Bison : une histoire de l'Amérique

I just finished watching The American Buffalo and once again Ken Burns hits it out of the park! I thought I knew the plight of the Bison, and how it also impacted Native Americans, but I learned much more about the history of the past 200 years. This is a very touching and thought provoking documentary and reminded me of the photo of a huge mountain of bison skulls I first saw as a child. I'd never even heard of the amazing meter shower of the 1880s or of the horrid Gore who killed thousands of animals just for fun. I'm looking forward to part 2 tomorrow night. At least enough calves were saved that the species did not go extinct. Thank God for Yellowstone Park.

Thoroughly enjoyed the detail, learned a lot. Couple things I thought coud be added was the Buffalo Jump in Alberta is a fantastic site to visit, it's talked about, (the process) but no word on the musuem with outside real life display.

A good book to read is called Ecological Buffalo by Wes Olson.2022.

Having the interviews adds an element of honesty and integrity of the story.

There was a few times I did FFW but for the most part I stuck with it, Ken Burns can really make you chew on a subject that's for sure,

Having 2 epsiodes does, to me, again lend credibility to the story, and not just skimming the surface of, we shot them to almost oblivion.

Another must see, if you do make it to Aberta, is Elk Island, Wood Buffalo NP and Rocky Mountain House, usually there to see.

Banff NP has introduced back into the park but they are deep in the park. Some excellent videos on the UTube nay by Parks Canada.

Very simply, this film is an important story. I have to think that this is Ken, going out of his way, to subtly make a point. He could have told this story years ago, but choose "now" to do so. It is a tale of stunning ignorance and stupidity, and ought to be a must-see for everyone. Specifically, it shows how humans can simply choose to be blind to an unconscionable nightmare fiasco that they are creating, at a rapidly increasing speed, simply for the sake of money. It VERY MUCH mirrors what the larger human populace is repeating right now, except this time, WE are the buffalo.

Ken's film exhibits the fact that you can turn _some_ disastrous situations around, even though, historically speaking, we seem to have not been inclined to do so (just ask the Passenger pigeon, Tasmanian tiger, and even the mastodon, how it worked out for them).

Again, a great story. They should be showing it to kids in grade school, as that might result in some important conversations around the dinner table at home.

The drive to near extinction of the American buffalo was perhaps inevitable: technology has given mankind many options to exploit nature, but without the sense of restraint to do so sustainably. What's shocking in this documentary is not just the speed with which the buffalo were exterminated, but that everyone could see what was happening and did nothing to stop it. They could also see that the end of the species would end the traditional way of life of the native human population; mostly, Americans of European ancestry saw this as a good thing. The second part tells the story of how the buffalo was saved; but it could be argued that the peoples who depended on it have never recovered. There's a warning here for all of us today as we face climate change: might we once again walk eyes-open into environmental catastrophe, not appreciating what we have until after it has gone?

This documentary shook me to my core and should be required viewing in all American schools and universities in my humble opinion. I had not felt this particular way since I walked out of the Native American Smithsonian museum some years back. Sadness, guilt, anger, confusion, disgust.

The stain of genocide, slavery, imperialism and colonialism wrought on the planet and humanity by Europeans and Americans will never be washed away. Infinite and never ending shame to those that participated in it.

Ken Burns is a national and global treasure for his story telling abilities. This documentary is no different from his others, in its clarity and brutality of telling the cold, hard, historical truth.