Summary
The increased volume of traders in the Plains in the 1770s put stress on the local food supply. By the fall of 1780 widespread food shortages hit the Plains causing large scale famine in many Indigenous communities
Implications
In the fall of 1780, traders used prairie fires in order to keep herds away from the northern settlements in order to protect their income source. The destruction of grass from the prairie fires, a late snowfall, and the prevention of buffalo herds from roaming north resulted in famine across much of the northern plains. Roughly one century later, as numbered treaties in the west were being negotiated, local Indigenous bands would request famine clauses as a result of the rapidly declining bison population. The Canadian Government, while agreeing to the clause at the negotiation of the treaty, would in many cases limit, withhold, and even refuse rations to Indigenous peoples.
Date
1780-00-00