In Black Elk Speaks, he recalls the great buffalo hunts his tribe engaged in. Buffalo served as the mainstay of the Teton diet and were used to make material for clothing, teepees, and ceremonial objects. Dependent on these animals for survival, the Indians would migrate with the roving herds. Black Elk explains in the book that, as time went on, the buffalo became increasingly scarce and the hunts difficult to conduct. He recalls that Plains tribes were sometimes wasteful of the buffalo in areas where they abounded, but declares that in the end the herds were destroyed by white miners and hunters. As the railroads were built across the Plains region, whites sometimes shot buffalo from train windows for sport, and businessmen used the hides to make such salable commodities as robes and shoes. By 1883 nearly all the buffalo had been exterminated, and the Indians were left without their former means of sustenance.
American Indians did not suffer this destruction without resistance. Black Elk himself participated in major and minor battles as the Sioux fought to protect their land from white settlers and hunters. Bravery, daring, and cleverness in warfare were held in high esteem by the Sioux.
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