Buffalo pound

The buffalo pound was a hunting device constructed by native peoples of the North American plains for the purpose of entrapping and slaughtering American bison, also known as buffalo. It consisted of a circular corral at the terminus of a flared chute through which buffalo were herded and thereby trapped. David Mandelbaum's The Plains Cree contains diagrams and a complete description of the construction and use of such a pound.[1]

Diorama of a buffalo pound at the Royal Alberta Museum

In 1758, explorer and fur trader Joseph Smith was the first European to record the use of a buffalo pound while travelling to the Assiniboine River.[2]

The common Cree name "Poundmaker", refers to someone who makes buffalo pounds.

References

1. Mandelbaum, David G. (1940). The Plains Cree: An Ethnographic, Historical, and Comparative Study. New York: Aims Pr Inc. ISBN 978-0-404-15626-8.
2. Ray, Arthur (1998). Indians in the Fur Trade: Their Role as Trappers, Hunters. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. p. 249. Retrieved 12 July 2014.

See also

• Buffalo Pound Provincial Park, a park in south-eastern Saskatchewan, which takes its name from the above term.