Equipment

Several people asked me, when I told them I was going out with tribal hunters, if they were using a bow and arrow. I usually laughed and said 'no.'

The Umatilla Tribes have often touted their adaptability. Part of that adaptability made it possible for them to go to buffalo country in the first place. When horses came to North America, the Cayuse bred some of the best horses in the region. One of the oral histories I read told about Cayuse horses outrunning the Crow horses on buffalo hunts. That made the Crow want to bargain with the Cayuse for their horses, and the tribes became allies.

Today is no exception. The hunters used high-powered rifles, sharp knives, ropes and trucks. They used modern tools to do a job.

Not that it made the job any easier. It still took between three and five hours after the buffalo was shot to get gutting, skinning and quartering all done.