Buffalo and Deer - Sustainers of Life

Buffalo Ritual

Drum with buffalo design Niisitapiikwan type, 1870-1930 CMC V-B-333

Nueta women who belonged to the White Buffalo Society were responsible for holding ceremonies to provoke blizzards that would drive the buffalo into the wooded river valleys, where hunters could easily kill them. When not in use, the headdresses were hung facing the direction from which the buffalo came.

Headdress Northeastern Plains (possibly Dakota or Osage), 1813-1816 Rawhide, porcupine quills, horsehair CMC V-X-446	Headdress Niisitapiikwan, mid-19th century Split buffalo horn, ermine skin, silk ribbon CMC V-B-441

The horned bonnet generally indicates a man's status as a Wisasawakan (Holy Man) or warrior.

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Introduction | Hunting Methods | Products of Life | Buffalo and Deer Imagery | Buffalo Ritual | Decimation of the Buffalo and Deer | Re-emergence of the Buffalo | Transition to Cattle ranching

Introduction | Buffalo and Deer | Dog and Coyote | Honouring the Horse

SACRED BEINGS | RANCHING | ENTERTAINMENT | RODEO | ARTS AND INDUSTRIES