FBInCIAnNSATerroristSlayer
2021-02-15 20:41:32 UTC
HOW THE BIBLE THUMPING EVIL WHITE CHRISTIANS "massacred 30-60 mil BISON"
and almost MADE THEM EXTINCT.
NOW the same CUNNING White Christians SELL THEMSELVES as "animal rights
activists" WHILE RAPING their PET ANIMALS in the privacy of their homes
and EVEN IN PUBLIC.
Do Western Whites even have a "SINGLE RESPECTABLE CHARACTER TRAIT"?
=====================================================================
https://theconversation.com/historical-photo-of-mountain-of-bison-skulls-documents-animals-on-the-brink-of-extinction-148780?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbutton
Historical photo of mountain of bison skulls documents animals on the
brink of extinction
December 2, 2020 2.34pm EST
We are living through a period of unprecedented species extinction due
to human-induced changes to the planet’s ecosystems. This is not the
first time human activities radically changed relationships between land
and life. Illustrated by a famous photograph of remains, the
extermination of bison from the North American West in the 19th century
is one key example of catastrophic species loss.
As a visual studies researcher, I use photographs to analyze the impacts
of colonization on human and non-human lives. Images of bison bones
provide a window into the cultural and ecological relations that tie
animal and human lives together. Through photographs, we can also think
about bison extermination as part of a history of relationships.
An iconic image
The most famous photograph of bison extermination is a grisly image of a
mountain of bison skulls. It was taken outside of Michigan Carbon Works
in Rougeville, Mich., in 1892. At the close of the 18th century, there
were between 30 and 60 million bison on the continent. By the time of
this photograph, that population was reduced to only 456 wild bison.
Increased colonization of the West led to the large-scale slaughter of
bison. The arrival of white settler hunters with their weapons, as well
as growing market demand for hides and bones, intensified the killing.
Most herds were exterminated between 1850 and the late 1870s.
We bring the expertise of academics to the public.
The photograph shows the massive scale of this destruction. A man-made
mountain emerging from the image’s grassy foreground, the pile of bones
as appears part of the landscape. The image can be read as an example of
what Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has called “manufactured
landscapes.” What was taken from prairie land to make this manufactured
landscape in Michigan?
The Rougeville photograph is often used to illustrate the scale of bison
extermination. It appears in conservation publications, magazines, films
and recent protest memes. The photograph has become an icon of this
animal’s slaughter. But this photograph is more than just a symbol of
human-caused destruction and hubris. Analyzing the image with multiple
lenses illustrates a history of relationships.
The mound of skulls also indicates the abundance of bison life. But what
was life on the Prairies like before bison extermination? What
relationships did bison have before their deaths?
Human-bison relationships
We know that Indigenous Nations and bison herds were closely linked. The
vast number of bison herds shaped the lives of Indigenous Nations by
facilitating the formations of large, politically and socially complex
communities across the Prairies. Many Indigenous scholars demonstrate
the interrelation of Plains Indigenous Nations and bison herds,
sometimes referred to as buffalo.
For example, Cree political scientist Keira Ladner studied the
non-hierarchical organization of Blackfoot communities and practices of
collaborative decision-making. These community practices are rooted in
close relationships to bison herds, which work as non-coercive
collectives in which no single animal dominates.
Similarly, the Buffalo Treaty, an Indigenous-led effort to reintroduce
wild bison first signed in 2014, describes the buffalo as a relative of
Plains Indigenous peoples. The treaty states: “Buffalo is part of us and
we are part of buffalo culturally, materially and spiritually.”
‘Buffalo Calling,’ a film by Tasha Hubbard.
Cree scholar and filmmaker Tasha Hubbard has documented stories about
bison extermination from many Plains Indigenous Nations. These stories
mourn the trauma of losing bison — a non-human community many Indigenous
Nations see as relations. Extermination radically undermined
possibilities of life for Indigenous and bison communities. Hubbard
argues that bison extermination was a form of genocide.
Through the lens of interrelationship, the photograph takes on
additional meaning. As Dakota scholar Kim TallBear reminds us:
“Indigenous peoples have never forgotten that non-humans are agential
beings engaged in social relations that profoundly shape human lives.”
