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How Many Ways Can You Use a Buffalo?

Put your mouse on different parts of the buffalo to discover how the Indians used everything from its beard—to its brains! They even found a use for bison doo-doo—it fueled their cooking fire. Aren't you glad your home has an oven?

Son Kia Do-Te chased by a wounded bull.
Son Kia Do-Te chased by a wounded bull. Drawing by Silver Horn Kiowa, 1891. National Anthropological Archives, Smithsonian Institution.

Buffalo chips (poop): ceremonial smoking, fuel for cooking fires

Tail: medicine switches, fly brushes, tepee decorations, whips

Bison foot bones from Bonfire Shelter. Photo by Steve Black.
Bison foot bones from Bonfire Shelter. Photo by Steve Black.

Hooves and Feet: glue, rattles

Artist Feather Radha’s depiction of Jumano Indians hunting bison. The Jumano were known as successful bison hunters whose original homelands included areas of the southern Plains and northwestern Edwards Plateau that were frequented by bison herds. This 1994 painting can be seen in Restaurante Lobby's OK in Ojinaga, Mexico. Courtesy Elsa Socorro Arroyo.
Artist Feather Radha’s depiction of Jumano Indians hunting bison. The Jumano were known as successful bison hunters whose original homelands included areas of the southern Plains and northwestern Edwards Plateau that were frequented by bison herds. This 1994 painting can be seen in Restaurante Lobby's OK in Ojinaga, Mexico. Courtesy Elsa Socorro Arroyo.

Stomach: buckets, cups, dishes, other containers

Bladder: pouches, medicine bags

War shield of Satanta,or Set-T'ainte, a Kiowa head chief in the 1870s-1890s, who raided into northwest Texas. His shield, made of painted buffalo hide and feathers, is shown from the inside (left) and the exterior (right).
War shield of Satanta,or Set-T'ainte, a Kiowa head chief in the 1870s-1890s, who raided into northwest Texas. His shield, made of painted buffalo hide and feathers, is shown from the inside (left) and the exterior (right).

Hide: (tanned into tough leather) bedding, belts, cradles, dolls, dresses, gun cases, leggings, moccasin tops, paint bags, pipe bags, pouches, shirts, teepee covers, winter robes

Hide: (untanned, more like soft skin) armbands, belts, buckets, bullet pouches, ropes, containers, drums, headdresses, knife cases, medicine bags, moccasin soles, rattles, saddles, shields, splints, stirrups, thongs

Artist’s depiction of a temporary camp on the Llano Estacado near where a bison has been killed. Strips of meat hang to dry on a wooden-pole framework. In the foreground two women carry long bones upslope to the nearby camp to extract the marrow for a delicious meal. Painting by Nola Davis, courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.
Artist’s depiction of a temporary camp on the Llano Estacado near where a bison has been killed. Strips of meat hang to dry on a wooden-pole framework. In the foreground two women carry long bones upslope to the nearby camp to extract the marrow for a delicious meal. Painting by Nola Davis, courtesy Texas Parks and Wildlife Department.

Hair: halters, headdresses, medicine balls, ornaments, pillows, ropes

Sinew (attachments for muscles): glue, bows, thread

Best Meat: tongue, organs (insides), rump (rear-end) and ribs eaten right away

Rest of Meat: jerky and pemmican (dried meat, fat, berries and nuts or seeds)

End-on view of the beveled tip of bison tibia tool. From the Courson Buried City collection, photo by Steve Black.
End-on view of the beveled tip of bison tibia tool. From the Courson Buried City collection, photo by Steve Black.

Horns: cups, headdresses, ladles, powder horns, spoons, toys

Bones: spear handles, awls (needles), knives, paintbrushes, scrapers, shovels, clubs, winter sleds, toys

A small buffalo grazes near the south Texas town of Tilden. Photo by Bob Stiba.
A small buffalo grazes near the south Texas town of Tilden. Photo by Bob Stiba.

Beard: ornament for clothing and weapons

Bison skull excavated at the Mustang Branch site in Hays County.
Bison skull excavated at the Mustang Branch site in Hays County.

Brains: hide tanner (a type of coating that toughened the bison's hide into leather)

Skull: ceremonies, prayer objects

Did you know that the bison (or buffalo) is the biggest land animal in North America? They can weigh more than 2,000 pounds—that's as much as a car! So how did Indians hunt and kill them—and without guns? Click here to learn about their powerful strategy.

In the early 1800s there were more bison than people in North America—at least 50 million versus perhaps 2 million humans. By the end of the century, professional hide hunters (not Indians) had almost wiped out the bison, slaughtering whole herds just for their thick woolly skins.

For thousands of years Native Americans hunted bison and valued it above all other animals. Prized for their meat, their hides, and their bones, a bison offered one-stop shopping for most Plains Indians—kind of like when we go to Wal-Mart. You can imagine how hard it was for the Plains Indians to see their most valuable resource slaughtered by the thousands. Luckily, today bison are no longer endangered thanks to the concerted efforts of ranchers and zoos, but there are far fewer of them than in early historic times.

Illustration by Samuel M. Wilson.