What is the weapon Native Americans used to hunt Buffalo?

Question

I already know of sprears,bow and arrows, knifes and blow guns.

Answer 1

sometimes they would stampede a herd off of a cliff....

Answer 2

I believe several the plains tribes had trading networks that extended down into the southwest and Anasazi and other Southwestern Tribes traded further south the the Totonac, and Texcocoans adn the Aztec. If this is indeed the case, they many have traded for atlals. These were spear launchers that increased the power of the operator's arm by half as much again.

Atlatl
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
An atlatl (from Nahuatl ahtlatl [ˈah.tɬatɬ]; in English pronounced [ˈɑːtˌlɑːtɫ̩][1] or [ɑːtˈlɑːtɫ̩][2]) or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in spear-throwing, and includes a bearing surface which allows the user to temporarily store energy during the throw. It consists of a shaft with a cup, in which the butt of the spear rests. It is held near the end farthest from the cup, and the spear is thrown by the action of the upper arm and wrist. A well-made atlatl can readily achieve ranges of greater than 100 meters.

Some later improvements on the original design included thong loops to fit the fingers as well as the use of flexible atlatls and thinner, highly flexible darts for added power and range. These darts more closely resembled four to six foot arrows than spears.

Another important improvement to the atlatl's design was the introduction of a small weight (between 60 and 80 grams) strapped to its midsection. This weight added mass to the shaft of the device, causing resistance to acceleration when swung, which resulted in a more forceful and accurate launch of the dart. Some atlatl weights, commonly called "Banner Stones," were shaped wide and flat, a rather ingenious improvement to the design that created a silencing effect when swung, lowering the frequency of the telltale "zip" of an atlatl in use to a more subtle "woof" sound that did not travel as far and was less likely to alert prey or other humans.

Answer 3

I think you're on the wrong continent with blow guns, and I can't imagine anything that small piercing a buffalo hide. Actually, the Indians had guns that they'd gotten from the Spanish, the Americans, and the French from Canada. They were very good marksmen. Actually, the strangest method of hunting buffalo I've heard of was on bluffs in Illinois that overlooked the Mississippi River. They would herd the buffalo over the cliff, and simply climb down and pick up what was left.

Answer 4

For hundreds of years the native Indians had roamed across the plains following the herds of buffalo on which they based their lives around. The buffalo provided food, their hides were used to make clothes and the teepees they lived in and even had a spiritual connotation. The coming of the white man changed that way of life and forever. Pushed westwards and then further westwards by as America expanded they soon ran into more problems when it was clear that it was their traditional hunting lands that the new American colonists coveted. The response was to push the native Indians into reservations, these were often poorly located, rights to hunt were restricted and diseases brought by the white man to which native Indians had no immunity caused sickness and death. Alongside this a wave of propaganda victimised the native Indians - they were portrayed as being violent, lawless and murderous. In return for living in the reservations the US government promised much but delivered little, Indian Agents were often corrupt, alcoholism was rife and encouraged, food was of poor quality and often contaminated. The buffalo were hunted almost to extinction - partly to feed the new colonists and the gangs of rail workers who were opening up the west, but also because it was the best way to keep the Indians under control. Very often the treaties that the native Indians were forced to sign were ignored when it became expedient. For example the Sioux were forced to sign the Fort Laramie Treaty in 1868 which limited the land they could occupy to the Black Hills in what is now Dakota. These were sacred lands for the Sioux and by all accounts despite the restrictions they were happy there. However just six years later gold was discovered in this area and a detachment of the US army, under the command of General Custer marched into the Black Hills to protect the gold miners who were there illegally. He was given permission to deal with the roaming bands of warriors who were doing nothing illegal and were hunting on land that had been recognised as theirs but who attacked the miners whenever they found them. This action culminated in the battle of Little Big Horn in 1876 and a great victory for the Sioux, however it was a short lived triumph. A year later the US government confiscated the land and the remnants of the Sioux under Sitting Bull drifted into Canada where they had more protection while others accepted the inevitability and restrictions of reservation life. In the late 1880s the Ghost dance movement was started by a Nevada Indian prophet named Wovoka, also known as Jack Wilson. He claimed that he saw in a vision that the white man would die in the next spring from a flood of dirt and that all the buffaloes will return but only if they perform this spiritual dance. This became a popular belief amongst many different Indian tribes who had variations of this vision as part of their cultural beliefs. Consequently it caused a lot of unrest in the reservations and performing the ghost dance was made illegal because of the effect it had on the Indians. There was also a second strain in that if a Ghost Shirt was worn then the wearer would become bulletproof and this encouraged some Indians to attack the agents and some settlers in the belief that they would be immunue to the bullets. In 1890 the Sioux Indians left Canada after the government refused to feed them, in the harsh winters they suffered and eventually they began the trek back into the US where they settled in their traditional homelands in Dakota and accepted reservation life. The Ghost Dance movement though caused the US government to order the detention of Sitting Bull and other chiefs. Exactly what happened is a matter of conjecture, but Sitting Bull and several followers were shot when a crowd gathered to defend him. This caused around 200 followers of Sitting Bull to leave the reservation and they headed to another reservation which they thought was safer. Under Chief Spotted Elk their numbers swelled to 350 but most were women and children. Nevertheless the US 7th Cavalry followed them and found them camped at Wounded Knee. They set up four Hotchkiss machine guns at daybreak the next morning they ordered the immediate surrender of everyone. What happened next is confused, some say that the Medicine man Yellow Bird started to perform the ghost dance believing that by doing so he was bulletproof. Another, Black Coyote, refused to give up his rifle, being deaf he did not understand, or hear the command. Somewhere in the confusion a gun went off and a one sided battle ensued, when the firing stopped 153 Indians had been killed along with 25 US army men - who most people think were the victims of "friendly fire" and were shot by their own side in the chaotic scenes. Many of the Indians who died were women, children and old people who could escape. Many were hunted down as they tried to hide.

Answer 5

After the introductin of fire-arms to them they did, on occasin use those to hung the buffalo as well. There was also a practice of herding a group of buffalo toward a cliff where they would run over the edge, falling to their death. This practice was known in some tribes as the "Buffalo Jump", so I suppose the cliff itself could be considered in that category

Answer 6

Need not use weapon, just drove the whole herd (usually bison), to the required catchment area.

Answer 7

They used regular rifles too.

Answer 8

traps maybe u named everything they used