The pile of skulls is not only symbolic of the destruction of an
ecosystem. It is also a symbol of the loss of relations.
Multi-species relationships
Bison made the Prairies hospitable for many other communities. Each
skull represents one 600-kilogram animal — bison are the largest land
mammals in North America. Bison are not just massive in size, they are
also a keystone species in the West, meaning they have a dramatic
influence on an ecosystem. If one of these species disappears, no other
species can fill its ecological role, and the whole ecosystem changes as
a result.
The skulls in the photograph do not just represent the loss of bison,
but the disruption of an entire ecosystem. Each bison killed meant the
end of grazing, wallowing and migrating practices that make the land
hospitable for other species.
For example, hundreds of species of insects live in bison dung,
providing food for birds, turtles and bats. When bison roll in dirt,
they create depressions called wallows, which fill with spring rain and
provide homes for tadpoles and frogs. Without the presence of bison,
habitats and food for these and many other species disappear.
Colonial capitalist relationships
The bison skulls are not alone in the photograph. Two men in suits pose
proudly with the skulls. Their presence signifies another aspect of
human-animal relationships: commodity or market relations.
Each skull was collected from across the Prairies and shipped east by
train or steamship. Once they arrived at facilities like Michigan Carbon
Works, bison bones were rendered as fertilizer, glue and ash. The bones
produced commodities, like bone china, which were sold in European and
North American cities. Crates — like the large one in the foreground of
the image — were technologies of colonial capitalism, moving bones from
prairies to factories and then finished products to market.
Man stands in front of pile of bison skulls with his foot resting on a
buffalo skull; rustic cage is at foot of pile.
Detail from photograph of men standing with pile of buffalo skulls,
Michigan Carbon Works, Rougeville, Mich., 1892. (Burton Historical
Collection, Detroit Public Library)
The photograph also represents the network of infrastructures that
settler colonial agents imposed across North America. Settler
infrastructure — from railways and roads to factories and markets —
radically intensified the transformation of animals into commodities.
The extractive industries of colonial capitalism devastated habitat and
biodiversity, as well as relationships between bison, other plant and
animal species and Indigenous Nations. Similar industries are driving
the large-scale extinctions happening today and predicted to continue in
the near future.
Looking ahead
There are currently 31,000 wild bison living in conservation herds in
North America. The species is considered “near threatened” on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This indicates
that conservation efforts have improved chances for bison species
survival, but protections are still needed.
These remaining animals are the descendants of those few hundred bison
who survived the 19th-century extermination. With the help of
conservation projects, including the Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty and
InterTribal Buffalo Council, bison continue to survive.
As a close reading of the Rougeville photograph from multiple
perspectives demonstrates that the scale of bison loss is dramatic.
Relationships on the Prairies were forever changed by the extermination
of the species in its wild, free-ranging form.
Email
Twitter127
Facebook6.8k
LinkedIn
Print
We are living through a period of unprecedented species extinction due
to human-induced changes to the planet’s ecosystems. This is not the
first time human activities radically changed relationships between land
and life. Illustrated by a famous photograph of remains, the
extermination of bison from the North American West in the 19th century
is one key example of catastrophic species loss.
As a visual studies researcher, I use photographs to analyze the impacts
of colonization on human and non-human lives. Images of bison bones
provide a window into the cultural and ecological relations that tie
animal and human lives together. Through photographs, we can also think
about bison extermination as part of a history of relationships.
An iconic image
The most famous photograph of bison extermination is a grisly image of a
mountain of bison skulls. It was taken outside of Michigan Carbon Works
in Rougeville, Mich., in 1892. At the close of the 18th century, there
were between 30 and 60 million bison on the continent. By the time of
this photograph, that population was reduced to only 456 wild bison.
Man stands on top of enormous pile of buffalo skulls; another man stands
in front of pile with his foot resting on a buffalo skull; rustic cage
is at foot of pile.
Men standing with pile of buffalo skulls, Michigan Carbon Works,
Rougeville Mich., 1892. (Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public
Library)
Increased colonization of the West led to the large-scale slaughter of
bison. The arrival of white settler hunters with their weapons, as well
as growing market demand for hides and bones, intensified the killing.
