Abstract

Gilbert Wilson's book The Horse and the Dog in Hidatsa Culture (1924) provides compelling accounts of Contact Period bison hunting, especially the stories of his prime informant, Buffalo Bird Woman. In particular, she recounts a long and complex pedestrian buffalo hunt, using dogs and travois, which took place in about 1870. Buffalo Bird Woman provides a unique view on bison hunting, butchering, processing, caching, consumption and transport. She also gives a voice to complex decision making processes that her group grappled with concerning the differing strategies of searching for new kills as opposed to continued reliance on cached food. Analysis of the use and discard of bison carcass parts by Hidatsa hunters indicates a preference for portions associated with greatest weight of fat and marrow, not weight of muscle tissue or muscle plus fat tissue. On the other hand, certain habits of carcass discard or retention appear to be idiosyncratic and defy modeling with indices of nutritional utility. The tales of Buffalo Bird Woman provide a realistic charting of the fate of skeletal elements and help us understand the formation of archaeological assemblages.