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How did the bison robe trade contribute to the decline of bison populations in the Canadian Plains?

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Plains style — Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains Dancers at the Totah Festival Powwow performing the Northern Tradition dance, a dance inspired by Plains traditions, on September 1, 2007, in Farmington, New Mexico.

The decline of bison populations in the Canadian Plains and across North America was driven by the commercialization of the bison, particularly through the large-scale trade of hides and robes during the 18th and 19th centuries.1

While Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains historically relied on the bison for food, clothing, and tools, their traditional hunting practices had minimal impact on the overall population. The situation changed drastically with the westward expansion of white civilization, which transformed bison hunting into a commercial enterprise. Bison were slaughtered in massive numbers to supply meat and hides for commercial sale, as well as for sport.1

The expansion of railroads across the Great Plains in the 1860s accelerated this destruction by providing easier access to the herds and facilitating the transport of goods. Furthermore, the mass slaughter was used as a political tool to deprive Indigenous peoples of their primary means of subsistence, forcing them onto reservations or into settled agricultural lifestyles. By 1889, these combined pressures had brought the American bison to the brink of extinction.1