DIBAAJIMOWIN
  • Home
  • Dibaajimowin Blog
  • The People
  • Michif Language
  • Ojibwe Language
  • Books
  • Colorized Photos
  • GIS Mapping
    • Metis Community Map
    • US & Canadian Reservations
  • Blog Archives
    • Tawn Kaayaash
    • Metis Stories
    • Women's Stories
    • Elder Stories
    • Family Stories
    • School Stories
    • Love Stories
    • Legend Stories
  • Virtual Library

Tawn Kaayaash

Pemmican and Other uses of the Buffalo

2/5/2018

0 Comments

 

When possible, all parts of the buffalo were used

In processing buffalo, the Ojibwe, Cree, and half-breed (Metis) hunters were quite systematic in how they handled the animals, what parts were used for meat, and what would be processed for trade.

First, the buffalo tongue was processed. The tongue of even an old bull was regarded as a delicate morsel, and was almost always saved first.  The hump was generally considered to be next in delicacy and tenderness and would be saved for eating rather than processing as pemmican or for sale.  
Picture
Next, the meat was cut by the women into long strips about a quarter of an inch thick. These strips were hung upon the lattice-work prepared for that purpose, to dry in the sun and smoke with small fires. This lattice-work was formed by bending small pieces of wood horizontally and vertically to form a grid that was supported by large poles. 

After a few days, the meat was thoroughly desiccated from the sun and smoke.  It was then folded into proper lengths, and tied in bundles of sixty or seventy pounds of dried meat called a 'viande seche'.  These bundles would be transfered to the trading posts for sale and future processing.  
Picture
The smaller portions of meat which were also dried were not bundled, but rather were dried until brittle and reducible to small particles by the use of a hammer, with the buffalo-hide serving the purpose of a clean threshing-floor. Next, the tallow was cut up and melted in large kettles of sheet-iron and poured upon the pounded meat, and the whole mass was worked together with shovels and hoes until well-mixed. Berries or cherries might be added if available.  Then, the mixture was pressed, while still warm, into bags made of buffalo-skin, which were sewn up tightly. The pemmican was allowed to gradually cool and it soon became almost as hard as a rock. 

Pemmican without berries or cherries was called 'fine pemmican'; pemmican that contained them was called 'seed pemmican'.  People who remember what old-time pemmican tasted like described fine pemmican to be very palatable, but seed pemmican was described as excellent in taste and a delicacy to partake in. 
Picture
A processed block of pemmican would usually weigh from about one-hundred to one-hundred and ten pounds.  A whole cow buffalo might yield one half a bag of pemmican, and three fourths of a bundle of dried meat; so that the most economical calculate that from eight to ten cows are required for the load of a single Red River cart.  The robes were, of course, processed and bundled for eventual sale or use.

Other parts of the buffalo would also be used.  While the pemmican was being processed, the men would separate and break the bones.  The broken bones would be placed into boiling water to extract the marrow.  The marrow would be poured into the bladder of the buffalo, which was able to contain about twelve pounds of marrow.  Stored marrow was used for frying and for other culinary purposes.  A bull could yield forty-five pounds of clean rendered marrow, while a fat cow might yield about thirty-five pounds. 
Picture
During the autumn months, a few hunters would kill buffaloes for the purpose of curing the meat for winter instead of processing it for pemmican. The best pieces only, from young and tender animals, were selected, and when properly cured were considered fully equal to the best dried and smoked beef found in the eastern markets.

Adapted from Memoirs of the Museum of Comparative Zool̈ogy at Harvard College (1874)
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    A collaborative effort of members of the Ojibwe and Metis communities

    Archives

    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017

    Categories

    All

    RSS Feed

About Dibaajimowin

Dibaajimowin was created as a way to share interesting and unique stories and other information about the Metis and Ojibwe people (and others) so that these can be used by our guests to educate themselves and others about the history, culture, and language of the people.

We hope you enjoy everything you find here and are glad to have you return in the future. If you are interested in using our content for educational or personal purposes, please give proper attribution and credit to our page. It is important that we acknowledge the tellers of stories and the creators of intellectual property in all forms.

​Please enjoy! See you soon.

Contact Us

    Subscribe Today!

Submit
Photo used under Creative Commons from trendingtopics
  • Home
  • Dibaajimowin Blog
  • The People
  • Michif Language
  • Ojibwe Language
  • Books
  • Colorized Photos
  • GIS Mapping
    • Metis Community Map
    • US & Canadian Reservations
  • Blog Archives
    • Tawn Kaayaash
    • Metis Stories
    • Women's Stories
    • Elder Stories
    • Family Stories
    • School Stories
    • Love Stories
    • Legend Stories
  • Virtual Library