www.thepsmiths.com/p/review-sick-societies-by-robert-b
1 correction found
But before the reintroduction of the horse to North America, these tribes were a number of culturally distinct groups — horticulturalists from the eastern woodlands, foragers from elsewhere — who were only able to move onto the Plains to hunt buffalo when escaped Spanish horses made their way north.
Plains peoples hunted bison and (in some cases) lived as nomadic buffalo hunters on the Great Plains before horses arrived; horses later made buffalo hunting and mobility more efficient, but were not required to hunt buffalo on the Plains.
Full reasoning
The post claims Plains tribes were only able to move onto the Plains to hunt buffalo after escaped Spanish horses spread north. That “only able” framing is contradicted by mainstream historical/archaeological summaries of pre-horse Great Plains life.
- Buffalo hunting on the Plains predates horses by millennia. Encyclopaedia Britannica’s overview of “Plains life before the horse” notes that men hunted bison and that whole communities participated in game drives (e.g., over cliffs) well before widespread horse use.
- European observers recorded nomadic buffalo hunters on the Plains before horses. The same Britannica section reports that Coronado’s 1541 expedition encountered “fully nomadic buffalo-hunting tribes” on the southern Plains that had only dogs for transport—i.e., buffalo-hunting on the Plains without horses.
- Horses changed the mode/efficiency of buffalo hunting, not its existence. A Smithsonian-curator-quoted History.com explainer states that before horses, Native hunters pursued herds on foot (including buffalo-jump techniques), with horses later transforming the hunt.
Together, these sources show that while horses dramatically increased mobility and hunting efficiency, Plains peoples did not need horses to live on the Plains and hunt buffalo there—so the post’s “only able” claim is incorrect.
2 sources
- Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains — ‘Plains life before the horse’ (Encyclopaedia Britannica)
Britannica describes pre-horse Plains subsistence including bison hunting (including community game drives) and notes that Coronado’s 1541 expedition encountered fully nomadic buffalo-hunting tribes on the southern Plains who had only dogs for transport.
- How Horses Transformed Life for Plains Indians (History.com)
‘Before horses came to the Plains, Native hunters pursued large herds on foot…’ describing buffalo-jump and other pre-horse hunting methods, with horses later changing hunting efficiency and mobility.