Laws of the Buffalo Hunt

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The rules governing the harvest of Bison

The following rules were made for the 1840 hunt.
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1. No buffalo to be run on the Sabbath-Day.
   
2. No party to fork off, lag behind, or go before, without permission.
   
3. No person or party to run buffalo before the general order.
   
4. Every captain with his men, in turn, to patrol the camp, and keep guard.
   
5. For the first trespass against these laws, the offender to have his saddle and bridle cut up.
   
6. For the second offence, the coat to be taken off the offender's back, and be cut up.
   
7. For the third offence, the offender to be flogged.
   
8. Any person convicted of theft, even to the value of a sinew, to be brought to the middle of the camp, and the crier to call out his or her name three times, adding the word "Thief", at each time.

This system of rules and punishments would evolve to become part of a system of self-government for the Métis communities; in 1873 the Southbranch settlements organized a form of local government, under Gabriel Dumont, based on the laws of the buffalo hunt.

From George Bryce. The Remarkable History of the Hudson's Bay Company... Nabu Press. ISBN 978-1-277-72735-7.