Better homes and pastures: Human agency and the construction of place in communal bison hunting on the Northern Plains

Abstract

Although communal bison hunting has long captured the interest of northern Plains archaeologists, few have explored the actions of the people who created the impressive kill sites located in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Instead, the effectiveness of bison hunters has been attributed to their understanding of the local climate and topography, the grassland ecosystem, and the behavior of their prey. What is overlooked in this ecological explanation of bison hunting is the role of humans as active agents in the management of the landscape, the control of herd movement, and the maintenance of the kill complex. Moreover, the behaviors of the hunters were guided by very different perceptions of the relationships between humans and animals. My objective is to incorporate the actions of human communities in the execution of successful bison hunts with specific reference to the strategies employed by the Blackfoot and their ancestors.