Massacre

The history books will tell you that the American Bison, once considered the thunder of the plains, roaming in dark masses across almost all of the North American continent, was driven to near extinction by over zealous hunters heading west to find a new life for themselves.

That story is dead wrong.

The Buffalo Nation once supported an entire lifestyle, culture, and civilization for many native nations. Their sacrifice to the Two-Leggeds was a understanding that created balance in pre-contact North America.

However, their massacre that left a once estimated population of 60 million, to a mere 750 in 1890, was due to a sweeping government programme by the United States that wished to kill off the food supply of many peoples. In short, the killing of the bison was not merely a lesson in conservation, but a lesson in genocide. Today, with only a few herds being 'true bison' (wild bison that migrate) and not descended from beefalo (cattle mixed with bison), a meager population of 360,000 exists to this day and is still threatened in it's wild state.
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A speedpainting concept that I just had to get out.