NORTH AMERICAN BISON
Uses of bison
Preparation
After a successful hunt, the animal needed to be prepared for consumption and materials. The process of disassembling a carcass is as follows: the animal is laid on it back before being skinned, the skinned hide is set aside to dry. Next, the limbs are dislocated and the ribs, as well as any other major bones, are removed. Finally, the meat is removed and set aside.
Consumption
Parts of the body which were consumed could include muscle, fat, bone, internal organs, skin, blood, stomach and intestine contents.
A few common ways the meat was consumed was by roasting, boiling, broiling, and drying to keep it stored. To store, meat had to be cut into strips then hung around a fire.
A common traditional food item which bison meat continues to be kept stored as is pemmican. Pemmican is pulverized dried meat mixed with fat and berries.
If meat was roasted, it was roasted on skewers over an open fire or earth fire - this process sometimes took a couple days.
Resources
As mentioned in Tribes Associated, the People of the Plains sought bison as a primary resource, they used bison hide to make a variety of materials. Resources include clothing (such as hats, coats, blankets, leggings, boots, and gloves) to create shelter such as tents or tipis, bags, cushion or covers.
Hide may have also been used for other household decorative accessories. Hooves and horns could be transformed into utensils; tails could be made into fly swatters; hair could be woven into ropes or stuff pillows; their bones could be constructed into tools or weapons.