The Strategic Extermination of Bison and Its Lasting Impact on Native American Communities
The famous photo of two men standing atop a mountain of bison skulls is often seen as a symbol of the hunting culture during America’s colonization. However, there is a deeper, darker story behind the image, one that reveals a more sinister purpose and carries an unexpected modern message.
In the 19th century photo, two men in black suits and bowler hats pose beside a towering pile of bison skulls. The sight is chilling—thousands of skulls stacked neatly, reaching toward the sky. But what might first appear as an example of overzealous hunting is, in fact, evidence of a systematic effort to wipe out the bison, deprive Native Americans of a crucial resource, and push surviving communities onto small, controlled reservations.
Tasha Hubbard, a Cree filmmaker and associate professor at the University of Alberta, argues that the extermination of bison was a strategic element of colonial expansion. “It was seen as the taming of the West, of domesticating this wild space that was needed for the settlement to grow,” she explains. The destruction of the bison, a keystone species for many Indigenous peoples, had devastating effects. Tribes that relied on bison for food, clothing, and tools were thrust into survival mode, facing starvation and economic collapse. A study comparing bison-dependent tribes with others found that these nations experienced much higher child mortality rates and are still feeling the long-term consequences of the bison’s near extinction.
For centuries, Native Americans had relied on bison as a central part of their nomadic culture. Bison provided essential resources—meat for food, hides for shelter and clothing, and bones for tools. But by the late 1800s, the population of bison had plummeted. While Native American hunters took only a small fraction of the herd, commercial hunters and settlers decimated the population for hides and meat, driven by new technologies like the railroad and modern rifles.
By 1889, only 456 pure-breed bison remained in the U.S., and 256 of them were kept in captivity for protection. This mass slaughter was not only driven by profit but also as a calculated tactic to undermine Native American nations. The U.S. military recognized that eliminating the bison could help force Native Americans onto reservations, where they could be more easily controlled.
Bethany Hughes, a Choctaw Nation member and assistant professor of Native American studies at the University of Michigan, explains that the massacre of the bison was part of a broader colonial project fueled by a desire for wealth, land, and resources. The bones of the bison were even processed into charcoal and used in the sugar industry, providing another link between the mass slaughter and economic gain.
The photo of the bison skulls was taken at the Michigan Carbon Works refinery, where bison bones were turned into charcoal for sugar refining, glue, and fertilizer. Hughes points out that this image is not just a reminder of past harms, but a critique of the way capitalism continues to thrive on the exploitation of natural resources. “This photo is an indictment on commercial consumption practices that obscure the material and ethical conditions that make luxuries like refined sugar seem harmless,” she says.
The extermination of bison was also part of military campaigns designed to weaken Indigenous resistance. General Phillip Sheridan, who led efforts to subdue Native American tribes, saw the destruction of the bison as a way to break the tribes’ connection to their land and force them into submission. As Sheridan stated, killing the buffalo would “destroy the Indians’ commissary” and force them to settle on reservations.
The effects of this strategy were devastating. The Kiowa Tribe, for example, was relocated to Oklahoma, where their health and well-being worsened. One generation later, Native Americans who had relied on bison were smaller in stature and faced higher child mortality rates. Today, bison populations have not fully recovered, and the species is still considered near-threatened.
Efforts to restore bison populations have begun in recent years. Projects in Montana and through The Nature Conservancy are working to return bison to their native grazing lands. In 2023, the U.S. government pledged $25 million in the Inflation Reduction Act to help restore bison across the country.
While the historical impact of bison slaughter is well-known, Hughes argues that the message of the famous photo has been simplified. It evokes sorrow for the past but fails to force viewers to confront how colonialism and capitalism continue to shape modern life. “This photo points to the ways that consumers of products are the engine that drives the colonial machine,” Hughes says. “When you dehumanize another person or objectify a living being as a ‘natural resource,’ you reveal your own lack of humanity.”
