we are living An unprecedented era of species extinction ~ because Human-induced changes in the Earth’s ecosystem. This is not the first time that human activity has fundamentally changed the relationship between land and life.
The extinction of bison from western North America in the 19th century is one of the major examples of catastrophic loss of a species, as evidenced by the famous photograph of its remains.
As a visual studies researcher, I use photography to analyze the impact of colonization on human and non-human life.
An image of a bison bone Cultural and ecological relationships that unite animal and human life. Even through photos, we can think of the following: Bison extermination as part of relationship history.
symbolic image
The most famous photo of a bison stampede is the gruesome image of Bison Skull Mountain. Taken outside the Michigan Carbon Works in Rousville, Michigan in 1892.
This 1892 photo shows two men holding a huge pile of American bison (buffalo) skulls.
Originally numbering 30 to 60 million animals, commercial hunting and government campaigns to destroy their Indian way of life eventually reduced the overall bison population to less than 1,000. pic.twitter.com/txFO2BCc3U
— Dr. Robert Rohde (@RARohde) June 26, 2023
Late 18th century, There were between 30 and 60 million bison on the continent.. At the time this photo was taken, the population had decreased to: 456 wild bison.
Increasing colonization of the West led to mass slaughter of bison. White settler hunters arrive with weapons, Increasing market demand for leather and bonesThe killings have intensified. Most herds became extinct between 1850 and the late 1870s.
Photos show the enormity of the destruction. A man-made mountain rises in the image’s grassy foreground, and a pile of bones appears to be part of the landscape. This image was created by Canadian photographer Edward Burtynsky.manufactured landscape.”
What was taken from the prairies to create Michigan’s artificial landscape?
The Rougeville photo is often used to illustrate the scale of the bison extinction. appears in preserved publications, magazine, movie and recently protest meme. The photo became an icon symbolizing the slaughter of this animal.
But this photo is more than a symbol of man-made destruction and arrogance. Analyzing images through multiple lenses can reveal the history of a relationship.
The piles of skulls also indicate the abundance of bison life. But what was life like on the prairies before the bison eradication? What was your relationship with the bison before it died?
Human-Bison Relationships
We know that native peoples and bison herds are closely related. Huge herds of bison shaped Native American life by fostering the formation of large, politically and socially complex communities across the prairies.
Many Native scholars show the interrelationship between Plains natives and herds of bison (sometimes called buffalo).
For example, Cree political scientist Keira Radner studied Nonhierarchical organization and collaborative decision-making practices in Blackfoot communities.. These community practices are rooted in close relationships with bison herds that work in non-coercive groups not dominated by a single animal.
likewise, buffalo treatyIndigenous-led effort to reintroduce wild bison First signed in 2014Describes the buffalo as a relative of the Plains Native Americans.
The treaty states: “Buffalo is a part of us and we are a part of it culturally, materially and spiritually.”
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Cree scholar and filmmaker Tasha Hubbard documented Stories of bison eradication from many Plains Native nations.. These stories mourn the trauma of losing bison, a non-human community to which many indigenous people regard a connection. Extinction has fundamentally undermined the life possibilities of indigenous and bison communities. Hubbard argues: Bison extinction was a form of genocide.
Through the lens of interrelationships, photographs take on additional meaning. As a Dakota Scholar Kim Tall Bear Reminds us: “Indigenous peoples have never forgotten that non-humans are subjective beings involved in the social relationships that fundamentally shape human life..”
The pile of skulls is not only a symbol of ecological destruction. It is also a symbol of loss of relationship.
interracial relationship
Bison made the prairies a suitable home for many other communities. Each skull represents one 600 kg animal. Bison are the largest land mammals in North America.
Not only are bison large, but they are also a keystone of the West. Have a dramatic impact on the ecosystem. If one of these species disappears, no other species can fill its ecological role, and the entire ecosystem changes as a result.
The skull in the photo not only represents the extinction of the bison, but also the collapse of the entire ecosystem. When one bison was killed, it meant the end of the grazing, roosting, and migratory practices that made the land hospitable to other species.
for example, Hundreds of insect species live in bison dung.Provides food for birds, turtles and bats.
When bison roll around in the dirt, they create depressions called puddles that let in spring rain. Provide a home for tadpoles and frogs. Without bison, habitat and food for bison and many other species would disappear.
colonial capitalist relations
The bison skull isn’t alone in the photo. Two men in suits pose proudly holding a skull. Their existence implies another aspect of human-animal relations: commodity or market relations.
Each skull was collected from across the prairies and shipped east by train or steamship. Once at facilities like Michigan Carbon Works, the bison bones were rendered into fertilizer, glue and ash.
The bones produced goods such as bone china, which were sold in European and North American cities. Boxes, like the large box in the foreground of the image, technology of colonial capitalismThe bones are moved from the pasture to the factory and then the finished product to the market.
The picture is also infrastructure network It was imposed by settler colonial agents throughout North America. Settlers Infrastructure – at railway And the roads to factories and markets – have been radically strengthened. Transforming animals into products.
that The extractive industries of colonial capitalism Degraded habitats and biodiversity, relationships between bison and other plant and animal species and indigenous peoples. Similar industries are driving the mass extinctions taking place today. And it is expected to continue in the future.
looking ahead
There are currently 31,000 wild bison living in protected populations in North America. Species are considered ‘Near Threatened’ on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List. This indicates that conservation efforts have improved the viability of the bison species, but protection is still needed.
These remaining animals are descendants of hundreds of bison that survived extinction in the 19th century. With the help of conservation projects, including Indigenous-led buffalo treaty and Intertribal Buffalo CouncilBison continue to survive.
A close reading of the Rougesville photos from a variety of perspectives reveals the dramatic scale of bison loss. Relationships on the prairies were forever changed by the extinction of species in their grazing forms.
Danielle Taschereau MamersPostdoctoral Research Fellow, English Language and Cultural Studies; McMaster University
This article is republished from: conversation Under Creative Commons License. read original article.
This article was originally published in The Conversation in December 2020. I’m reposting now due to r issues.Recent media reports of historical photos.