Most herds were exterminated between 1850 and the late 1870s.
We bring the expertise of academics to the public.
The photograph shows the massive scale of this destruction. A man-made
mountain emerging from the image’s grassy foreground, the pile of bones
as appears part of the landscape. The image can be read as an example of
what Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has called “manufactured
landscapes.” What was taken from prairie land to make this manufactured
landscape in Michigan?
The Rougeville photograph is often used to illustrate the scale of bison
extermination. It appears in conservation publications, magazines, films
and recent protest memes. The photograph has become an icon of this
animal’s slaughter. But this photograph is more than just a symbol of
human-caused destruction and hubris. Analyzing the image with multiple
lenses illustrates a history of relationships.
The mound of skulls also indicates the abundance of bison life. But what
was life on the Prairies like before bison extermination? What
relationships did bison have before their deaths?
Human-bison relationships
We know that Indigenous Nations and bison herds were closely linked. The
vast number of bison herds shaped the lives of Indigenous Nations by
facilitating the formations of large, politically and socially complex
communities across the Prairies. Many Indigenous scholars demonstrate
the interrelation of Plains Indigenous Nations and bison herds,
sometimes referred to as buffalo.
For example, Cree political scientist Keira Ladner studied the
non-hierarchical organization of Blackfoot communities and practices of
collaborative decision-making. These community practices are rooted in
close relationships to bison herds, which work as non-coercive
collectives in which no single animal dominates.
Similarly, the Buffalo Treaty, an Indigenous-led effort to reintroduce
wild bison first signed in 2014, describes the buffalo as a relative of
Plains Indigenous peoples. The treaty states: “Buffalo is part of us and
we are part of buffalo culturally, materially and spiritually.”
‘Buffalo Calling,’ a film by Tasha Hubbard.
Cree scholar and filmmaker Tasha Hubbard has documented stories about
bison extermination from many Plains Indigenous Nations. These stories
mourn the trauma of losing bison — a non-human community many Indigenous
Nations see as relations. Extermination radically undermined
possibilities of life for Indigenous and bison communities. Hubbard
argues that bison extermination was a form of genocide.
Through the lens of interrelationship, the photograph takes on
additional meaning. As Dakota scholar Kim TallBear reminds us:
“Indigenous peoples have never forgotten that non-humans are agential
beings engaged in social relations that profoundly shape human lives.”
The pile of skulls is not only symbolic of the destruction of an
ecosystem. It is also a symbol of the loss of relations.
Multi-species relationships
Bison made the Prairies hospitable for many other communities. Each
skull represents one 600-kilogram animal — bison are the largest land
mammals in North America. Bison are not just massive in size, they are
also a keystone species in the West, meaning they have a dramatic
influence on an ecosystem. If one of these species disappears, no other
species can fill its ecological role, and the whole ecosystem changes as
a result.
The skulls in the photograph do not just represent the loss of bison,
but the disruption of an entire ecosystem. Each bison killed meant the
end of grazing, wallowing and migrating practices that make the land
hospitable for other species.
For example, hundreds of species of insects live in bison dung,
providing food for birds, turtles and bats. When bison roll in dirt,
they create depressions called wallows, which fill with spring rain and
provide homes for tadpoles and frogs. Without the presence of bison,
habitats and food for these and many other species disappear.
Colonial capitalist relationships
The bison skulls are not alone in the photograph. Two men in suits pose
proudly with the skulls. Their presence signifies another aspect of
human-animal relationships: commodity or market relations.
Each skull was collected from across the Prairies and shipped east by
train or steamship. Once they arrived at facilities like Michigan Carbon
Works, bison bones were rendered as fertilizer, glue and ash. The bones
produced commodities, like bone china, which were sold in European and
North American cities. Crates — like the large one in the foreground of
the image — were technologies of colonial capitalism, moving bones from
prairies to factories and then finished products to market.
Man stands in front of pile of bison skulls with his foot resting on a
buffalo skull; rustic cage is at foot of pile.
