Before I dive right into inforamtion about the buffalo in Zuni Fetishes, I’d like to give a quick history of the buffalo so that you can appreciate this majestic animal as much as I do.
The American buffalo, also called the American Bison, is only distantly related to either of the two “true buffaloes”, the Asian buffalo and the African buffalo. The American Buffalo is more closely related to the Wisent or European Buffalo.
The Buffalo once inhabited the grasslands of the U.S. in massive herds, ranging from the Great Slave Lake in Canada’s far north, through the United States to Mexico in the south, and from eastern Oregon almost to the Atlantic Ocean. Its two subspecies are the Plains Bison, distinguished by its smaller size and more rounded hump, and the Wood Bison, distinguished by its larger size and taller square hump. Wood Bison are one of the largest species of cattle in the world. It is surpassed only by the Asian gaur and the Asian Water Buffalo. In the Americas the Wood Bison is the largest land animal alive today.
These majestic animals can grow to be 7 feet tall, 10 feet long and weigh over 2,000 lbs – That’s a TON!!