The mass slaughter of bison still has economic repercussions for Indigenous communities

In twenty years, from 1870 to 1890, the population of bison in the US was basically wiped out. From an estimated 8 million to fewer than 500. While events like expanding the railroads had an impact, much of this slaughter was done with the purpose of removing food sources to force Indigenous people onto reservations.

Thanks to new tanning abilities, the settlers did experience a short term economic boom from slaughtering the bison, but the Indigenous populations who relied on the bison suffered significant economic and health impacts that are still apparent today. This is according to research by economists Feir, Gillezeau, and Jones (2023).

The researchers examined a variety of records finding that the average height of people who had been reliant on bison decreased significantly going from a distinct height advantage, indicative of economic advantage, to no advantage at all in subsequent generations. Child mortality increased significantly. While the likelihood of reporting an occupation decreased.

One might argue that this was the general impacts of colonization, but the researchers compared the once bison dependent Indigenous populations to those who were never bison dependent.

What’s more, the numbers continue to be worse. The per capita income for bison nations today is 25% lower than non-bison nations. This gap cannot be explained by other factors such as agricultural activity or self-governance.

One factor that they did find had an impact on recovery was distance to a bank. Many populations live in banking deserts, where they cannot access credit. This made it much more difficult for some bison nations to re-specialize and migrate compared to others.

For more than 10 000 years, some Indigenous populations derived their livelihood from the bison. They used every part of the animal for multiple different reasons including nutrition, clothing, shelter, and tools. They enjoyed a quality of life that was comparable to their European counterparts. The loss of the bison, especially within such a short time period was devastating on their ways of life and their economies.

This paper examined the economic and some of the health impacts. But, it is not hard to believe that there would also be psychological impacts which is something the researchers hope to explore in the future.