Buffalo Hunt

by Russell Freedman

Book Overview

More than 30 paintings and drawings by artist-adventurers who traveled West in the 1800s illustrate Freedman's vivid account of the Great Plains Indians' buffalo hunts. This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0823407020
• ISBN13: 9780823407026
• Release Date: September 1988
• Publisher: Holiday House
• Length: 52 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 9.1" x 10.3"
• Age Range: 10 to 13 years
• Grade Range: Grades 5 to 8

Customer Reviews

Buffalo Hunt by R. Freeman: A review

Author, Russell Freeman, writes an informational (nonfiction) book targeting grades 3 - 7 about the interdependence of the Plains Indian Tribes and the North American Bison. This book documents a way of life few non-Indian people were privileged to see. The bison shaped the culture of these tribes, the tribes usually killed only what they needed and used all parts of the animal. The various tribes of the plains husbanded the bison herds and the land on which they grazed to insure the survival of this essential source of food and shelter. The buffalo hunt was accompanied by supplication to the spirits and shaman of the tribes and was participated in by all, though only men killed buffalo. The job of others was to clean the kill and cure the meat and hides. The author describes more than one hunting technique. Also, he explains how the Indians developed into skillful horsemen as they evolved from hunting on foot to the use of wild horses.The slaughter of bison populations as whites encroached upon and gradually took over Indian lands resulted in the end of a way of life and the near annihilation of the Plains Indian Tribes in the 50+ years from around 1830 to 1888. The book is illustrated with reproductions of original paintings and drawings of the period by artists such as George Catlin and Karl Bodmer who were adventurer-artists traveling alone, or nearly so, through regions that only a few fur trappers and traders had seen before this time. Freeman has crafted a book with a balanced combination of illustration and information. His book would surpass the most rigorous standards for great nonfiction. It presents information objectively and without bias or opinion and uses beautiful works of art for illustration - the art of both the white and the Indian, from the period under scrutiny. It explains a way of life that has been lost yet does not belabor the point, marginalize the people, or sentimentalize the topic. I would recommend this book highly. It could be used for art projects in schools as well as for factual writing assignments. The author has written other respected informational books for children, e.g., Lincoln: A photobiography, and another about the Wright brothers.