When
Where
Our understanding of human-bison interactions – whether through hunting, consuming, trading, sacrificing, exterminating, or nursing from the brink of extinction – has generally portrayed humans as the central force in the history of this great American mammal. In contrast, Native American Plains hunters situate bison at the center of a web of natural, social, and spiritual connections with the world. María Nieves Zedeño combines traditional knowledge and scientific archaeology to explore how, for millennia, indigenous hunters in North America treated bison as powerful persons and partners who shaped every aspect of human life.
About the Speaker
María Nieves Zedeño is Associate Research Professor in the UA School of Anthropology. She has spent 15 years working with Blackfoot hunters and religious leaders on archaeological projects to uncover the cultural landscape of bison hunting. Her research is woven into contemporary efforts to combine tradition and state-of-art range ecology in the management of Blackfeet tribal bison herds.