Detail from photograph of men standing with pile of buffalo skulls,
Michigan Carbon Works, Rougeville, Mich., 1892. (Burton Historical
Collection, Detroit Public Library)
The photograph also represents the network of infrastructures that
settler colonial agents imposed across North America. Settler
infrastructure — from railways and roads to factories and markets —
radically intensified the transformation of animals into commodities.
The extractive industries of colonial capitalism devastated habitat and
biodiversity, as well as relationships between bison, other plant and
animal species and Indigenous Nations. Similar industries are driving
the large-scale extinctions happening today and predicted to continue in
the near future.
Looking ahead
There are currently 31,000 wild bison living in conservation herds in
North America. The species is considered “near threatened” on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This indicates
that conservation efforts have improved chances for bison species
survival, but protections are still needed.
These remaining animals are the descendants of those few hundred bison
who survived the 19th-century extermination. With the help of
conservation projects, including the Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty and
InterTribal Buffalo Council, bison continue to survive.
As a close reading of the Rougeville photograph from multiple
perspectives demonstrates that the scale of bison loss is dramatic.
Relationships on the Prairies were forever changed by the extermination
of the species in its wild, free-ranging form.
The photograph also represents the network of infrastructures that
settler colonial agents imposed across North America. Settler
infrastructure — from railways and roads to factories and markets —
radically intensified the transformation of animals into commodities.
The extractive industries of colonial capitalism devastated habitat and
biodiversity, as well as relationships between bison, other plant and
animal species and Indigenous Nations. Similar industries are driving
the large-scale extinctions happening today and predicted to continue in
the near future.
Looking ahead
There are currently 31,000 wild bison living in conservation herds in
North America. The species is considered “near threatened” on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This indicates
that conservation efforts have improved chances for bison species
survival, but protections are still needed.
These remaining animals are the descendants of those few hundred bison
who survived the 19th-century extermination. With the help of
conservation projects, including the Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty and
InterTribal Buffalo Council, bison continue to survive.
As a close reading of the Rougeville photograph from multiple
perspectives demonstrates that the scale of bison loss is dramatic.
Relationships on the Prairies were forever changed by the extermination
of the species in its wild, free-ranging form.
Martin La Monica
and almost MADE THEM EXTINCT.
NOW the same CUNNING White Christians SELL THEMSELVES as "animal rights
activists" WHILE RAPING their PET ANIMALS in the privacy of their homes
and EVEN IN PUBLIC.
Do Western Whites even have a "SINGLE RESPECTABLE CHARACTER TRAIT"?
=====================================================================
https://theconversation.com/historical-photo-of-mountain-of-bison-skulls-documents-animals-on-the-brink-of-extinction-148780?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=bylinetwitterbutton
Historical photo of mountain of bison skulls documents animals on the
brink of extinction
December 2, 2020 2.34pm EST
We are living through a period of unprecedented species extinction due
to human-induced changes to the planet’s ecosystems. This is not the
first time human activities radically changed relationships between land
and life. Illustrated by a famous photograph of remains, the
extermination of bison from the North American West in the 19th century
is one key example of catastrophic species loss.
As a visual studies researcher, I use photographs to analyze the impacts
of colonization on human and non-human lives. Images of bison bones
provide a window into the cultural and ecological relations that tie
animal and human lives together. Through photographs, we can also think
about bison extermination as part of a history of relationships.
An iconic image
The most famous photograph of bison extermination is a grisly image of a
mountain of bison skulls. It was taken outside of Michigan Carbon Works
in Rougeville, Mich., in 1892. At the close of the 18th century, there
were between 30 and 60 million bison on the continent. By the time of
this photograph, that population was reduced to only 456 wild bison.
Increased colonization of the West led to the large-scale slaughter of
bison. The arrival of white settler hunters with their weapons, as well
as growing market demand for hides and bones, intensified the killing.
Most herds were exterminated between 1850 and the late 1870s.
We bring the expertise of academics to the public.
The photograph shows the massive scale of this destruction. A man-made
mountain emerging from the image’s grassy foreground, the pile of bones
as appears part of the landscape. The image can be read as an example of
what Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has called “manufactured
landscapes.” What was taken from prairie land to make this manufactured
landscape in Michigan?
