Collapse of the Bison Population on the Plains

Although the final collapse of the Plains bison was foreseen for many years by Indigenous people (see entry on Cree Council at Fort Qu'Appelle for further information, see also entries on Metis buffalo economy for impact of introduction of capitalist economic practices), the Canadian government was unprepared and unwilling to respond (please see excerpt from Maureen Lux's book in "relevant resources" below, detailing the resistance of Indian Affairs officials in terms of providing rations or farming tools in order to solve the perceived moral crisis of Indigenous "indolence"/laziness). Tuberculosis is known to flourish among malnourished and crowded populations. It proliferated amongst Plains Indigenous people as the Indian Affairs department was unwilling to respond to the collapse of the bison population and increase food rations, farming implements and livestock. This disease was also contracted by horses and cattle (in a cross-species form known as "mange"). In 1880, TB, also known as "consumption", was reported as the primary cause of death among Indigenous reserve populations.