation, still they do it. In 2013 seven Umatilla hunting parties took 48 bison. A find it to be a good reason to celebrate. In the reservation the tribal government provides services for 2900 people, and jobs have been created at the Wildhorse Casino and Resort, and at Cayuse Technologies. Unemployment has dropped from 37% in 1992 to 13% in 2013.

Francis Marsh, left, and Cody Nowland with a bison shot by Marsh's father Jim Marsh on Feb. 13, 2011, near Gardiner, Mont.   Photo: Ted S. Warren  /  AP

The Umatilla, Walla Walla and the Cayuse were very influential within the region in economics and politics of the Plateau due to their key geographical setting, halfway between the Pacific Coast and the Great Plains.

Background

Before contact with the Euro-Americans, the Cayuse, Umatilla and Walla Walla were around 8.000 people. They were living of hunting, fishing, gathering, livestock and trade along the rivers for a major part of the year.

Traditional hunting of bison.

The Umatilla reservation is dark red and the land they ceded to the United States is light red. The Columbia Basin is dark tan.

White invasion

The first white came for hunting or trading fur, and Oregon became known as Beaver state. A trading post was established around 1817-18, later named Fort Walla Walla. Christian missionaries followed, and from 1843 the first wagon train into Oregon County. Soon thousands followed on the Oregon Trail. The Indians wee initially willing to live together with the newcomers, and traded with them. But the whites kept coming, and the pressure on land and resources was increasing.  Beacause of diseases killing half the population and increased immigration and lack of payment a band of Cayuse killed them. Five Cayuse were hanged for this in 1850.

The 1855 treaty and forced migration to reservation

In 1855 an agreement was negotiated and the US Government forced the Indians onto the Umatilla Reservation and their former territories were declared Public Domain. The land was auctioned at public sale, usually to land speculators and the railroads. Children were educated by the Catholic or Protestant missionaries. Strict discipline was adhered to hair was cut, uniforms were worn, and children were punished for speaking their native language.

Members of the Salish-Kootenai tribe brought a few bison from the east, which became the seed herd for a Bison Range and supplemented the 25 animals hiding in Yellowstone. That would make possible today’s hunting.

A pile of bison skulls waiting to be ground for fertilizer in the 1870s.

Sahaptin tribal representatives in Washington D.C. c.1890. Back row: John McBain (far left), Cayuse chief Showaway, Palouse chief Wolf Necklace, and far right, Lee Moorhouse, Umatilla Indian Agent. Front row: Umatilla chief Peo, Walla Walla chief Hamli, and Cayuse Young Chief Tauitau.

Map showing the location of Indian reservations in Oregon, US.

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Warmly
Bjarte Bjørsvik