The Rougeville photograph is often used to illustrate the scale of bison
extermination. It appears in conservation publications, magazines, films
and recent protest memes. The photograph has become an icon of this
animal’s slaughter. But this photograph is more than just a symbol of
human-caused destruction and hubris. Analyzing the image with multiple
lenses illustrates a history of relationships.
The mound of skulls also indicates the abundance of bison life. But what
was life on the Prairies like before bison extermination? What
relationships did bison have before their deaths?
Human-bison relationships
We know that Indigenous Nations and bison herds were closely linked. The
vast number of bison herds shaped the lives of Indigenous Nations by
facilitating the formations of large, politically and socially complex
communities across the Prairies. Many Indigenous scholars demonstrate
the interrelation of Plains Indigenous Nations and bison herds,
sometimes referred to as buffalo.
For example, Cree political scientist Keira Ladner studied the
non-hierarchical organization of Blackfoot communities and practices of
collaborative decision-making. These community practices are rooted in
close relationships to bison herds, which work as non-coercive
collectives in which no single animal dominates.
Similarly, the Buffalo Treaty, an Indigenous-led effort to reintroduce
wild bison first signed in 2014, describes the buffalo as a relative of
Plains Indigenous peoples. The treaty states: “Buffalo is part of us and
we are part of buffalo culturally, materially and spiritually.”
‘Buffalo Calling,’ a film by Tasha Hubbard.
Cree scholar and filmmaker Tasha Hubbard has documented stories about
bison extermination from many Plains Indigenous Nations. These stories
mourn the trauma of losing bison — a non-human community many Indigenous
Nations see as relations. Extermination radically undermined
possibilities of life for Indigenous and bison communities. Hubbard
argues that bison extermination was a form of genocide.
Through the lens of interrelationship, the photograph takes on
additional meaning. As Dakota scholar Kim TallBear reminds us:
“Indigenous peoples have never forgotten that non-humans are agential
beings engaged in social relations that profoundly shape human lives.”
The pile of skulls is not only symbolic of the destruction of an
ecosystem. It is also a symbol of the loss of relations.
Multi-species relationships
Bison made the Prairies hospitable for many other communities. Each
skull represents one 600-kilogram animal — bison are the largest land
mammals in North America. Bison are not just massive in size, they are
also a keystone species in the West, meaning they have a dramatic
influence on an ecosystem. If one of these species disappears, no other
species can fill its ecological role, and the whole ecosystem changes as
a result.
The skulls in the photograph do not just represent the loss of bison,
but the disruption of an entire ecosystem. Each bison killed meant the
end of grazing, wallowing and migrating practices that make the land
hospitable for other species.
For example, hundreds of species of insects live in bison dung,
providing food for birds, turtles and bats. When bison roll in dirt,
they create depressions called wallows, which fill with spring rain and
provide homes for tadpoles and frogs. Without the presence of bison,
habitats and food for these and many other species disappear.
Colonial capitalist relationships
The bison skulls are not alone in the photograph. Two men in suits pose
proudly with the skulls. Their presence signifies another aspect of
human-animal relationships: commodity or market relations.
Each skull was collected from across the Prairies and shipped east by
train or steamship. Once they arrived at facilities like Michigan Carbon
Works, bison bones were rendered as fertilizer, glue and ash. The bones
produced commodities, like bone china, which were sold in European and
North American cities. Crates — like the large one in the foreground of
the image — were technologies of colonial capitalism, moving bones from
prairies to factories and then finished products to market.
Man stands in front of pile of bison skulls with his foot resting on a
buffalo skull; rustic cage is at foot of pile.
Detail from photograph of men standing with pile of buffalo skulls,
Michigan Carbon Works, Rougeville, Mich., 1892. (Burton Historical
Collection, Detroit Public Library)
The photograph also represents the network of infrastructures that
settler colonial agents imposed across North America. Settler
infrastructure — from railways and roads to factories and markets —
radically intensified the transformation of animals into commodities.
The extractive industries of colonial capitalism devastated habitat and
biodiversity, as well as relationships between bison, other plant and
animal species and Indigenous Nations. Similar industries are driving
the large-scale extinctions happening today and predicted to continue in
the near future.
