Abstract
This article examines the American bison (Bison bison) not simply as an ecological and cultural icon, but as the foundation of a sophisticated culinary tradition developed over generations by Indigenous Nations of the Great Plains. It considers how knowledge of bison anatomy informed butchery, cookery, preservation, and whole- animal use, with particular attention to prized cuts, fat, organs, dried meat, and pemmican. Historical accounts reveal a food culture in which individual parts of the animal were understood for their distinct culinary qualities and prepared accordingly. The nineteenth century mass slaughter of the bison therefore represented more than an ecological catastrophe: it disrupted the transmission of culinary knowledge intimately connected to the animal. As bison return to Tribal lands, conservation herds, and contemporary kitchens, their restoration offers an opportunity not only to recover an important North American species, but also to recognize and reinvigorate the foodways that developed alongside it.