Hunting the American Bison

When nonnative settlers arrived on the flat, treeless North American plains in the nineteenth century, American bison-a large herd animal-thrived despite hunting by Native American peoples. Scholars once assumed that Native American cultural values and hunting practices were designed to limit demands on natural resources. Native Americans harvested only around half a million bison every year for domestic consumption (a sustainable figure, given that it was such a successful species). Almost all parts of the animal had value. Most organs could be used for food, skins for shelter and clothing, and bones for tools. The Blackfeet (a Native American tribe) obtained more than 100 specific items from the bison that sustained daily life. But in emphasizing Native American ingenuity in turning a variety of bison parts into useful products, scholars overlooked considerable evidence of waste and excessive killing.

In recent years, the role played by Native Americans in the near extinction of the bison has been more closely studied. Archaeological evidence has revealed that traditional methods of hunting, such as forcing bison off cliffs, could be remarkably wasteful. For instance, one such site in southern Colorado contained the bones of some 200 bison (males and females, adults and juveniles), but over 40 animals at the bottom of the pile had either not been touched or been only partly butchered. But by the late eighteenth century, the adoption of the horse and the rifle had made Plains Indians (Native Americans who lived in the plains)more effective and selective hunters. They preferred to kill female bison because their meat was juicier and their skins were easier to work. After 1700, almost all Plains Indians had become involved in commercialized hunting, exchanging bison tongues and skins for European trade goods and horses. Native Americans began to slaughter the bison for their tongues and skins alone, leaving the rest of the body to rot. Between the 1830s and the 1860s, as demand increased, they supplied firms such as John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company with over 100,000 bison robes annually. In combination with environmental factors, especially lack of rain, the Plains Indians’ preference for killing females (thus limiting the herds’ reproductive capacity), the competition for grazing on prairie grasses from their horses, and the pressures of hunting both for their own use and for the market began to speed the decline in bison numbers.

Contrary to the old belief, there were elements in Native American belief systems that were also destructive to the bison. The Plains Indians believed that when the great bison herds dispersed during the winter months, they went to grasslands underground, reemerging every spring in inexhaustible swarms “like bees from a hive.” If bison herds did not reappear in expected numbers, it was because many had not yet left their underground prairies. Such a notion undoubtedly discouraged the conservation of what was a diminishing resource, as Plains people could still hunt in enormous quantity, secure in the knowledge that there were always more animals grazing down below. Today, few historians would accept uncritically the idealized image of the environmentally friendly Native American who consciously pursued a lifestyle that left few traces on the land. But the pressure that Plains Indians exerted on the bison were slight in comparison with that exerted by Euro-American market hunters.

The bison population collapsed rapidly from the mid- nineteenth century. The demand for bison skins for the tanning industry, which turned animal skin into leather, was the primary cause. In 1850, when tanners still mostly used the skins of cows, tanning was already the fifth- largest industry in the United States, and it grew in value by supplying markets at home and overseas with a variety of leather products-most importantly, the heavy belting that powered machinery in mills and factories. Demand outstripped the supply of cowskins in the United States, forcing tanners to import them from Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America. But in 1870 a process for transforming bison skin into tough, elastic leather was discovered by tanners in Philadelphia, making bison hide an ideal material for use as industrial belting. Thousands of Euro-American commercial hunters flooded onto the plains, killing around 2 million bison for their skins annually between 1870 and the early 1880s. At the same time, the extension of the railroads to the plains made transporting bison skins to tanneries both quick and inexpensive.

According to paragraph 1, scholars used to believe which of the following about Native Americans’ hunting of bison?

ANative Americans harvested only half a million bison during the nineteenth century.
BNative Americans hunted more bison per year than were born into the herds.
CNative Americans did not hunt too many bison.
DNative Americans did not use most parts of the bison they hunted.

Which of the following can be inferred about the effect that”the adoption of the horse and the rifle” had on Native American hunting of bison?

ANative Americans’ reliance on bison for food and other items decreased.
BNative Americans reduced the frequency of their hunting.
CNative Americans could force bison off cliffs more easily than they could before.
DNative Americans began to target bison that had the preferred kind of meat and skin.

Why does the author mention “John Jacob Astor’s American Fur Company“?

ATo support the claim that parts of slaughtered bison were left to rot
BTo argue against the idea that the reproductive capacity of bison was significantly reduced
CTo emphasize the increased number of bison killed by Native Americans for commercial purposes
DTo provide evidence that demand for bison skins increased until the 1830s but decreased after the 1860s

The word “notion” in the passage is closest in meaning to

Aidea
Bevent
Cdesire
Dreward

According to paragraph 3, for which of the following reasons did the Plains Indians not reduce their hunting as bison populations declined?

AThe Plains Indians thought some of the bison were hidden but not gone forever.
BThe Plains Indians thought they could always move to new areas to find additional large populations of bison.
CThe Plains Indians thought hunting was necessary to keep the bison populations from becoming too big.
DThe Plains Indians depended on the bison and could not have survived with any less hunting.

According to paragraph 3, scholars now believe which of the following about the effect of Native American hunting on bison populations?

ANative American hunting had little effect on bison because Native Americans consciously pursued a lifestyle that preserved bison.
BNative American hunting began to have a greater effect on bison after Native Americans’ belief systems changed.
CNative American hunting during the winter months negatively affected the numbers of bison that reappeared each spring.
DNative American hunting had less effect on bison than Euro-American market hunters did.

Which of the sentences below best expresses the essential information in the highlighted sentence in the passage? Incorrect choices change the meaning in important ways or leave out essential information.

AIn 1850, tanners used only the skins of cows to supply markets at home and overseas with the heavy belting that powered machinery in mills and factories.
BTanning was already a major industry in 1850, and the market for leather products, such as heavy belting for machinery, helped increase its value.
CThrough the creation and sales of leather products to markets at home and overseas, tanning became the fifth-largest industry in the United States.
DIn 1850, the most important item produced by the tanning industry was heavy belting that powered machinery in mills and factories for the largest industries in the United States.

According to paragraph 4, which of the following increased the demand for bison skins?

AA cattle shortage in Argentina and elsewhere in Latin America that drove up the price of imported cowhides
BEfforts by tanners in Philadelphia to encourage Euro- American hunters to travel to the plains
CThe development of a way to make bison skins stretchy and strong enough to be used as industrial belting
DThe extension of railroads to areas that had previously lacked a market for bison skins

Look at the four squaresthat indicate where the following sentence could be added to the passage

This view seemed to be supported by evidence about the extent of Native Americans’ bison hunting.

Where would the sentence best fit？Click on a square sentence to the passage.

The American bison was a plentiful animal on the American Plains until the mid- to late-nineteenth century.

ABison continued to thrive for some time even after activities of Native Americans resulted in changes to the plains’ environment, but bison populations declined when Native Americans began hunting them.
BMarket demand, expansion of technology, and the beliefs and preferences of the Plains Indians all contributed to the pressure placed on bison populations.
CBison skins were shipped around the world, particularly to Argentina and other parts of Latin America, where tanners preferred them to cowskins because of their stronger and more attractive leather.
DAlthough Native Americans made use of nearly all the parts of the bison, physical evidence indicates that some bison that were hunted were not used.
EPressure was placed on bison populations by Euro-American hunters, who preferred the meat of female bison, and Native Americans, who preferred the skins of young bison.
FBison hunting became more intense after the arrival of Euro- American settlers, and the demands of the tanning industry led to a further increase in hunting.

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