Looking ahead
There are currently 31,000 wild bison living in conservation herds in
North America. The species is considered “near threatened” on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This indicates
that conservation efforts have improved chances for bison species
survival, but protections are still needed.
These remaining animals are the descendants of those few hundred bison
who survived the 19th-century extermination. With the help of
conservation projects, including the Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty and
InterTribal Buffalo Council, bison continue to survive.
As a close reading of the Rougeville photograph from multiple
perspectives demonstrates that the scale of bison loss is dramatic.
Relationships on the Prairies were forever changed by the extermination
of the species in its wild, free-ranging form.
Twitter127
Facebook6.8k
We are living through a period of unprecedented species extinction due
to human-induced changes to the planet’s ecosystems. This is not the
first time human activities radically changed relationships between land
and life. Illustrated by a famous photograph of remains, the
extermination of bison from the North American West in the 19th century
is one key example of catastrophic species loss.
As a visual studies researcher, I use photographs to analyze the impacts
of colonization on human and non-human lives. Images of bison bones
provide a window into the cultural and ecological relations that tie
animal and human lives together. Through photographs, we can also think
about bison extermination as part of a history of relationships.
An iconic image
The most famous photograph of bison extermination is a grisly image of a
mountain of bison skulls. It was taken outside of Michigan Carbon Works
in Rougeville, Mich., in 1892. At the close of the 18th century, there
were between 30 and 60 million bison on the continent. By the time of
this photograph, that population was reduced to only 456 wild bison.
Man stands on top of enormous pile of buffalo skulls; another man stands
in front of pile with his foot resting on a buffalo skull; rustic cage
is at foot of pile.
Men standing with pile of buffalo skulls, Michigan Carbon Works,
Rougeville Mich., 1892. (Burton Historical Collection, Detroit Public
Library)
Increased colonization of the West led to the large-scale slaughter of
bison. The arrival of white settler hunters with their weapons, as well
as growing market demand for hides and bones, intensified the killing.
Most herds were exterminated between 1850 and the late 1870s.
We bring the expertise of academics to the public.
The photograph shows the massive scale of this destruction. A man-made
mountain emerging from the image’s grassy foreground, the pile of bones
as appears part of the landscape. The image can be read as an example of
what Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky has called “manufactured
landscapes.” What was taken from prairie land to make this manufactured
landscape in Michigan?
The Rougeville photograph is often used to illustrate the scale of bison
extermination. It appears in conservation publications, magazines, films
and recent protest memes. The photograph has become an icon of this
animal’s slaughter. But this photograph is more than just a symbol of
human-caused destruction and hubris. Analyzing the image with multiple
lenses illustrates a history of relationships.
The mound of skulls also indicates the abundance of bison life. But what
was life on the Prairies like before bison extermination? What
relationships did bison have before their deaths?
Human-bison relationships
We know that Indigenous Nations and bison herds were closely linked. The
vast number of bison herds shaped the lives of Indigenous Nations by
facilitating the formations of large, politically and socially complex
communities across the Prairies. Many Indigenous scholars demonstrate
the interrelation of Plains Indigenous Nations and bison herds,
sometimes referred to as buffalo.
For example, Cree political scientist Keira Ladner studied the
non-hierarchical organization of Blackfoot communities and practices of
collaborative decision-making. These community practices are rooted in
close relationships to bison herds, which work as non-coercive
collectives in which no single animal dominates.
Similarly, the Buffalo Treaty, an Indigenous-led effort to reintroduce
wild bison first signed in 2014, describes the buffalo as a relative of
Plains Indigenous peoples. The treaty states: “Buffalo is part of us and
we are part of buffalo culturally, materially and spiritually.”
‘Buffalo Calling,’ a film by Tasha Hubbard.
Cree scholar and filmmaker Tasha Hubbard has documented stories about
bison extermination from many Plains Indigenous Nations. These stories
mourn the trauma of losing bison — a non-human community many Indigenous
Nations see as relations. Extermination radically undermined
possibilities of life for Indigenous and bison communities. Hubbard
argues that bison extermination was a form of genocide.
Through the lens of interrelationship, the photograph takes on
additional meaning. As Dakota scholar Kim TallBear reminds us:
“Indigenous peoples have never forgotten that non-humans are agential
beings engaged in social relations that profoundly shape human lives.”
The pile of skulls is not only symbolic of the destruction of an
ecosystem. It is also a symbol of the loss of relations.
Multi-species relationships
Bison made the Prairies hospitable for many other communities. Each
skull represents one 600-kilogram animal — bison are the largest land
mammals in North America. Bison are not just massive in size, they are
also a keystone species in the West, meaning they have a dramatic
influence on an ecosystem. If one of these species disappears, no other
species can fill its ecological role, and the whole ecosystem changes as
a result.
The skulls in the photograph do not just represent the loss of bison,
but the disruption of an entire ecosystem. Each bison killed meant the
end of grazing, wallowing and migrating practices that make the land
hospitable for other species.
For example, hundreds of species of insects live in bison dung,
providing food for birds, turtles and bats. When bison roll in dirt,
they create depressions called wallows, which fill with spring rain and
provide homes for tadpoles and frogs. Without the presence of bison,
habitats and food for these and many other species disappear.
Colonial capitalist relationships
The bison skulls are not alone in the photograph. Two men in suits pose
proudly with the skulls. Their presence signifies another aspect of
human-animal relationships: commodity or market relations.
Each skull was collected from across the Prairies and shipped east by
train or steamship. Once they arrived at facilities like Michigan Carbon
Works, bison bones were rendered as fertilizer, glue and ash. The bones
produced commodities, like bone china, which were sold in European and
North American cities. Crates — like the large one in the foreground of
the image — were technologies of colonial capitalism, moving bones from
prairies to factories and then finished products to market.
Man stands in front of pile of bison skulls with his foot resting on a
buffalo skull; rustic cage is at foot of pile.
Detail from photograph of men standing with pile of buffalo skulls,
Michigan Carbon Works, Rougeville, Mich., 1892. (Burton Historical
Collection, Detroit Public Library)
The photograph also represents the network of infrastructures that
settler colonial agents imposed across North America. Settler
infrastructure — from railways and roads to factories and markets —
radically intensified the transformation of animals into commodities.
The extractive industries of colonial capitalism devastated habitat and
biodiversity, as well as relationships between bison, other plant and
animal species and Indigenous Nations. Similar industries are driving
the large-scale extinctions happening today and predicted to continue in
the near future.
Looking ahead
There are currently 31,000 wild bison living in conservation herds in
North America. The species is considered “near threatened” on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This indicates
that conservation efforts have improved chances for bison species
survival, but protections are still needed.
These remaining animals are the descendants of those few hundred bison
who survived the 19th-century extermination. With the help of
conservation projects, including the Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty and
InterTribal Buffalo Council, bison continue to survive.
As a close reading of the Rougeville photograph from multiple
perspectives demonstrates that the scale of bison loss is dramatic.
Relationships on the Prairies were forever changed by the extermination
of the species in its wild, free-ranging form.
The photograph also represents the network of infrastructures that
settler colonial agents imposed across North America. Settler
infrastructure — from railways and roads to factories and markets —
radically intensified the transformation of animals into commodities.
The extractive industries of colonial capitalism devastated habitat and
biodiversity, as well as relationships between bison, other plant and
animal species and Indigenous Nations. Similar industries are driving
the large-scale extinctions happening today and predicted to continue in
the near future.
Looking ahead
There are currently 31,000 wild bison living in conservation herds in
North America. The species is considered “near threatened” on the
International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This indicates
that conservation efforts have improved chances for bison species
survival, but protections are still needed.
These remaining animals are the descendants of those few hundred bison
who survived the 19th-century extermination. With the help of
conservation projects, including the Indigenous-led Buffalo Treaty and
InterTribal Buffalo Council, bison continue to survive.
As a close reading of the Rougeville photograph from multiple
perspectives demonstrates that the scale of bison loss is dramatic.
Relationships on the Prairies were forever changed by the extermination
of the species in its wild, free-ranging form.
Martin La Monica